Adams’s answers
Adams also answered the following questions:
Joanna Payne, operational performance manager, Volac International: “If there is no requirement to comply with your energy reduction commitment from the audit, is this just not another form of red-tape and tax on energy?”
Adams: “ESOS audits are intended to identify cost-effective recommendations which, if implemented, will more than off-set the cost of carrying out an audit. Our current assessment is that ESOS the scheme could benefit the UK by up to £1.6bn, with the vast majority of this being felt directly by business through lower energy bills.”
A number of people asked: “Does government plan to role ESOS out to smaller organisations?”
Adams: “It is not current government policy to ‘gold-plate’ implementation of EU directives and the EU Energy Efficiency Directive only requires that large undertakings carry out energy audits. However, SMEs may also benefit from voluntarily conducting energy audits and may wish to use ESOS as a framework for doing so.”