How we can help
How we can help
The ENE project has received funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund.

Support for organisations as energy users
(Energy efficiency, renewable energy generation and storage)
Do you want help to...
Improve the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of your business?
Save money on energy usage?
Generate, store and use more renewable energy?
Want an outside view on the business with some impartial advice?
Running a business or other organisation can be challenging; often you don’t have enough time to reflect or investigate new opportunities. The climate change and decarbonisation agenda is complex and changing fast, and it can be difficult to pin down exactly what and how that is relevant to you, and what actions to take.
The Eastern New Energy team can help and guide you on your journey through the maze. We can help you in many different ways including:
IN YOUR ORGANISATION
- Planning a pathway to "net zero carbon"
- Undertaking an energy/carbon review and preparing a plan
- Investing in low carbon/energy saving equipment/services
- Switching to renewable energy use
- Generating renewable energy
VEHICLE FLEETS
- Switching your vehicle fleets to lower carbon alternatives
CONSTRUCTION
- Developing/building new, or retrofitting existing, homes and commercial buildings to low/zero carbon standards - affordably
COMMUNITY ENERGY PROJECTS
- Developing new energy projects
All of the business support services and workshops we provide in the ENE project are free.
For more information please contact ene@uel.ac.uk
ENE Privacy Policy
Support for innovation and the development of low carbon products, technologies and services
Do you want help to:
Develop and commercialise your low carbon products, technologies and services?
Grow and develop your business – and take advantage of rapidly growing 'green' market sectors?
Build or retrofit affordable low/zero carbon homes and commercial buildings
Developing, financing and getting new products to market is tough and it can be difficult to get the support you need.
The Eastern New Energy team can support the development of your product or service. Our support includes:
- Understanding and identifying business opportunities for your business in low carbon growth market sectors
- Finding finance and specialist support in the early development stages
- Finding and meeting new customers (and retaining existing ones) as low carbon considerations become increasingly important to them
- Helping with demonstrations of products and services
- Developing and implementing a low carbon marketing and communications strategy for your business
- Finding complementary businesses with whom you can collaborate
All of the business support services and workshops we provide in the ENE project are free.
For more information please contact ene@uel.ac.uk
ENE Privacy Policy
Grants for business
Are you a local small/medium (SME) business?
Are you considering investing in products/equipment/services that will improve the energy efficiency of your business and switch to renewable energy generation and use?
The grants are designed to help you invest to reduce carbon emissions and realise the associated business benefits of reduced operating costs and long-term resilience.
Where needed you can receive free of charge impartial energy efficiency, generation, and storage support, to help identify and quantify the potential impacts of energy efficiency and renewable energy investments through an Energy Efficiency Review.
This is designed to support a Capital Grant Application to the Eastern New Energy "SME Grant Scheme".
Qualifying businesses will be able to apply for a capital grant.
Grants are only available to support capital projects to improve energy efficiency and/ or reduce carbon emissions
Grants are available on a first-come-first-served basis.
Contact antony.gough@pect.org.uk for more information on the Grant Scheme or check out the ENE Grant Scheme page
All of the business support services and workshops we provide in the ENE project are free.
For more information please contact ene@uel.ac.uk
ENE Privacy Policy
"Net Zero carbon" action planning
(For private, public and third sector organisations)
Why Net Zero?
In order to meet the 1.5°C global warming target in the Paris Agreement, and stabilise climate change, CO2 emissions need to fall to zero. A number of countries, including the UK, have made commitments to move to a net zero emissions economy.
Put simply Net Zero means "any emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2 being the most significant) caused by humanity activity must be balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere". We reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away.
How Net Zero?
In many sectors of the economy, technologies exist that can bring emissions to zero. In electricity, it can be done using renewable and nuclear generation. A transport system that runs on electricity or hydrogen, well-insulated homes and industrial processes based on electricity rather than gas can all help to bring sectoral emissions to absolute zero.
However, in industries such as aviation the technological options are limited; in agriculture too, it is highly unlikely that emissions will be brought to zero.
Therefore some emissions from these sectors will likely remain; and in order to offset these, an equivalent amount of CO2 will need to be taken out of the atmosphere - negative emissions. Thus the target becomes "net zero" for the economy as a whole. The term 'carbon neutrality' is also used.
Planning for "Net Zero" in your organisation.
Of course the “net zero” actions you choose will depend very much on your type of organisation and the activities you are involved with.
