Alistair Darling, UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “We will double our commitment to finance four carbon, capture and storage demonstration projects, which will make us world leaders in this vital area.”
In his pre-budget report, Mr Darling stated that the UK government will establish infrastructure to leverage further investment in low-carbon projects. It will invest GBP100m in a European investment bank-led fund to deploy up to GBP1.5 billion of equity and GBP5 billion of debt in low-carbon infrastructure; and consider the case for a low-carbon investment institution.
The pre-budget report provides a further GBP400m to support business investment in low carbon growth and help households reduce energy costs.
The government plans to redirect existing funding to invest in renewable energy, wind power, and other green industries. The UK is expected to give an extra GBP200m from April 2010 to improve energy efficiency through its Warm Front programme.
The government will help approximately one million low-income households with discounts on their energy bills by increasing support provided by energy companies from GBP150m to GBP300m by 2013-14. It will also increase support for low-carbon vehicles by exempting electric cars from company car tax from 2010 and introduce a 100% first-year capital allowance for electric vans.
