U.K. offers £31M for energy efficiency

The Carbon Trust plans to provide £31 million ($57 million USD) this year to businesses in the U.K. for energy efficiency improvements, the group said today.

That's an increase of about 45 percent for the interest-free loan program, which also has doubled its individual loan cap to £200,000 in Great Britain and £400,000 in Northern Ireland. The additional funds are expected to increase energy savings by 20 percent, the Carbon Trust said.

The Carbon Trust is a government-funded, independent company with an investment arm to finance emerging clean energy technology businesses with commercial potential (see Funding gap threatens U.K startups).

Carbon Trust Investments has put £9.1 million into 11 companies so far (see Spying on sustainability and Solar jumps to the front of the pack). Additionally, the Carbon Trust's programs have helped business save around 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and £1 billion in energy costs.

Energy efficiency has also been a major thrust of other governmnents, such as the U.S. and China (see Experts talk cleantech on Capitol Hill and China pushes for energy efficiency).

The Carbon Trust said the increase is meant to help small businesses struggling for loans and cash for new projects during the credit crunch. The group also expects larger, more energy-intensive businesses to apply for the grants now that there's a higher cap.

Projects funded by the loan program include large lighting installations, boiler projects, and multiple equipment purchases such as variable speed drives with compressors and heat-recovery equipment.

The Carbon Trust allocated £21.5 million for the loans in the 2007-08 fiscal year, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions by over 60,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year and save businesses nearly £9 million a year.