Green Technology – Cannon Moorcroft Limited https://cannonmoorcroft.co.uk Accountants in High Wycombe Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:00:18 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 Going green? Check available allowances https://cannonmoorcroft.co.uk/green-technology/going-green-check-the-allowances-availa/ Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:00:18 +0000 http://cannonmoorcroft.com/2012/07/19/going-green-check-the-allowances-availa/ Continue Reading]]>

Going greenThrough the Enhanced Capital Allowances regime, the government has been keen to encourage businesses to take advantage of green technology for some time.

However, some changes to capital allowances regimes allows businesses to claim 100 per cent allowances on a wide range of energy efficient and other environmentally beneficial plant and machinery.

Smaller businesses will obtain 100 per cent relief in any event through the Annual Investment Allowance, which provides a full deduction for expenditure on plant and machinery up to £100,000 in each year. The allowance does not, however, apply to expenditure on cars.

For slightly larger businesses thinking about going green, here are a few suggestions of things which attract enhanced capital allowances.

Water efficient products

Businesses seeking to reduce their water usage might consider investing in the following types of technology:

  • cleaning in place equipment
  • efficient showers
  • efficient taps
  • efficient toilets
  • efficient washing machines
  • flow controllers
  • leakage detection equipment
  • meters and monitoring equipment
  • rainwater harvesting equipment
  • small scale slurry and sludge dewatering equipment
  • vehicle wash water reclaim units
  • water efficient industrial cleaning equipment
  • water management equipment for mechanical seals
  • water reuse

To investigate further, those interested can follow up particular products by performing a product search on the eca website. For example, under rainwater harvesting equipment, buyers can search for the products which meet the criteria of the three types of equipment needed for a system – rainwater storage vessels, rainwater filtration equipment and monitoring and control equipment.

The website then lists the manufacturers and product information together with technical details of each individual product. Contact details for manufacturers are also provided.

The product search in relation to water technologies is at https://www.eca-water.gov.uk

Energy efficient products

The list of products is much wider and is grouped into a number of technologies, which is updated every year. The changes to the list of approved technologies for 2008 were:

The introduction of four new technology categories:

  • Compressed air equipment
  • Flow controllers
  • Master controllers
  • Heat pumps for space heating
  • Heat pump dehumidifiers
  • Lighting
  • White light emitting diodes for accent and amenity display lighting

Housekeeping changes to the current eligibility criteria in 11 areas as follows:

  • Boiler equipment
  • Biomass boilers and roomheaters
  • Gas-fired condensing water heaters
  • Localised rapid steam generators
  • Steam boilers
  • Compressed air equipment
  • Refrigerated air dryers
  • Lighting
  • Controls
  • High efficiency lighting units
  • Motors and drives
  • Variable speed drives
  • Integrated motor drives
  • Refrigeration equipment
  • Packaged chillers
  • Compressors

Those interested in installing energy efficient plant can again search the relevant technology type by going through https://www.eca.gov.uk and choosing Energy.

]]> Green businesses have £20 billion economic potential https://cannonmoorcroft.co.uk/cbi/green-businesses-have-20-billion-economic-potential/ Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:52:02 +0000 http://cannonmoorcroft.wordpress.com/?p=3 Continue Reading]]> Green Energy

Green businesses in the UK have the potential to boost the country’s GDP by up to £20 billion by 2015, says a new report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

It said that the UK could become the ‘global front-runner’ in low carbon products and services, providing the Government ‘adopts a consistent approach’ to its energy and climate policy.

Research by the CBI suggests that green businesses may have accounted for more than a third of all UK growth last year. The UK contributed £122 billion to the £3.3 trillion global green market in 2010-11 alone.

It warns that the UK could miss reaching its full green potential due to the current Government policies, which could cost £400 million in exports in 2014/15 and undermine energy intensive industries that are crucial to low-carbon transition.

CBI director general John Cridland said: “The so-called ‘choice’ between going green or going for growth is a false one. We are increasingly hearing that politicians are for one or the other, when in reality, with the right policies in place, green business will be a major pillar of our future growth.

“Get our energy and climate change policies right, and we can add £20bn extra to our economy and knock £0.8bn off the trade gap, all within the lifetime of this Parliament.”

With public sector and household spending expected to remain relatively subdued in the coming years, UK growth will be reliant on private sector trade and investment.

While the UK has been seen as a frontrunner in energy and climate change, it lacks significant levels of Government investment, targets and regulatory frameworks seen in other countries such as Germany and South Korea.

The CBI is calling on the Government to adopt a more coherent green policy in order to build investor confidence, reduce regulatory complexity for businesses and strengthen competitiveness.

While it welcomed the Government’s £3 billion Green Investment Bank (GIB) initiative – designed to accelerate the amount of capital available for eco-friendly projects – it also said that investment in low-carbon energy sources would ensure the UK’s long term energy security.

Green businesses employ almost one million people around the UK, with two thirds of these working outside of London and the South East of England. The industry is expected to halve the UK’s trade deficit in 2014/15.

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