Successful investment in carbon reduction with more to come
19 Jun 2014 11:35 AM
Following an evaluation
of the first three rounds of the HEFCE Revolving Green Fund, which confirmed
the effectiveness of the scheme, a further £34 million will be
invested.
The Revolving Green Fund (RGF)
provides recoverable grants to help higher education institutions (HEIs) in
England reduce carbon emissions and save money. Since 2008 there have been
three rounds of the Fund. The next round will be run in partnership with Salix
Finance a company which specialises in providing interest free loans to public
sector organisations for energy efficiency.
In this round of the RGF, higher
education institutions can seek funding to implement both small and large scale
carbon saving projects and, for the first time, water reduction projects.
Institutions can seek funding for small scale projects between £50,000
and £750,000 and around £2 million for large scale
projects.
HEFCE Chief Executive, Madeleine
Atkins said,
‘The fund is a very good
and effective way to help universities improve their sustainability and achieve
financial savings. The review has clearly demonstrated the scheme’s value
and I’m happy to announce this next round of
funding’.
Annie Shepperd, Salix Chief
Executive, said:
‘Salix Finance is
delighted to be co-financing this new offer to universities with HEFCE. We know
that this will stimulate innovation and leading edge projects in energy
efficiency and we look forward to supporting our universities with their
projects. Every project will be a contribution to the UK Carbon Plan, reducing
our carbon emissions is worthwhile and urgent’.
Review of RGF rounds one to
three
The review carried out by Blue
Alumni Management Consultants confirms that HEFCE investment in carbon
reduction is effective and achieving significant carbon and financial
savings.
The RGF has raised the profile
of CO2 reduction with senior management teams in universities,
levered £32 million so far from their own and partner resources,
and enabled carbon reduction projects that otherwise may not have gone
ahead.
Over the first three rounds of
the RGF, we have allocated £61 million to 130 universities, funding 117
small-scale programmes and 17 large projects.
The report provides an
understanding of the outputs from all RGF rounds and includes six case studies
illustrating what has been achieved so far. The case studies cover the
following projects:
- Aston University: a university
wide strategy for energy efficiency and carbon reduction
- University of Brighton: improved
lighting to achieve energy savings
- University of Chester:
hydro-electric power plant on the River Dee
- University of Derby: lighting
technology to improve the student environment and provide carbon
savings
- University of Exeter:
transformation of a 1960’s building
- University of Leicester: voltage
optimisation technology in halls of residence.
Notes
Details of how to apply for
funding are available on the HEFCE and Salix websites. The deadline for
applications is 15 October 2014. Successful projects will be announced in
January 2015.