11 May 2011 12:05:06

SMEs could save £400m in energy bills though CO2 reduction

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK could save up to £400 million per year in energy bills through carbon reduction efforts, according to the Carbon Trust.

The trust suggested businesses using its Carbon Trust Standard SME online certification tool have on average cut their energy bills by £2,000 and slashed their carbon footprint by 13 tonnes CO₂e per year.

Using government figures, suggesting there are 194,575 UK SMEs with between 10 to 249 employees, the organisation concluded that through efforts to reduce carbon footprints and achieving the Carbon Trust standard they could save over 2.5 million tonnes of C0₂e each year.

Harry Morrison, general manager of the Carbon Trust Standard, said: "What you can measure, you can reduce, so we believe there's a major opportunity for every business to cut costs and carbon by taking action and achieving certification."

Previous research conducted by the trust found there is significant apprehension among SMEs about the market for green goods and services, which is already worth £112 billion.

Some 52 per cent of small businesses polled said they felt the low carbon economy was a threat.