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Community-led sustainable energy projects are “not taken seriously enough” by the government, according to a group of academics.
A new report from the University of East Anglia (UEA) said “better policy support is still needed to get grassroots environmental projects off the ground”.
The authors of the report recognised that the government’s community energy strategy was a “big step forward” but called on the government to do more to support community schemes.
The report said that “changing policy priorities and shifting policy contexts undermine local efforts to build projects” and that the sector needs “imaginative policy support”.
Lead researcher from the study, Gill Seyfang, from UEA’s school of Environmental Sciences, said: “What we found is that there is a great deal of community enthusiasm for small scale innovative projects like this, but the resources available are not always enough to really help them flourish.
“What is really needed is flexible and tailored policy support at all levels.”
Friends of the Earth renewable energy campaigner Alasdair Cameron said: “Instead of undermining investment in solar and wind, ministers must do much more to help communities reap the benefits of clean power.
“A good place to start would be to enable schools to borrow money to afford the upfront cost of solar panels.”
Responding to the report, a spokesperson from the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “The Coalition is determined to unleash the potential of community energy, helping communities to achieve their ambitions and drive forward a decentralised energy revolution.
“We want bring more communities together to help them save money”.
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