If a farm or group of farms beats their CCA milestone target they will have saved more energy and hence CO2 than required. These savings can be turned into CO2 Allowances. These Allowances can be traded in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme but only if the data upon which they have been generated has been independently verified.

What is Verification?
The process of verification involves checking the validity of your energy and production data for the milestone year to confirm your performance versus your CCA target. This can only be undertaken by a UKAS accredited verifier.

Another important reason to consider verification relates to multi-site companies. If you wish to transfer CO2 allowances between sites performing well and sites performing badly you will need to have emissions verified (unless all your sites are in a single "bubble" target unit).

The value of CO2 allowances can only be realised if your emissions are verified. Providing the cost of verification is less than the value of the CO2 allowances it is logical to have your emissions verified.

What extra data is needed?
The annual data you submit to Enviros is sufficient for most CCA purposes but does not contain enough detail for the verification of CO2 allowances. Each company undergoing verification needs to show an audit trail for energy and production figures. This will include meter readings from your main electricity and gas meters, copies of energy invoices, details of how production data is calculated etc. If you are keeping an "evidence pack" as recommended in Information Sheet 23 you will have the majority of extra data readily available.

Are there any further benefits?
The main upside is the possibility of the price of CO2 rising. Another benefit is that sites that have been verified are unlikely to be selected by DEFRA for random audits. If you would like further information about verification please contact the CCL Help Line on 0161 874 3668 or click here to e-mail us.