EU funding could help reduce emissions

Efforts to reduce emissions from industrial installations could benefit from a newly announced decision to provide EU funding for energy-efficient projects.

The European Commission has voted on what to do with almost €150 million (£127 million) in unused funding.

By a margin of 582 votes to 27, it has opted to allow the funds to be used as equity, guarantees or loans on a variety of initiatives across the continent.

Money is to be allocated on a geographically neutral basis to schemes working on energy efficiency, sustainability or to reduce emissions.

The latter could be achieved through smart metering, efficient street lighting, building renovations or sustainable modes of power production.

Investment into power production throughout the continent is part of the European Energy Recovery Plan.

This aims to establish a secure electricity supply for EU member states, while accelerating the pace of investment into infrastructure in each country's energy sector.