(Justmeans.com / CSR News) - Carbon Emissions Management in the Carbon Age

We are entering what has been termed by some to be the "carbon age." This is determined by a growing revelation and an awareness of the need to become sustainable in everything that we do, both individually and collectively. For organizations, this means the creation of a whole new line of thought, dedicated to the impact that carbon can and will have on the business operations as carbon emissions management becomes more commonplace.

The traditional measurements deployed and maintained through IT systems and asset management programs will be clearly insufficient in the new carbon age. Carbon emissions management will be required and for many organizations this is a completely new philosophy. The performance of corporate assets has rarely been measured in terms of the real energy that they use, rather in terms of efficiency in relation to the cost of the purchased energy itself.

Carbon emissions management requires an asset owner to calculate the associated greenhouse gas emissions created as a consequence of the assets being used. At this point in time, carbon may itself not have a direct and tangible cost, but we are seeing a trend toward this outcome in many areas of the developed world.

When a "cap and trade" scheme is initiated to try and contain greenhouse gas emissions, carbon emissions management becomes a critical component of the business structure. In this case, an organization is judged according to the amount of energy that is recorded against it and by simple calculation a volume of carbon emissions associated is revealed. An overall nationwide cap on the amount of carbon emissions that can be emitted means that suddenly, carbon has itself become a tradable commodity.

When carbon has a value on the balance sheet, suddenly the organization must obtain a means for gauging the ultimate efficiency of each of its assets. This is the only way that carbon emissions management can be initiated and can provide the figures necessary to enable an organization to improve. Carbon emissions management will work from a calculated baseline and will help to ensure that the company is now much more highly efficient in the use of energy.

Carbon Emissions Management Require Additional Business Tools

Carbon emissions management should be a welcome additional business tool for the corporate executive. At the very least, it will help to pinpoint inefficiencies in asset use and consequent energy consumption and as energy is always one of the largest costs of any business, operating costs will be driven down.

It goes without saying that the first rule for the business executive is to educate. Before carbon emissions management can be put into play, a baseline situation must be revealed. Be aware that in the United Kingdom a trading scheme is in the process of introduction and in the years ahead organizations in that country will be forced to trade for the right to emit carbon as a consequence of doing business. Many imagine that this kind of trading scheme will be introduced by other principal governments around the world.

Carbon Age Debates Should Not Stop Aims for Sustainability

Whether you believe the carbon age is real, implied or imaginary, you cannot discount the need for increased attention when it comes to saving and sustainability. Our traditional forms of energy represent a finite resource and as we are far from a position of being able to turn to alternative energy, prudence is advisable.

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