Carbon Trust announces £1.1m of new funding for carbon reduction projects

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12 June 2007
From farmers to students - UK trade and professional bodies to lead carbon emission reduction within their industries


The Carbon Trust today announced the 16 organisations that have been awarded grants of up to £140,000 as part of an initiative which encourages UK businesses and organisations to cut its CO2 emissions. Through working with trade and professional bodies, unions and other industry organisations, the Carbon Trust’s Networks Initiative engages with business to reduce CO2 emissions and help tackle climate change.

Applicants to the Networks Initiative each produced a detailed plan showing how their project would deliver demonstrable carbon emissions savings through engagement with their industry members.

This year, the successful bids include a Student Union awareness programme, a farming and agricultural best practice campaign, and specific energy efficiency projects looking at the performance of cold cabinets. The original call for applications for this wave of funding from the Carbon Trust’s Networks Initiative was made in October 2006.

The organisations receiving £140,000 in funding are:
• British Property Federation
• ARENA Network, Business in the Community
• Association for Environment-Conscious Building (AECB)
• Institute of Hospitality
• BSRIA
• Trades Union Congress

The organisations receiving £30,000 in funding are:
• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• Paper Industry Technical Association (PITA)
• Surface Engineering Association
• Horticultural Development Council
• Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association
• British Compressed Air Society
• Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS)
• Electrical Contractors' Association
• National Union of Students Services

Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust said, “Our work with trade and professional bodies is an important part of our overall role in helping UK business and public sector organisations cut CO2 emissions.”

“Trade bodies are valuable partners for the Carbon Trust and our work together over the past 2 years has contributed to savings of some 200,000 tonnes of CO2. Today’s funding announcement builds on the £1.4 million awarded over the last two years and brings the total number of industry organisations that have benefited from Carbon Trust’s Networks funding to 41.

“The Carbon Trust offers consultation and strategic support to all professional bodies around the UK, regardless of whether they have received funding, and we look forward to continuing our support for individual industries as they strive to cut emissions.”

The next round of applications for the Networks Initiative will open in autumn 2007. Interested organisations should visit www.carbontrust.co.uk/carbon/networks or email network@carbontrust.co.uk to find out more details about how the initiative works.

 
 
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Notes to Editors
To request an interview or more detail on case studies please contact the Carbon Trust Press Office on 020 7544 3100.

More detail on the projects receiving funds follows below:

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) will help companies develop their in-house energy assessment skills and further grow the register of expert low carbon consultants to assist with realising carbon emission savings.

The Paper Industry Technical Association (PITA) intends to develop a training network and will convert the approach into a tool based on carbon emissions and energy consumption.

The Surface Engineering Association plan to reach all of their 350 members with energy project implementation opportunities using self-help ‘tool-kits’. Sector specific, self help ‘tool-kits’ will be produced to challenge members to identify the potential for energy savings within their own facilities.

The Horticultural Development Council will use funding for ‘GrowSave Energy Focus’ group, working with members to implement new and already identified energy saving measures in their businesses and to improve the resource materials for the horticultural sector.

The Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association will work to gain commitment to energy management programmes from 10 member organisations and extend knowledge about best practice approaches and awareness of energy efficiency.

The amount of avoidable waste in compressed air systems will be tackled by a programme from the British Compressed Air Society to address leakage in systems and over pressurisation.

The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) will survey energy consumption and carbon emissions in a range of farming practices and develop measures to reduce emissions of CO2 through application of a new toolkit.

The Electrical Contractors' Association will offer ECA members a technical and practical workshop to extend their communications with clients about the latest lighting technology available.

The National Union of Students Services will demonstrate how energy consumption can be reduced within targeted Student Unions and develop a toolkit that can be used to highlight how energy savings can be achieved.

A standardised process for improving the efficiency of energy services that landlords provide to tenants will be developed by the British Property Federation. The project will instigate processes that tenants can use to help reduce their energy consumption.

The ARENA Network, Business in the Community will launch the ‘Northern Lights Carbon Reduction Programme’ as part of a comprehensive energy management programme for Northern Ireland. A tool will be developed that measures the Carbon footprint of businesses and energy audits will be undertaken in 150 businesses.

The Association for Environment-Conscious Building will provide accessible and transparent information on vastly improving the energy efficiency of a building as well as its CO2 performance.

The Institute of Hospitality will increase awareness of and provide technical guidance on energy efficiency to managers in the hospitality business, it will also produce a self learning energy efficient training programme and disseminate it to existing members.

BSRIA will implement a programme to improve the performance of cold cabinets in food retail outlets through surveying the effects of better practice in the relevant industries. Their aim is to reduce overall demand across the industry by 10%.

The Trades Union Congress will provide tools, resources and training for union officials and workplace representatives to energise and progress carbon management agreements with businesses.

The Carbon Trust

• The Carbon Trust is a private company set up by government in response to the threat of climate change, to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. The Carbon Trust works with UK business and the public sector to create practical business-focused solutions through its external work in five complementary areas: insights, solutions, innovations, enterprises and investments. Together these help to explain, deliver, develop, create and finance low carbon enterprise.

• The Carbon Trust is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and Invest NI.

The Networks Initiative

• The Networks Initiative is open to the majority of trade and professional bodies, but not all. Organisations working exclusively with, or for, the public and domestic sectors can’t apply for funding. Neither can those that represent universities.

• The Carbon Trust accepts applications based on two levels of funding; up to £30k support, and up to £140k support.

• The Carbon Trust offers consultation and strategic support to all professional bodies around the UK, regardless of whether they have received funding. The support ranges from introductions to Carbon Trust services, through to technical energy efficiency training.