Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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Woolas invites applications to £4m Bio-energy grant fund

Woolas invites applications to £4m Bio-energy grant fund

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (News Release ref :109/08) issued by The Government News Network on 9 April 2008

A £4 million fund to support the installation of biomass-fuelled heating and combined heat & power projects, including anaerobic digesters, was opened to applications today by Climate Change Minister, Phil Woolas.

Applications are welcome from industrial, commercial and community sectors. This encompasses public and private limited companies, from smaller businesses like pubs, clubs, shops or farms, to offices, golf courses, recycling centres, supermarkets and stately homes, right up to larger businesses like breweries, food processing companies and airports. Applicants from the community sector can include schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, local authorities, housing associations and charities.

Phil Woolas, said:

"We have to take serious steps to tackle climate change by reducing our carbon footprint. As almost half of our CO2 emissions are the result of heating buildings or water or for industrial processes, switching our dependence on fossil fuels to more energy efficient equipment makes sense.

"Funding to support the installation of biomass-fuelled heat boilers and combined heat and power plants can really make a difference and I invite all those who are eligible to apply."

Full details, including the guidance notes and application forms, are available at: http://www.bioenergycapitalgrants.org.uk/.

Notes for Editors

1. Grants will be available for up to 40 per cent of the difference in cost of installing the biomass boiler or combined heat and power plant compared with the installation of a fossil fuel alternative. The maximum grant for each project will be £100,000. There is a six week application window and no minimum grant threshold.

2. The Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme is part of the UK Environmental Transformation Fund (ETF); a joint BERR/Defra fund to bring forward the demonstration and deployment of low carbon energy and energy efficiency technologies. The ETF budget announcement on 21 February 2007 (http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/energy/fund/) confirmed funding of £10m in 2008-09 for the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme and the Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme. Further information about the ETF is available here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/energy/fund/

3. Approximately £4m is available to fund new projects under round 4 of the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme. The remaining funds are supporting ongoing biomass heat projects approved in 2007 under Round 3 of the Scheme, and will also support projects under a new round of the Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme. Details of the latter scheme will be announced in the next few weeks.

4. The Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme will contribute to the objectives of the ETF by supporting innovation and UK capacity building in low-carbon technologies for biomass heat and combined heat and power. It also supports the UK Biomass Strategy, published in May 2007, http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/energy/renewablefuel/index.htm which aims to achieve a major expansion in the supply and use of biomass in the UK to maximise its potential as an efficient source of renewable energy.

5. Round 1 of the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme was launched in 2002 with funding from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Big Lottery Fund. Round 2 in early 2006 was funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Defra's round 3 was launched at the end of that year. All previous rounds are closed to new applications.

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