This list is not exhaustive but your actions may include some or all of these:
BUILDINGS
- Improving the energy efficiency of your existing buildings
- Electrifying heat
- Ensuring all new buildings are zero-carbon
- Changing the behaviour of building occupants
ENERGY
- Procuring zero-carbon energy
- Investing in renewable energy generation both on - and off- site
- Trading energy with neighbours
TRANSPORT
- Switching vehicle fleets to low carbon alternatives
- Organising travel plans and policies
PROCUREMENT
- Procurement policies: Steering procurement towards low/zero carbon alternatives
- Switching away from high-carbon suppliers, or service providers (e.g. banks) that support high carbon projects
- (Where applicable) using the Public Sector Social Value Act and Localism Act to underpin procurement decisions
- Helping suppliers to decarbonise their own operations
RESOURCES
- Recycle more. This reduces energy consumption by requiring less new products; and using recycled materials to make new products reduces the need for virgin materials.
COLLABORATION AND COLLECTIVE ACTION
- Collaborating with other organisations to achieve economies of scale, aggregate demand and supply, pool and share resources.
STAFF
- Helping staff decarbonise their travel to work and homes via staff benefits schemes and salary sacrifice schemes.
PENSION SCHEMES
- Ensuring pensions investments are divested from fossil fuels and actively seeking investment in sustainable businesses and projects.
MATERIALS
- Substituting materials for lower carbon and more sustainable alternatives.
BIODIVERSITY
Using your own estate to increase biodiversity
Planning for "Net Zero". How we can help.
Eastern New Energy (ENE) has a team of low carbon and climate specialists who can help you with these and other actions. We are available to you (free of charge) to assist with developing, preparing and implementing your own Net Zero Plan.
For more information please contact ene@uel.ac.uk
ENE Privacy Policy
Climate Emergency planning
(For Councils, Universities, NHS and other public sector organisations)
What is climate emergency?
The Oxford Dictionary chose climate emergency as the word of the year for 2019 and defines the term as "a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it."
Around 230 councils in the UK have declared a climate emergency and by so doing they have acknowledged that they need to act on the causes and impacts of climate change. Universities, NHS Trusts and other public sector organisations are also joining the network https://www.climateemergency.uk/blog/list-of-councils/
These organisations are taking action to reduce their own carbon emissions and working with partners and local communities to tackle the impact of climate change on their local area.
How we can help
Declaring a climate emergency is an important first, strategic step, but it is just the start of a long and detailed process to deliver on this challenge.
Whether you have already declared a climate emergency or are contemplating doing so, Eastern New Energy (ENE) has a team of low carbon and climate specialists who can assist you with impartial advice and support (free of charge) to work through the key tasks and priorities on this journey
As a regional project we can bring together groups of councils, other public sector bodies, and other interested organisations to share knowledge and resources.
These are just some of the key actions you will need to address in this process:
- Agree who will lead and co-ordinate climate action across different departments and functions in your organisation
- Identify key causes and local impacts of climate change in your area and decide on key tasks and priorities from this
- Prepare a detailed plan which describes what needs to be done and by when, and key priority actions
- Engage and collaborate with a wide variety of organisations, local communities, individuals, businesses and government
- Prepare a detailed cost budget, and identify and secure funding for the proposed investments and actions
- Create an implementation/delivery team with clear responsibilities and strict programme for delivery
- Monitor progress closely and adapt/develop the plan ongoing to meet defined objectives and targets
All of the business support services and workshops we provide in the ENE project are free.
For more information please contact ene@uel.ac.uk
ENE Privacy Policy
Research and demonstration projects
Eastern New Energy (ENE), at its heart, is a Research Collaboration project. Its core purpose is to understand and help remove the barriers that we all face in rapidly decarbonising our communities, buildings, transport, and lives - and take swift, practical actions to achieve this.
At the same time we will support local business and other organisations to take full advantage of the opportunities that are emerging in low carbon and environmental growth markets.
The barriers and challenges to decarbonisation are many and varied and will require innovative approaches and collective determination to overcome. At the same time many of these challenges are common across the region and the country so that collaboration, open access knowledge sharing, and widescale dissemination will speed progress towards our common goals.
Innovation Clusters
To support this, and aside from support for individual organisations, we are creating Innovation Clusters - focusing on key themes/challenges - where a wide range of stakeholders and interested parties can come together to solve problems and share knowledge.
Full details of the themes and working groups can be found on the Research in Eastern New Energy page.
Demonstration Projects
We also intend to support and promote best practice demonstration projects across the region which develop, test and verify a range of solutions and disseminate the results and knowledge widely. Examples of these demonstration projects include:
- Zero carbon affordable housing
- Low carbon housing retrofit
- Subsidy-free renewable energy generation
- Using data and analytics to help solve energy and carbon challenges
If you are interested in participating in one or more of our Innovation Clusters or Demonstration Projects please contact us on ene@uel.ac.uk.