Climate Week 2013
Recognising the contribution of Green Business to the local economy.
There's no doubt Green business is now big business. Here in the South West alone there are over 4000 'green industry' companies, employing almost 80,000 people. And it’s not just the domestic market that is growing but our regions’ exports are now valued at almost £1bn a year.
So what better way to promote this important industry than through a national week of activities which showcase practical solutions to the problems arising from climate change from every sector of society?
Climate Week beginning on the 4th of March will involve over half a million people attending 3,000 events run by schools, businesses, charities, councils and many others. Please see www.climateweek.com for details.
Green initiatives
The UK has the sixth largest share of the global green business market at £122 billion. Conservatives in Government are taking various steps to help Britain capture a greater share of this market. These include the Green Deal, which is expected to support up to 60,000 jobs in the insulation sector alone by 2015.
The Green Deal
These initiatives are designed to boost the economy and business and the Government is doing its bit too. On the 28th of January the Green Deal initiative was launched offering homeowners long-term loans to help make their homes more energy efficient and cut bills.
Householders will be able to access a loan to get up to 45 different energy efficiency improvements, without having to pay upfront. Instead, businesses will provide the capital, and consumers will pay back the costs of the improvements over time through their energy bills. £125 m has been allocated to support the take up of the Green Deal in cash-back incentives for early takers of the Green Deal in England and Wales. The more work households decide to have done, the more cash back they will get on their home improvements with an upper limit of £1,000 in incentives.
Energy Companies helping low income homes
The Government has also launched the ECO (Energy Companies Obligation) which will force energy companies to fund energy efficiency improvements in low income homes worth £1.3 billion per every year.
There is also the Renewable Heat Incentive – an £860 million scheme to encourage people to generate heat from renewable technologies including biomass boilers, solar thermal equipment and heat pumps. Click here for more. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/worlds-first-renewable-heat-incentive-launched-to-reduce-emission
The Energy Bill
This Bill will introduce a new method of financial support for large-scale low-carbon electricity generation sources, like nuclear power, called Contracts for Difference.
These contracts will make investment in low carbon energy more attractive by effectively guaranteeing the price low carbon electricity generators can expect for the power they produce. They set a bottom level that the price of low carbon electricity cannot fall beneath, called a strike price, designed to guarantee returns for investors in technologies like nuclear and renewable energy. They will also protect consumers by clawing back money from generators if the market price moves above the strike price.
All in all a step in the right direction to a greener and more cost effective energy industry that is beneficial both to those at home and in boosting jobs and growth nationwide. I hope that this year’s Climate Week will build on the hard work we have already achieved in the South West and open up new and inventive doors for the UK in the global green business market.