This programme is closed for applications
The programme is jointly run and funded with the Department of Trade and Industry, with input from the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs.
Making a difference on a large scale
A £10 million grant to the offshore wind sector is contributing to the cost of 25 wind turbines in the Liverpool Bay. These will produce electricity for the equivalent of 62,500 homes, or 7 per cent of houses on Merseyside. This will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 200,000 tonnes per year. Nitrous oxide emissions, one of the key components of acid rain, will also decrease by nearly 800 tonnes per year.
A grant of £29.9 million is contributing to the costs of two biomass fuelled power stations. At Lockerbie in Scotland, enough power for more 35,000 homes will feed into the national grid. At Wilton International, on Teesside, a biomass power station will provide power for surrounding heavy industry. Both of these power stations will use locally cut wood as fuel and plan to use increasing amounts of willow, grown by local farmers.
And making a difference on a small scale too
A further £6.7 million is being spent on small-scale biomass fuelled heat installations and a combined central heating and power installation. We have contributed to the costs of commissioning more than 130 biomass boilers to date, with an estimated 500 more to be installed. These projects have taken place all over the UK, from Cornwall to Co Tyrone and from Lanarkshire to Llandrindod Wells. Installations have taken place in mills, at a monastery, at country parks and a college. Many farms, schools and rural businesses have also benefited.