Government urged to join up thinking on micro-renewables

Robert Davis, managing director of EA Technology says the costs for individual companies and householders to implement low emission technologies are far too high and that fiscal incentives should be used to envourage their use.

“As a company, we can off-set national insurance contributions against buying a bicycle or home computer for our staff, but not against a micro-wind turbine. Let’s join up please!” he said.

“People are in a Catch-22 situation. They want to do their bit to slow climate change and low emissions technologies are available to do that, but the costs for individual companies and householders don’t add up.”

Mr Davis believes the only answer is in using the tax and national insurance policies, along with VAT ratings and grants to make the reduction of carbon emissions financially neutral. This would increase demand for green technologies, he says, in turn causing the costs to fall.

“At present there are too many government-sponsored organisations and initiatives trying to tackle the issues piecemeal. Grants may be available, but they are too difficult for many people to track down. The result is confusion and inaction by both private and commercial energy users,” he added.

He cited his own company’s frustration when trying to introduce low emissions policies and systems within the company. In almost every case, the company found that investing in low emission solutions was a very expensive choice with financially unviable payback times.

The frustration is in many ways ironic given that EA Technology is at the forefront of developing micro-generation technologies and renewable power and has worked with numerous companies to help reduce emissions.

If they can’t implement their own solutions cost-effectively, what chance is there for the average householder?

By David Hopkins