July 2008 - Find out what your business needs to do to comply with NGER
Today the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act (NGER) comes into effect. It is the world’s first mandatory energy/carbon reporting scheme. The regulations were finalised last week and the team at Energetics are already working with clients to help them comply with their NGER obligations.
From today companies that produce 125,000 tCO2e total emissions or produce
or consume 500 TJ of energy are meant to be gathering their data to report
to Government by October 2009. Click here for further information
The steps all businesses will need take to comply with NGER are:
1. Gathering, defining and reporting energy/emission sources;
2. Defining boundaries and operational control of sites/facilities;
3. Calculating emissions using Method 1 factors and higher order methods where required;
4. Embedding robust data collection procedures into business practices;
5. Developing/maintaining staff skills, systems and tools;
6. Managing compliance risk – sources, materiality, accuracy, transparency, records;
7. Minimising the cost of compliance; and
8. Managing ongoing data collection in a cost effective and timely manner.
For most businesses, sourcing the data required for NGER is not an easy
exercise, and there is a risk this task will be delayed until just before
the compliance deadline October 2009.
Energetics’ NGER support services:
Many companies are already collecting energy and greenhouse data for the
purpose of internal and voluntary reporting to a number of reporting
programs. Energetics can assess what additional effort needs to be
undertaken to adapt internal systems to support NGER reporting. We can
identify:
- The additional emission sources for which data should be collected;
- The type of data that should be collected to support calculation of emissions according to the Methods described in the Determination (Technical Guidelines); and
- To what extent existing reporting boundaries satisfy compliance with the NGER definitions of operational and overall control.
Data collection protocols and inventory development
Energetics has developed data collection protocols and templates to assist
in the collection of data internally for NGER. Many clients have found these to be of great assistance, particularly for first time inventories. These are developed to enable ease of completion and minimise errors in
data collection and collation.
We can assist in the development of an NGER compliant inventory. Methodologies are applied and line items reported as per the requirements of the regulations, to enable flow of information with minimal risk for error between the inventory and the online reporting tool for reporting to the Greenhouse and Energy Data Officer (GEDO).
Greenhouse inventory management systems
To ensure that the data collected is complete, accurate and as per the
requirements set out under NGER, Energetics is assisting in the
development of Greenhouse Inventory Management Systems (GIMS). These
systems support the development of an ongoing data management system that
is specific to the organisation’s needs. Influencing factors in
developing such systems include:
- Existing data collection systems;
- Internal accounting systems;
- The type of data to be reported; and
- Resources available in managing and implementing these systems internally.
A number of our clients have requested that we work closely with them in
communicating to government through written submissions and also verbal
and personal representation. In doing so, Energetics has highlighted
issues and challenges raised by specific sectors. It is anticipated that
in determining operational control, certain sectors will face considerable
complexity and require assistance in communicating to the GEDO the nature
of these complexities.
Energetics consultants have also engaged with client's legal teams to
assist in understanding the practical implications of the legislation and
regulations.
To enable the development of understanding within an organisation at
either the Board or site level, Energetics consultants have developed:
- Presentations that explain the legislation and regulations and the implications of these on clients’ operations;
- One-on-one time with divisional / business unit / site representatives to establish data sources and assess where operational control boundaries can be determined, and where doubt exists;
- Workshops to determine challenges experienced in the collection and retention of complete and accurate data sets and ways in which these might be resolved; and
- Written materials for internal circulation to assist ongoing understanding of NGER requirements.
To discuss how Energetics can assist your company with meeting the NGER obligations contact Cheryl Bowler(bowlerc@energetics.com.au) or Anna Reynolds (reynoldsa@energetics.com.au)on 02 9929 3911.