Green Investment System Offers New Opportunities to Improve Energy Efficiency2012. január 3.
Government will spend nearly 2 billion forints of the 2011 Carbon Dioxide Quota Sales Revenues to reduce the lack of funding of the Green Investment System Pre-fab II Sub-Programme, and 700 million forints to overcome the financing deficiency of the proposals submitted for the sub-programme “Renovating Our Homes and Building New Homes”. Next year a new scheme with a budget of 1.6 billion forints will start for greener community transport and the submission deadline of the solar collector call for proposals will be extended by three months, announced János Bencsik, Secretary of State for Energy Affairs and Climate Policy at the inauguration ceremony of a renovated condominium in Bartók Béla út, Budapest, on December 20, 2011.
The total investment amount of the development project implemented within the GIS Climate Friendly Home Pre-fab Sub-Programme is 260 million forints, including more than 133 million forints of state subsidy and more than 25 million forints of non-refundable grant by the Local Government of Újbuda. The upgrading will result in nearly 342 tons of carbon dioxide saving each year.
In his speech Mr Bencsik emphasised that the sub-programme „Renovating Our Homes and Building New Homes” announced in July 2011, funded from sales revenues of international carbon dioxide quotas, aimed to receive proposals from the owners of residential buildings made with non-industrialised technologies. Upon the recommendation of the Evaluation Committee support was awarded to 422 proposals on December 15, 2011, of a total amount of close to 1.6 billion forints. The approved projects will save the environment from approximately 14 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emission, significantly contributing to meeting the climate protection commitments and to saving 52,625 GJ of energy. In addition, the programme will strengthen domestic small sized enterprises in the building sector and, indirectly, it will generate new jobs in the industry. An additional 200 proposals will be evaluated in January, with 700 million forints of supplementary support provided by the Ministry of Development.
On December 19, 2011 the expert committee decided to use the budget of 1.995 billion forints within the GIS Pre-fab II Sub-Programme to support 27 proposals which involve less than 60 apartments and 25 proposals involving more than 60 apartments. This will allow the renovation of altogether more than 3,442 residential units. As regards territorial distribution, Budapest will receive 39 percent, while the country side will receive 61 percent of the funds.
One of the most efficient methods to use the available support funds in green transport is to make public transport even greener. To this end, rail transport will be supported and vehicle engines with high levels of pollutant emission will be upgraded with switchover to compressed natural gas fuel (CNG). In order to facilitate this, it is expected that the ministry will announce a new sub-scheme with a 1.6 billion forint budget within GIS at the beginning of 2012. In addition to reducing the national carbon dioxide emission, the support sub-scheme may contribute to improving air quality in towns and villages and to reducing the operation costs of transport companies.
The Secretary of State announced that the submission deadline of the GIS sub-scheme supporting the building of solar collector systems with a budget of 2.97 billion forints, announced in early October, will be extended until March 31, 2012. The 1874 proposals submitted so far would require 1.313 billion forints of support, and the planned development projects involve altogether 1,918 residential units.
In early December the Ministry of National Development announced a call for proposals with a budget of 700 million forints to support the renovation of single-channel collector chimneys within the New Széchenyi Plan. Financing will be provided for safety technology upgrading in the buildings of condominiums, housing co-operatives and local government tenements. Financing provided will be non-refundable and ex post in each case. Proposals may be submitted from December 5, 2011 to June 30, 2012 on the website http://uszt-gyujtokemeny.hu.
Source: Ministry of National Development