Westmorland & Furness have launched a new Greening Businesses Scheme to support local businesses to understand and reduce their carbon emissions.
Guidance and the application process for the Greening Businesses Scheme is available following this link.
Westmorland & Furness have contracted with CBEN to undertake an energy audits to identify and quantify potential energy saving opportunities, as well as calculate carbon footprints for businesses wishing to participate across all of Westmorland & Furness, assessing the environmental impact of a businesses and submitting the results in a detailed report.
For most organisations, the largest emissions will be from use of mains gas, LPG & transport fuel (Scope 1 emissions) and grid electricity (Scope 2 emissions). Larger organisations will be encouraged to look at emissions from their supply chain (Scope 3 emissions).
The following stage of the project is now closing.
Westmorland and Furness Council have allocated a further £100.000 grant funding for the year beginning 1st April 2024. Applicants are now invited to apply. Please contact greeningeden@cben.co.uk for further information.
All services provided by Eden District Council have transferred to the new Westmorland and Furness Council. All grant funding for Greening Eden has now been allocated up to this financial year. Any further funds have yet to be allocated and will most likely apply to 2024 – 2025. Carbon and energy audits and advice are still available under the scheme.
Greening Eden is a project is funded by Eden District Council, managed and delivered by the CBEN Partnership. The project will allow businesses across Eden to measure their greenhouse gas emissions, identify opportunities for reduction and support EDC’s ambitions for a low-carbon, environmentally sustainable Eden and Cumbria. The project will start in February 2021 and run for 39 months.
What does it do..
Greening Eden lets participating companies across the area calculate their carbon footprint, the commonly accepted metric for assessing the environmental impact of a business. For most organisations, the largest emissions will be from use of mains gas, LPG & transport fuel (Scope 1 emissions) and grid electricity (Scope 2 emissions). Larger organisations will be encouraged to look at emissions from their supply chain (Scope 3 emissions).
The CBEN Partnership will complete the calculations using data provided by each company and site visits to provide practical and cost-effective advice on how to reduce emissions. These could range from no-cost changes in behaviour, low-cost actions, or capital investment projects. A £400,000 grant fund has been established to help to capital investment projects that deliver substantial emission reductions.
Who is eligible..
Any business based in Eden or whose principal operations are Eden based can apply to be considered. We anticipate that 40 to 50 companies can be supported, coming from all business sectors. CBEN will begin contacting potential applicants in February 2021, but companies can contact us directly on greeningeden@cben.co.uk.
We’d like to help every business in Eden, but funding is limited, and the scheme’s principal objective is to maximise reduction in environmental emissions. For micro-businesses, those with very small utility bills or very little use of transport, we may be able to provide some generic advice.
What is required from you..
CBEN will discuss the scheme in detail with anyone wishing to participate and requests details of the organisation’s activities, facilities, energy use and future plans. This can be submitted on-line direct to CBEN.
Companies who meet the main objectives of the scheme will receive a formal invitation to participate. We will ask you to submit energy consumption data, which we will use to calculate your carbon footprint. In most cases, this will be limited to Scope 1 & 2 emissions, as outlined above.
CBEN use this data to complete an initial assessment of your carbon footprint and identify areas where reductions are most likely to be possible. When current lockdown restrictions are lifted, we will arrange a visit to site to conduct an energy survey and confirm initial findings.
Each company will receive a full report confirming the initial carbon footprint assessment and a list of actions that can be used to reduce emissions. Where capital expenditure improvements are identified, CBEN will work with you to prepare the business case for the expenditure, ready for submission to the capital grant fund for the scheme.
CBEN will help organisations with substantial supply chains to develop procedures for assessing these so-called Scope 3 emissions, which are generally many times larger than Scope 1 & 2 emissions.
What do you get out of this..
CBEN will issue each participant with a certificate, stating their carbon footprint and demonstrating their commitment to environmental improvement. Throughout the duration of the scheme, CBEN will work with participants to verify that actions taken are delivering the expected emission reductions. All participants will receive recognition on the CBEN and EDC websites and mentions in the ongoing promotional activities for the scheme.
What does it cost..
Nothing. The scheme is full funded by EDC and participating organisations are not charged. Where capital investment projects are identified and agreed, the level of grant support available from the Greening Eden capital grant fund will be agreed prior to work commencing.