The UK Government has launched a £860 million renewable heat incentive (RHI) making payments to household available from October 2012

The £860m "renewable heat incentive" is the first financial scheme of its kind in the world to subsidise low-carbon heating, and over the next decade could reduce carbon dioxide by 44m tonnes – equivalent to taking 20 gas fired power stations off the grid, according to government estimates.

Businesses and public sector organisations are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of the plan at first, though households will be able to take advantage of the full range of subsidies from October 2012.

Commenting on the Renewable Heat Incentive announcement, David Bilclough, chairman of Sol2o, a leading UK Micro Certification Scheme (MCS) accredited renewable energy consultancy based in the North East of England, said:

“The announcement of the RHI scheme is welcomed by the industry as we have been waiting a while for this. Whilst the announcement on the tariff for commercial properties is promising, it is disappointing that no tariff will be in place for domestic customers until October 2012.

“We hope that the RHI, a guaranteed ‘cash back’ scheme, will unlock significant commercial investments in our system and encourage commercial property and home owners to adopt a greener approach to their energy consumption.”

Sol2o install solar photovoltaic (pv) panelling, insulation, rainwater harvesting systems, solar hot water systems, ground source and air source heat pumps and biomass boilers.