CLAWING BACK COSTS
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The climate change levy is meant to encourage industry to review their old compressed air systems. But how do you start clawing back these energy costs?
Both Motivair and SIP offer expert advice, but if your air supply system is more ancient than modern, first check out the DTLR's Energy He!Mine (see Contacts). Then have a look on the web at wvnteca. gov.uk, a site which outlines some useful, 100%, first year investment allowances on offer to firms taking on new energy-efficient plant and equipment.
Companies able to prove they've made significant savings against the 12% energy levy could qualify for a refund of national insurance contributions too. So there are incentives, and any financial risks could be virtually eliminated.
In broad terms compressors use about 10% of the UK's total power consumption, while around 90% of our industry uses compressed air: But when it comes to providing a workshop with compressed air, there's still a basic lethargy about the industry," says Dry-Parker. "We tend to use it rather wastefully, when really we should be regarding the subject much more professionally."
One thing is for sure, with the swingeing climate change levy likely to be indexed upwards, workshop owners really have to take a more serious long term view on the cost of ownership, because electricity is no longer a cheap utility.