London finds 11.5 million pounds more for energy efficient buildings

Lux Magazine report: Facing criticism that he is missing his carbon reduction goals, Mayor Boris Johnson has found an additional £11.5 million – most of it from the European Union – to retrofit London’s buildings for energy efficiency.

The new financing extends a three-year old scheme called the London Energy Efficiency Fund (LEEF) that has helped install LED lighting, solar panels, insulation, new boilers and other technologies aimed at cutting energy consumption in private homes and in public buildings such as schools, libraries, hospitals and town halls.

‘We need to do everything possible to make the most of our resources, reduce carbon emissions and create a more secure, cost-effective and sustainable heat and power supply across London,’ Mayor Johnson said in a press release.

His critics would agree. A month ago, the London Assembly’s Environment Committee said the mayor was falling well short of the carbon reduction milestones he set in his Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy. It scored him at 4 out of a possible 10.

LEEF is part of the London Green Fund, which is now funneling £10 million of European Regional Development Fund money into it. An additional £1.5 million comes from what the press release described as ‘generated interest.’