Baxi: Grants needed for renewable energy

06/06/2008
The government should increase the use of grants to further the use of renewable energy technology, the boss of a leading boiler manufacturer has said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's 'You and Yours' programme, Martyn Coffey, chief executive of the Baxi Group, called for grants to lower the costs of renewable energy products.

He suggested that renewable energy technology would be adopted by consumers if grants brought their cost into line with that of boilers currently available.

The comments came as Baxi unveiled its new Ecogen boiler at the 2008 Micropower Annual Conference.

Mr Coffey told the programme: "This is a micro CHP boiler, so effectively what you're looking at is a standard wall-hung boiler which effectively has got a Stirling engine in it."

He also revealed that the new boiler will be available on the market in the early part of 2009 after being in development for the past five years.

Earlier this week, research published by the Department for Business, Energy and Regulatory Reform suggested government grants could lead to nine million renewable energy systems being installed by 2020.