Although the details of how the new emissions trading scheme would work have yet to be decided, background papers for the environment department give businesses a pretty good idea of what to expect, writes Ed Crooks.

Companies and public bodies covered by the scheme would need to keep a record of their electricity consumption, and perhaps their other energy use, and report it to the government. They would then be set targets for cutting that consumption year by year, based on government estimates of the energy savings that were realistic for their industry.