Eight out of ten businesses are planning to increase their company's energy efficiency, according to research by the npower Business Energy Index.

The survey found that businesses are implementing these measures primarily to cut costs, but their carbon emissions will also be reduced.

Over half of the companies surveyed said that the government did not offer enough useful advice on the issues of carbon reduction and energy efficiency and 83% of companies commented that the target to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 was unrealistic.

"Energy efficiency is an excellent way to save money and it's encouraging that many businesses are looking at this to reduce costs," said Julia Lynch-Williams, director of energy services at npower.

"While it's understandable that businesses are more focused on the bottom-line in the current economic crisis, we would encourage them to see energy management as an effective means of reducing emissions as well as costs."