Business energy costs could benefit as universities help West Midlands firms - 13/10/2009

Businesses could benefit from cheap energy rates as the result of an initiative where three universities are helping firms in the West Midlands get involved in renewable energy.

Advantage West Midlands is providing £1.4 million to fund the Renewable Energy Supply Chain Opportunity, where experts from the University of Warwick, Harper Adams University College and Staffordshire University work with local businesses.

The intention is to help build business partnerships that could lead to the development of new renewable energy technology, while helping businesses find the organisations conducting the research.

Caroline Jackson, director of sustainable business solutions at Staffordshire University, said: "Many businesses will already have products that can be easily transferred to the renewable energy sector, or that could help improve supply to areas where demand has increased, such as biofuels or carbon capture."

Around 76,000 people are already employed by the environmental technology sector in the region, which contributes £4.4 billion to the Midlands economy.

The government recently announced plans to dramatically escalate the number of offshore wind farms being built around the UK's coastline.

If you want to find out more about business energy and how you could save up to 50 per cent on your business energy bills, click here.