Age Concern
Charity that caters for the needs of older people (UK)
www.ageconcern.org.uk

Amortisation
Provision for the repayment of a debt

ASPIRE
Aspiring Students Pursue Independence, Responsibility and Excellence (US)

AVL
Automatic Vehicle Location
Real-time vehicle tracking system, which uses a Geographical Positioning System (GPS) to locate the exact position of a vehicle and depicts it in digitised maps. AVL is used by East Midlands Electricity (UK)

BAT
Best Available Technology (or Technique)

BATNEEC
Best Available Technique Not Entailing Excessive Cost

Biodiversity
The entire variety of life on Earth, from mammals to micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses
www.biodiv.org

BAPs
Biodiversity Action Plan(s)
A BAP is a plan to conserve or enhance biodiversity. It may describe the whole process by which this happens, or sometimes a document, which sets out how this is to be achieved

Biomass
Biomass is plant matter and animal waste, both unprocessed (wood, straw, dung, vegetable matter and agricultural wastes) and processed (e.g. charcoal, methane from biogas plants and landfills, logging waste and sawdust, and alcohol produced by fermentation), which can be used for the production of energy

BiTC
Business in the Community
A movement of companies across the UK committed to continually improving their positive impact on society. BiTC has 650 members, including Powergen UK (UK)
www.bitc.org.uk

Black Achievers
A Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) programme that helps young African Americans to develop a ‘positive sense of self’ and to set high education and career goals (US)

BOD
Biological Oxygen Demand
BOD is a measure (in mg/litre) of the biodegradable organic pollution present in water. A high level of organic matter (with high BOD) in effluent stimulates microbial growth. This can deoxygenate water and kill off aquatic life

Bml
Below minimum level - denotes that the release of the pollutant is so small as to be below the minimum possible monitoring level

CAFÉ
Clean Air for Europe
Programme of technical analysis and policy development. Launched in March 2001, the aim of CAFÉ is to develop a long-term, strategic and integrated policy to protect against the effects of air pollution on human health and the environment. The intention is that CAFÉ will develop into a five-year policy cycle, with the first integrated clean air strategy being adopted in 2004 (UK)
europa.eu.int/comm/environment/air/cafe.htm

Capital assets
Accumulated property and possessions

CCGT
Combined Cycle Gas Turbine
An advanced and more efficient form of energy production. Electricity is generated from burning gas in turbines. Waste heat is recovered to produce steam, which is in turn used in steam turbines to produce electricity

CDC
Cottam Development Centre (UK)

CH4
Methane, a major constituent of natural gas as well as a greenhouse gas

CHP
Combined Heat and Power

CO₂
Carbon dioxide

CO
Carbon monoxide, a greenhouse gas

Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)
Convention adopted in Geneva, Switzerland in 1979 and brought into force in 1983. The Convention requires countries to 'endeavour to limit and, as far as possible, gradually reduce and prevent air pollution, including long-range transboundary air pollution.' This should be achieved through the 'use of best available technology that is economically feasible'
www.unece.org/env/lrtap/conv/lrtap_c.htm

CV
Calorific value (net)
The number of heat units obtained by the combustion of unit mass of a fuel, expressed in heat units per unit mass

DEFRA
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
UK Government Department that replaced the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) in 2001. The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) now covers transportation and regional issues (UK)
www.defra.gov.uk

Desulphurisation
Process of removing sulphur from hydrocarbons

DfES
Department for Education and Skills
A UK Government Department
www.dfes.gov.uk

Duty of Care
A duty to prevent the escape of waste (under Section 6 of the Environmental Protection Act) placed on persons holding (e.g. importing, treating or disposing) controlled waste in a commercial capacity. Persons to whom the waste is transferred must be authorised and the consignment accompanied by proper documentation (UK)
www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1991/Uksi_19912839_en_1.htm

EA
Environment Agency for England and Wales
A UK environmental regulator
www.environment-agency.gov.uk

EAZ
Education Action Zone (UK)

EC
European Commission
europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm

