Scottish councils will receive £10m in grants as part of a major new initiative from the Scottish government that aims to reduce the country's total energy consumption 12 per cent by 2020.

The first national energy efficiency target, announced today as part of Scotland's Energy Efficiency Action Plan (EEAP), is the latest in a series of measures from Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond designed to help cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions 42 per cent by the end of the decade.

Under the EEAP, local councils will be given £10m to help fund free insulation and energy saving advice for up to 100,000 households – a move the government said would save Scottish households £2bn on their energy bills up to 2020 while also creating around 10,000 jobs in the green building and energy efficiency sector.

Businesses will also be encouraged to make use of a new Single Resource and Energy Efficiency Service that will provide firms with energy audits and advice on how to cut their energy use.

In addition, a new working group has been established to explore options for improving the energy efficiency of non-domestic building stock with the intention of developing new building regulations by 2012.

Speaking at the launch of the plan, Salmond said the public sector will be required to cut its energy use and will kick off a major efficiency drive by publishing weekly energy consumption figures for central government offices in Edinburgh.

The First Minister said the plan - which follows hot-on-the-heels of a commitment last months to generate 80 per cent of Scottish electricity using renewable energy by 2020 - further underlines the Scottish Government's commitment to energy efficiency and microgeneration.

(BusinessGreen)

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