The government today said it will give £50m in grants over the next 18 months to install micropower technologies such as solar panels, micro wind-turbines and ground source heat pumps to schools and other public sector buildings.
 
The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling said: "It is vital that we cut the CO2 emissions from our buildings if we are to reach the UK's 60% reduction target by 2050. Combining energy efficiency measures with the fitting of microgeneration technologies can and will make a real difference."
 
The funding markes Phase 2 of the DTI's Low Carbon Buildings Programme.
 
Darling said: "The selling of any excess electricity produced by these technologies back to the National Grid is yet another benefit of having them installed. We can now enable suppliers to bring costs down for the benefit of consumers and make the investments required to further develop the industry."