Economy 7
Product with two different unit rates, a lower overnight rate and a higher than standard day rate. Economy 7 can provide cost-savings to those people using electricity for space and water heating (UK)

EEC
Energy Efficiency Commitment
UK Government programme which commences in 2002 and runs until 2005. It replaces EESoPs (Energy Efficiency Standards of Performance) (UK)

EESoPs
Energy Efficiency Standards of Performance (UK)

EFA
Employers’ Forum on Age
A network of employers whose aim is to confront age discrimination in the workplace (UK)

Electricity Association
Trade association for electricity supply, distribution, transmission and generation companies in the UK (UK)
www.electricity.org.uk

EME
East Midlands Electricity (UK)

Employers’ Forum on Disability
Forum for workplace disability issues, it represents organisations that employ over 22% of the UK workforce (UK)

EMS
Environmental Management System

Energywatch
UK independent gas and electricity consumer watchdog (UK)
www.energywatch.org.uk

EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
US environmental regulator (US)
www.epa.gov

EPRI
Electric Power Research Institute
US non-profit energy research consortium (US)
www.epri.com

ESP
Electrostatic precipitator
A reliable technology for the reduction of particle emissions, the electrostatic precipitator works on the principle of a static electric charge attracting particles where they are removed. Today electrostatic precipitators are found mainly on large power plants, cement plants and incinerators

ESTA
Energy Systems Trade Association
UK energy management trade association (UK)
www.esta.org.uk

Exceptional items
Items that arise from ordinary business activities and are included in the total (‘above the line’)

FBA
Furnace bottom ash, a by-product of certain types of coal combustion

FGD
Flue gas desulphurisation
A chemical process that removes sulphur dioxide from the gases produced when burning fossil fuels

FMLA
Family and Medical Leave Act 1993 (UK)

Fuel poverty
The need for a household to spend more than 10% of its income on fuel

GJ
Gigajoules (a thousand million joules)

Goodwill
The value of a business to a purchaser over and above its net asset value

GPEC
Gujarat Powergen Energy Corporation Limited

GPS
Global Positioning System
It is used in East Midlands Electricity's operational vehicles in order to reduce incident response times and restore supplies more quickly

GRC
Generator Registered Capacity

GTP
Gas Treatment Plant
Gas treatment involves the lowering of sulphur and nitrogen contents and water removal

GW
Gigawatt (a thousand million watts)

GWh
Gigawatt hour - equals the production of a thousand million watts for one hour. A GWh is equivalent to the total electricity typically used by 250 homes in a year

Ha
Hectare

HCl
Hydrogen chloride

HFO
Heavy fuel oil (also called Residual Fuel Oil, RFO)

HR
Human Resources

HSE
Health and Safety Executive
UK regulatory body that ensures risks to people’s health and safety from work activities are properly controlled (UK)
www.hse.gov.uk

IFR
Injury Frequency Rate

IiP
Investor in People
www.iipuk.co.uk

IPC
Integrated Pollution Control
Introduced by the Environmental Protection Act 1990, its purpose is 'to make provision for the improved control of pollution arising from certain industrial and other processes'. The IPC system provides a framework for pollution control by controlling emissions to air, water and land from certain specified industrial processes in a single authorisation (UK)
www.defra.gov.uk/environment/ppc/index.htm

ISO 14001
The International Standards Organisation’s environmental management standard

JV
Joint Venture

Kyoto Protocol
An international agreement formulated at a meeting in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. The Protocol sets out targets and mechanisms for reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases. The 55 countries needed to bring it into force recently ratified it
www.cop4.org/kp/kp.html

kt
Kilotonnes (one thousand tonnes)

kV
Kilovolts (one thousand volts)

kWh
Kilowatt hour - equals the production of a thousand watts for one hour. A typical home uses around 4,000 kWh of electricity in a year

Louisville Urban League
Charity that helps minorities and other disadvantaged people in Louisville. Its aim is to improve the quality of life for these people (US)

L
Litres

Mm3
Million cubic metres

Mt
Million tonnes

Mtce
Million tonnes of coal equivalent - used in comparing different fuels. One Mtce of any other fuel gives the same heat when burnt as a million tonnes of coal

