§ Mr. CarmichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion 127W of the Carbon Trust budget for the last financial year has been allocated for projects in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland; what proportion remains unallocated; what funds have been allocated to hydrogen demonstration and innovation projects; and what proportion of funds have been allocated to small and medium enterprises. [153937]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Carbon Trust is a private company limited by guarantee that receives funding from: the Climate Change Levy (via Defra for England and via separate relationships with the Devolved Administrations); Defra for the non-domestic element of the UK wide Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (EEBPp). The Carbon Trust was allocated a total of £49.6 million for 2002–03 (including £17.1 million from the EEBPp) by my Department.
The Carbon Trust carried out an assessment of the technologies needed to deliver a low carbon economy to inform the development of its Innovation Programme. Suitable proposals for hydrogen based technologies such as fuel cells, infrastructure and hydrogen production will be considered as priorities. But no specific sum has been set aside for these technologies.
The Carbon Trust manages Action Energy, the UK's main energy efficiency information, advice and research programme for organisations in the public and business sectors. Action Energy services including site visits are available to UK businesses regardless of size. The Carbon Trust also run the Action Energy Loan fund that provides loans of between £5,000 and £50,000 specifically to Small and Medium Enterprises for energy efficiency projects.