Environment & Energy
The Environment & Energy Committee regularly promotes and organises events to inform and aid members in meeting the Environmental Agenda.
The committee works with the Groundwork Merseyside and other partners to deliver informative and useful events to its members.
The Steering Group is currently compiling the agenda for June - December 2009. Current plans include an event on Sustainable Procurement, Carbon Footprint workshops, advice on Waste Minimisation and information on Enhanced Capital Allowances.
Current Issues:
Enhanced Capital Allowances
REACH fees
Sustainable Procurement
Future Proofing
Enhanced Capital Allowances
Significant savings are available through Enhanced Capital Allowances for energy saving and water conserving equipment. The scheme is managed by the Carbon Trust on behalf of DEFRA and HM Revenue and Customs. Enhanced Capital Allowances are also available for electric vehicles, vehicles with CO2 emissions of less than 120g per km, and refuelling equipment for natural gas and hydrogen.
The scheme allows business to claim 30% tax relief on any equipment expenditure which is included on the Energy Technology list or Water Technology list in the year of purchase. This is a substitute for capital allowances at 25% per year on a reducing balance basis. The benefit of ECA allowances is dependent on having a sufficient profit to write-off the allowance against.
Eligible equipment for refuelling natural gas or hydrogen can include: storage tanks, compression, controls and meters, gas connectors and filling equipment.
Conditions for claiming ECA allowances include that the expenditure as made between 17 April and 31 of March, and that the equipment is an approved technology. Equipment with an expected economic life of 25 or more years is excluded. For vehicles, conditions include that the vehicle is not used or second hand.
The potential for savings through ECA allowances may be fed into a life cycle cost analysis when considering equipment purchases. Another significant factor is the cost of energy consumed by equipment. Energy and water saving equipment will incur a lower running cost, on top of tax savings than less efficient equipment. Energy saving equipment may also contribute to reduced climate change levy payments. It is therefore possible that equipment which may at first glance seem more expensive, may be cheaper over its life cycle.
For further information on eligibility and how to claim, see:
• For energy saving equipment
• For vehicles and refuelling
• For water conservation
Back to top
REACH fees
The European Commission has brought in legislation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006 ). It deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances.
The European Commission adopted the fees and charges that will be applicable under the new REACH regulation on 16 April. The charges will be for the registration, evaluation and authorisation of all chemicals manufactured or imported in the EU and will range from €1600 to €31000.
In order to keep the burden on SMEs to a minimum, the Commission has developed a policy of reduced registration fees for different groups of companies; 30% for medium companies, 60% for small companies and 90% for micro companies. There will also be a 25% reduction for firms that cooperate on registrations due to the reduced workload for the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
The fees will be reviewed in 2013 at the latest.
For more information see the European Commission's press release
Back to top
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable Procurement is the application of the principles of sustainable development to procurement. A widely used definition of sustianable development is 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'.
Back to top
Future Proofing
The Environment Club is working with the University of Liverpool to promote a one day workshop on future proofing businesses. The workshop will consider the threats posed by climate change, resource scarcity and resulting increasing prices. Drawing on a wide range of academic expertise, businesses will be advises as to how best they might mitigate these effects.
