Energy demand is often considered as fundamentally linked to economic growth, indeed, the UK government accepts that in recent years "there has been no decoupling of energy use from the growth of the economy as a whole" ( www.defra.gov.uk ). Increased energy efficiency, however, may not hamper the growth of an economy yet can significantly increase the life of finite fossil fuel resources ( www.sustainabletable.org ).
There are various ways of conserving energy both at home and at work. For domestic considerations, the Energy Savings Trust ( www.est.org.uk ), set up by the Government following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and one of the UK's leading organisations addressing the effects of climate change, offers appropriate advice. Whilst The Trust extends its services to the transport and housing trade, for concerns over industrial energy efficiency the UK's Energy Institute ( www.energyinst.org.uk ) has established a Register of Energy Consultants and may represent the best starting point for a company keen to reduce its energy bills.
A group of UK companies active within the energy conservation industry has formed the Association for the Conservation of Energy (ACE) with the aim of encouraging a positive national awareness of the need for and benefits of energy conservation. It is also helping to establish a sensible and consistent national policy and programme regarding energy usage and to increase investment in all appropriate energy saving measures. More information may be obtained at www.ukace.org.
The most pressing concern regarding the environment, global warming, has been addressed by an initiative that involves all the major consumers of energy. Companies are being asked to tie their energy usage more securely to their accounts by means of a process of 'carbon rationing'. From January 2005, major sources of industrial CO2 will be subject to the 'cap and trade' regulation surrounding the new EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This is one part of a range of policies being put in place to reduce emissions of pollutants that are considered to give rise to global warming. Even though emission permits will be initially allocated for free through each country's national allocation plan (NAP), the carbon price generated by the trading scheme will change the marginal production cost across most energy industry sectors. Participants in the scheme will be impacted, with carbon allowances becoming either an asset or a liability. The Carbon Trust ( www.thecarbontrust.co.uk ) is an independent company funded by the UK government that delivers independent information and impartial advice on energy saving and carbon management to the business and public sector.
Not all commentators are convinced of the importance of 'Carbon' emissions in relation to climate change. David Bellamy, for example, considers that the main greenhouse gas - the one that has the most direct effect on land temperature by restricting release of the earth's radiation - is water vapour, 99 per cent of which is entirely natural. If all the water vapour was removed from the atmosphere, he claims, the temperature would fall by 33 degrees Celsius but by removing all the carbon dioxide the temperature might fall by only 0.3 per cent.
A reduction in the thickness of the atmospheric ozone layer in the upper atmosphere may be responsible for weather instability or even progressive climate change, but this phenomenon is considered less significant than the 'greenhouse effect'. The UK's Environment Agency has provided more details on the 'ozone holes and ozone depletion' at www.environment-agency.gov.uk.