Carbon Trust: Bigger Loans, More Businesses, Less Carbon

Posted on 30. Jun, 2009 by Ross in United Kingdom

The UK’s Carbon Trust announced on Monday that it was now doubling the maximum amount that it could loan to businesses for energy efficiency investments to £400,000.

The terms of the loans were also changed so that more businesses could apply, so that any business not part of the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme can apply.

The Carbon Trust, whose primary goal of is to ‘accelerate the move to a low carbon economy’, has been tasked by the UK Government to provide help through their support of energy-saving projects and education into energy-efficiency, and has £100 million of dedicated funds for interest-free credit loans for energy-efficiency projects for UK businesses.

Formerly, only small and medium businesses were eligible for the government-backed loans: eligibility was constrained to businesses employing less than 250 people and with a turnover of less than €50 million (roughly £42 million at current exchange rates).

The criteria for inclusion in the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, which starts in April 2010, is businesses which used more than 6,000 MWh through half-hourly meters in 2008. Companies which face inclusion in the scheme will receive qualification packs in September 2009, which may lead to some confusion for businesses as to whether they are eligible for Carbon Trust loans in the interim should they be near to this qualifying limit. For more information about the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme and its ramifications upon your business, check out this Guide to the Carbon Reduction Commitments.

Carbon Trust loans can be used for a variety of energy-saving projects, from modern, less power-hungry factory equipment with long payback periods to energy-saving lighting retrofits with return on investment times of 12-24 months!

Image of pound coins by Warren H @ Flickr