IT professional organisation BCS has welcomed proposed changes to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, saying that the changes will make the scheme "easier for businesses to understand".

The changes to the scheme, which obliges large energy consumers to buy ‘allowances’ for their carbon emissions, were announced by energy minister Greg Barker last week.

"[The changes] will … reduce the administrative burden" Barker said, "for example by reducing the number of the fuels which are subject to the scheme from 29 to 4."

"We will also reduce the complexity of the scheme by removing the 90% rule and CCA exemption rules, whilst achieving broadly the same outcomes and remove any overlap between schemes at registration."

Barker also proposes to simplify the schme by removing an exemption for high energy consuming industries and the so-called "90% rule", which requires organisations to account for at least 90% of their total carbon footprint emissions.

Zahl Limbuwala, the chair of the BCS data centre specialist group, said that the institute had received feedback which showed that businesses did not understand the original CRC scheme. "These changes are very welcome in making the scheme easier to comply with and understand," said Limbuwala.

However, the government does not plan to reverse the decision it made earlier this year to keep the revenues from the sale of carbon credits, instead of using it to reward companies that reduce their emissions, as had originally been intended.

In April 2011, business group the CBI said the CRC scheme was "untenable" following that decision.