Government refuels bioenergy funding

The government yesterday launched a fresh round of funding to support businesses and community organisations planning to install biomass heating and combined heat and power systems.

Round six of the Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme will make £4m of funding available to firms, schools and hospitals that commit to invest in small-scale biomass energy systems, including anaerobic digestors.

The grants, which can be worth up to £500,000, are intended to cover up to 40 per cent of the difference in cost between a biomass system and its conventional alternative.

Energy minister Lord Hunt said the grant scheme would help the government meet its goal of ensuring bioenergy sources provide a third of the UK's renewable energy by 2020.

"As the world works towards a global deal on Copenhagen, back in Britain we are continuing to find greener ways to do business," he said. "By March 2011 we plan to have 200 additional boilers installed, generating 87MW of biomass heat and more than 72,000 tonnes of annual carbon savings."

The government said the scheme has already supported the installation of 458 biomass boilers in a wide range of buildings in both the private and public sectors.

It added that it expected considerable interest in the latest funding round, applications for which are open until the end of March 2010.