English farmers will be eligible for unsecured, interest-free loans to help them upgrade to more energy-efficient equipment, under a new scheme which began this month.
The Carbon Trust expects £12 million of funding to be offered, saving farmers and growers £4 million per year in energy costs. The loans are designed to pay for themselves through direct energy savings provided over one to four years. After the loan is repaid, farmers will make direct savings on their energy costs, as well as cutting the carbon footprint of what they produce.
NFU President Peter Kendall said: "Improving energy efficiency is a win-win situation because it helps cut agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions as well as saving money for farmers and growers. There are already examples of businesses that have taken simple but effective steps to reduce their environmental impact in this way and I hope these loans will enable others to follow suit."
The loans scheme is part of the Carbon Trust's Big Business Refit - a nationwide campaign encouraging British businesses to replace old, energy intensive equipment which wastes £3.3 billion a year. This new funding has been provided to help the farming sector to meet the carbon reduction aims laid out the Government's Low Carbon Transition Plan.
The NFU has worked with the Carbon Trust and Defra to make farm businesses eligible for this campaign. The money has been made available from a £100 million Carbon Trust fund ring-fenced by the Treasury until the end of March 2011. Loans of between £3,000 and £20,000 will be available on a first come, first served basis.
Examples of energy efficiency upgrades which the Carbon Trust loans will fund are:
- Thermal screens, used in greenhouse horticulture, typically cost up to £20,000, and can save over £10,000 / 100 tonnes of CO2 annually.
- Milk cooling accounts for one third of the energy consumption of dairy farms. New systems cost £3,000, and save up to £1,000 / 6 tonnes of CO2 a year.
- Insulation used in field horticulture crop stores, typically costs around £17,000, and saves up to £10,000 / 50 tonnes of CO2 a year.
- Upgrading heating and ventilation controls, in livestock farms, typically costs £3,000, and saves over £4,000 / 23 tonnes of CO2 a year.
- Grain drying humidity controls, used in arable farming, typically costs £3,000, and saves around £1,500 / 10 tonnes of CO2 a year.
For more information visit the Carbon Trust loans page or download a Q&A sheet here.
Further advice from the Carbon Trust for agriculture and horticulture is available here.
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