A new on-line petition launched today aims to highlight the failings
of the Government’s flagship grant system, The Low Carbon Buildings
Scheme, which has received severe criticism from home owners, industry
and environmental organisations alike for its inability to properly
support privately funded renewable energy projects.
Launched
by Carbon-info.org, a Hampshire based environment organisation that
focuses on global warming education, the petition highlights a range
of problems with the Low Carbon Building Scheme, which home owners
across the country are referring to as the “green grant lottery.“
In
March a grant application was launched every 24 seconds, until the
budget for the entire month had been allocated, which took just under
1 hour. The group behind the petition argues that this proves that
the Government’s financial support for individuals, who are prepared
to invest their own money on improving the energy efficiency of their
homes are falling well short of what is required.
The petition
urges the Government to increase the money available to home owners
and removing the monthly cap introduced in 2006, which only allows
a small part of the overall budget to be spent in a given month. The
cap means that no-one is guaranteed a grant, despite those applying
having invested their own time and money in meeting the entry criteria
for the Low Carbon Buildings Scheme.
Paula Bermann, Carbon-info.org’s
campaign manager explains, “We have received lot of emails from home
owners, who are fed up. They have spent money on entry to the scheme,
but now can’t get the grant they need for further micro generation
technology like solar power and wind turbines.”
As UK CO2 emissions
continue to rise, there is a real need to urgently improve the energy
efficiency of the UK’s existing housing stock and to enable those
who already own their home to generate their own electricity. The
savings potential is substantial and completely outshines the modest
gains being achieved by building new energy efficient homes, which
accounts for little more than 1-1.5 % per year.
The petition
is expected to attract wide support from the renewable energy industry
and home owners, who both are suffering due to lack of Government
support and commitment to the renewable energy sector.
Graham
Meeks of the Renewable Energy Association said, "The cap is a real
liability in the market and a lottery for home owners and renewable
energy businesses alike."
A home owner from Hampshire, Mr. Eric
Weller, who has found it difficult to get a grant said, “The petition
is welcome because we need the current grant scheme improved ASAP.”
The
petition will run until July 2007. All signatures, together with a
personal letter to the Government, will be handed over to number 10
Downing Street by a member of the Carbon-info.org Management Committee.
