WICKS CALLS FOR A 'GO GREEN' NEW YEAR RESOLUTION

£25 million in grants issued for micro wind turbines and solar panels

Small scale renewable energy grants worth some £25 million have now been claimed from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP), it was revealed. The news came as Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks called for more homes and business to follow his lead by adopting a 'go green' New Year’s resolution.
His call comes as more and more homes, schools and businesses have been helped with Government grants to install technologies such as solar panels, biomass boilers and ground-source heat pumps.
Grants claimed under BERRs Low Carbon Buildings Programme since it launched in April 2006 are up to approximately £25 million:

• £7.5 million to help 4,600 households generate their own clean and green energy.
• £18 million for a total of 739 projects on school, community, housing association and business buildings.

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said:
"It’s vital that recent efforts by world governments to reach a deal on cutting global carbon emissions are matched by action by each and every one of us. Deciding to go green and generate your own clean energy is one of the most valuable New Years resolutions you can make. It is certainly my intention to make a difference, and make my own house more energy efficient and install clean and green electricity.
"There are still grants available to householders who want to follow in the footsteps of the thousands across the UK who have been helped by the Government to fit microgeneration technology at their homes. Many schools have benefited also and the pupils there have been able to see renewable energy in action and understand more about its important benefits."
There are still £11m in grants available under Phase 1 for householders who want to generate renewable energy at home. Schools, charitable bodies and other public sector organisations can apply for a share of the £44m that remains from the original £50m set aside for them under Phase 2.

It has also been another year of progress for the wider renewable sector.

• Consent for eight major renewables projects, including the world's largest biomass plant in Port Talbot; the innovative Wave Hub project off the Cornish coast; the 66MW Fullabrook Down wind farm in Devon and a 450MW offshore wind farm at Walney in the Irish Sea.
• Announcement by Energy Secretary John Hutton of plans for a massive expansion in offshore wind power. The vast bulk of the seas around the UK are to be covered by a new Strategic Environmental Assessment, opening up the possibility of enough offshore wind to power all of the UK's homes.
• The announcement by John Hutton of a feasibility study into the possibility of clean energy generation in the Severn Barrage that could generate up to 5% of the UK's future electricity.

In 2008 the momentum will be maintained with the introduction of legislation that will aim to band the Renewables Obligation to bring on more support for less developed renewables technologies such as wave, tidal and offshore wind.

Source: Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform