California, USA – Two recent studies offer ideas and incentives for reducing carbon emissions from companies.



The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity, by the McKinsey Global Institute, advocates making the most out of energy and lowing the amount of energy that is wasted.



Investing $170 billion by 2020 in productivity measures, such as efficient equipment and building upgrades, could slash worldwide energy demand in half, the study says. Such an investment could provide energy savings worth up to $900 billion a year by 2020.



Another study looking at incentives for companies to cut emissions concludes that the most efficient and easiest-to-implement incentive would be a tax on emissions.



The Congressional Budget Office’s Policy Options for Reducing CO2 Emissions looks at the differences between imposing a tax on emissions and setting up a cap-and-trade system.



A tax, the report says, would consistently provide a reason to cut emissions and would not have the year-to-year cost fluctuations possible in a cap-and-trade system.