ECO Carbon Saving Community Obligation (CSCo)
The CSCo is the part of ECO dedicated to helping deprived areas out of fuel poverty. The scheme provides free insulation and glazing to households in eligible areas.
Energy efficiency grants for deprived areas
This scheme is designed to help deprived communities to become more energy efficient, and replaces CESP (the Community Energy Saving Programme). The areas that will benefit from the scheme have been selected because they are the 15% most deprived in the U.K. according to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) ranking system. At least 15% of these areas must also be rural locations. Up to a fifth of the funding pot for the scheme can be used to help households in areas next to the selected areas. The funding from this scheme is available to both social and private housing residents. The scheme funds free glazing and insulation measures.
In order to qualify, rural households must be located in an area with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. They must also be receiving an eligible benefit or situated in or next to a selected deprived area.
General applications for this scheme aren’t open yet, but if you think the area you live in will qualify you can contact your local authority to see whether they have the scheme available yet.
- What is CERT?
- The 'Carbon Emissions Reduction Target' obliges energy companies to take steps to ensure that the amount of CO2 emissions from homes is reduced. It is all about reducing CO2 emissions, one of the main causes of climate change. CERT came into effect in April 2008, and is in the third phase of a programme that has been running since 2002. The previous phase was known as the Energy Efficiency Commitment.
- Why do we need CERT?
- The UK has committed itself to a number of targets to reduce harmful emissions and CERT has been designed to make a significant contribution to achieving these targets:
- cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 22 per cent from 1990 levels by 2008-2012, as part of the Kyoto Protocol
- cutting emissions of CO2 by 34 per cent and 80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 and 2050 respectively, as part of Government policy
- How does CERT work?
- Electricity and gas suppliers will be obliged to promote things that:
- improve energy efficiency, for example, loft and wall insulation
- increase the amount of energy generated from renewable technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and ground source heat pumps
- What does CERT mean to me?
- Energy suppliers will provide grants and offers to help you pay for energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies for your home. The key thing to note here is that you can take up grants and offers from any energy company, regardless of whether they supply your gas and electricity. This could help reduce the amount of energy you use, reducing your CO2 emissions as well as helping you to save money on your energy bills too.
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