National Grid Wants to Slash Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
London UK – National Grid raised its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal from 60 percent to 80 percent by 2050, the company announced Friday.
The utility company with operations in the U.S. and United Kingdom plans to introduce carbon budgets to help the company calculate a shadow price for carbon and factor it into its future operations, such as construction, design, investments, maintenance of its electricity and gas networks and fleets.
The move is in anticipation of future climate legislation in the U.S. that could include a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme or carbon tax. The carbon budgets will be put in place in April of 2009 and linked to company performance.
“We have already reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent, but we need to do more,” said Steve Holliday, National Grid’s CEO. “Adopting carbon budgets and integrating them into our business performance process will encourage our employees to identify new ways to achieve the challenging 80 percent reduction target, and ensure emissions reductions remain at the heart of our operational decision-making.”
The company will review its operations in the next year based on the Climate Registry protocol to develop a detailed carbon footprint for each facet of the company. National Grid will then create annual and five-year emissions goals for each business component in order to get to the 80 percent reduction target.
The utility company with operations in the U.S. and United Kingdom plans to introduce carbon budgets to help the company calculate a shadow price for carbon and factor it into its future operations, such as construction, design, investments, maintenance of its electricity and gas networks and fleets.
The move is in anticipation of future climate legislation in the U.S. that could include a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme or carbon tax. The carbon budgets will be put in place in April of 2009 and linked to company performance.
“We have already reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent, but we need to do more,” said Steve Holliday, National Grid’s CEO. “Adopting carbon budgets and integrating them into our business performance process will encourage our employees to identify new ways to achieve the challenging 80 percent reduction target, and ensure emissions reductions remain at the heart of our operational decision-making.”
The company will review its operations in the next year based on the Climate Registry protocol to develop a detailed carbon footprint for each facet of the company. National Grid will then create annual and five-year emissions goals for each business component in order to get to the 80 percent reduction target.
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