Breaking News: Boiler Scrappage Scheme & Feed-in Tariffs

The Chancellor Alistair Darling in his Pre-Budget Report (PBS) has announced a proposal to help 125,000 homes to replace inefficient boilers in a new ’scrappage’ scheme. This supports the need for the existing housing stock in the UK to become more energy efficient.

He also announced:

• £160m investment in low-carbon and renewable projects
• Homeswith wind turbines and micro generation measures that pay back to the national grid will benefit from a £900 tax free feed in tariff.
• £200m extra investment for Warm Front insulation scheme, helping 65,000 households
• Electric cars to be exempt from company car tax for five years

(Source: Pre Budget Report deliver by Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, 9/12/09. As broadcast on BBC Five Live)

The BBC reports:

A scrappage scheme that will pay people to replace old boilers with new ones has been announced in Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget report.

“Each inefficient boiler adds over £200 to household bills and one tonne of carbon to the atmosphere,” he said.

From April, some £200m would be added to help with energy efficiency to cut carbon emissions from homes, he said.

Mr Darling also announced plans to create “high-skilled, high-paid jobs” in the “low-carbon sector”. “Tackling climate change will bring new opportunities for new low-carbon industries,” Mr Darling said, insisting that investment to create jobs in this area would be “crucial to our future prosperity”.

At least £160m of public and private investment would be invested in low carbon projects through the Innovation Investment Fund and the Carbon Trust’s Venture Capital scheme, Mr Darling said.In addition, the government would invest £90m in the European Investment Bank’s new 2020 fund, which will provide finance to the tune of 6.5bn euros ($9.6bn; £5.9bn) in infrastructure projects that contribute to emission reductions.

Speaking ahead of the chancellor, Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed that the UK and Europe would lead the way in the battle against climate change and stressed the role played by nuclear and renewable power in the overall energy mix.

“We need nuclear as part of our energy policy,” Mr Brown told MPs. “But we also need wind power as part of the renewables that we are going to create in the future, not just offshore wind power but also onshore wind power.”

(Source: Scrappage Scheme Unveiled for Home Boilers, BBC News. www.bbc.co.uk Accessed 9/12/09)