MW
Megawatt (one million watts)

MWe
Megawatts of electrical capacity

MWth
Megawatts of thermal capacity

N2O
Nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas

NOx
Nitrogen oxides. These gases affect air quality and contribute to acid rain

NEA
National Energy Action
UK charity that promotes energy efficiency services to tackle the heating and insulation problems of low-income households (UK)
www.nea.org.uk

NETA
New Electricity Trading Arrangements
New wholesale market (introduced in March 2001), comprising trading between generators and suppliers of electricity in England and Wales (UK)

Notifiable Injury
An injury that has to be reported under the UK Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995. Notifiable injuries include three-day plus restricted work injuries and lost time injuries, major injuries and fatalities (UK)

NSC
National Safety Council
International public service organisation dedicated to improving the safety, health and environmental well-being of all people
www.nsc.org

NTS
National Transmission System for gas (UK)

O₂
Oxygen

O₃
Ozone

Ofgem
Office of Gas and Electricity Markets
Ofgem regulates gas and electricity industries in Great Britain. Ofgem’s aim is to bring choice and value to all gas and electricity customers by promoting competition and regulating monopolies (UK)
www.ofgem.gov.uk

Oftel
Office of Telecommunications
Regulator for the UK telecommunications industry (UK)
www.oftel.gov.uk

OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Branch of the US Department of Labour. OSHA’s mission is ‘to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths’
www.osha.gov

PAH
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon

PCB
Polychlorinated biphenyl

PIPL
Powergen India Private Limited

PFA
Pulverised fuel ash

PLN
Indonesian public utility

PM
Particulate matter

PM10
Particles with a diameter less than ten micrometers (ten microns). A micron is a millionth of a meter Fine airborne particles that affect air quality

PTC
Power Technology Centre (UK) - Part of Powergen.

Ramsar Convention
Convention on wetlands of international importance

RfO
Race for Opportunities
A Business in the Community campaign promoting racial diversity in business (UK)

RoSPA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Charity actively involved in the promotion of safety in all areas of life - at work, in the home, and on the roads, in schools, at leisure and on or near water
www.rospa.com/CMS/index.asp

RSNC
Royal Society for Nature Conservation
Conservation body that operates and provides services to the 47 Wildlife Trusts across the UK (UK)
www.rsnc.org

SF₆
Sulphur hexafluoride, a greenhouse gas

Severn Trent Trust Fund
Independent charity that provides debt relief to low-income families (UK)

SME
Small and medium-sized enterprises.

SO₂
Sulphur dioxide. This gas affects air quality and contributes to acid rain

SO₃
Sulphur trioxide

SPA
Special Protection Area
SPAs were created under the EC Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). In the UK they are included in the Nature 2000 and SSSI networks (UK)

SSSI
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A mechanism to protect sites that are of particular conservation interest either because of the wildlife they support or because of the geological features that are found there (UK)

Station Authorisation
Under Integrated Pollution Control (IPC), Environment Agency authorisation to operate a power station. It includes the adoption of BATNEEC (Best Available Technique Not Entailing Excessive Costs) to control emissions (UK)

t / te
tonne

TRIR
Total Recordable Injury Rate for employees

Turnover
Total sales revenue

TWh
Terawatt hour - equals the production of a million million watts for one hour. One TWh is equivalent to the total electricity typically used by 250,000 homes in a year

United Way
Charity involved in various community projects in the US (US)

UNECE
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
One of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. UNECE’s work covers economic analysis, environment and human settlements, statistics, sustainable energy, trade, industry and enterprise development, timber and transport
www.unece.org

UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund
United Nations body that aims to help children living in poverty in developing countries
www.unicef.org

UNFCCC
United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (Climate Treaty)
The Convention aims to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference in the global climate system
unfccc.int

VVP
Voluntary Protection Programme (US)

Wild Birds Directive
EC Directive that requires Member States to introduce measures to conserve wild birds
europa.eu.int/comm/environment/nature/bird-dir.htm

WWF
Worldwide Fund for Nature
International charity whose mission is to ‘stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature’
www.panda.org