14 DAY TRIAL // The UK government has recently announced it is going to back a series of projects aiming to make the public sector more energy-efficient. Representatives are aware of the fact that this series of improvements doesn't come cheap and say they are willing to pay up to £30m (€34.8m/$46.8m) to support the implementation of beneficial changes.
The main goal is to improve the functionality of the public sector, represented by hospitals, schools and buildings, by allowing them to contract low-interest loans. Relying on the significant savings triggered by energy-efficient improvements, these facilities could repay these loans within five years, Business Green reports.
This “great news” brought up by Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne raised the enthusiasm of the administration of public facilities, since financial support would encourage their development, while giving a much-needed boost to renewable energy technologies.
Apparently, £10m ($15.6m/€11.6m) will come from a new Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF), while the rest will be derived from to the Salix scheme that offers convenient loans to public institutions. This amount is more than enough to trigger noticeable results in the level of energy consumption.
It seems that the energy revolution is one of the hottest topics at this point in time; therefore, the government wants to make sure local communities will take advantage of this extraordinary offer and start saving more than a few pounds while going green.
Moreover, LEAF fund is putting funding awards on the table, estimated at no less than £50,000 (€58,138/$78,155) for which members of independent associations can apply online, until January 20th, 2012.
Although this measure is highly expected and the idea of getting financial support for energy-efficient projects is more than appealing, this governmental decision is attracting the anger of solar power developers, who fear the proposed incentive cut would make their profit margins shrink, while forcing them to abandon several projects involving renewables.
The decision of greening up the public sector has an unquestionable impact on the environment, since officials say the Salix loan scheme will manage to prevent 210,000 tons of harmful emissions from reaching the atmosphere, every single year.
Those who aren't yet fully convinced should know the authorities are talking about tempting financial savings of £46m (€53.4m/$71.9m), cut down from the energy bill currently paid by the entire British public sector.