UK green business grants that ask for a carbon footprint (2026)

Most green business grants in the UK are run locally by councils, combined authorities and Growth Hubs. They typically pay part of the cost of energy-saving equipment such as LED lighting, insulation, efficient heating, solar panels or heat pumps, and you fund the rest. More and more of them ask for your current energy use, your carbon footprint and the savings your project will deliver.

Schemes open and close all the time, so treat the examples below as a guide to what is out there. Your local Growth Hub and council will know what is live near you.

What kinds of green business grants are there in the UK?

Broadly, there are three types.

Local capital grants. The most common. A council or combined authority part-funds equipment that cuts energy use and carbon. They tend to be first come, first served or competitive within a fixed budget.

Free energy surveys and advice. Many local schemes start with a free energy audit, then let you apply for a grant to fund what the audit recommends. Some make the survey a condition of the grant.

Innovation funding. If you are developing a new low-carbon product or process, Innovate UK competitions may be relevant. These are national, competitive and assessed in a very different way. Our guide to Innovate UK’s EDI and environmental impact questions covers those.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own business support services (Find Business Support in Scotland, Business Wales and Invest Northern Ireland), all signposted from the GOV.UK business support page.

Examples of 2026 grants that ask for carbon data

These schemes were open or recently open in 2026. They are examples to show what funders typically offer and ask for, so check each funder’s page before you plan around one.

Scheme	Area	What it offers	What it asks for
Bulwell Business Decarbonisation Grant, Nottingham City Council	Bulwell and Bulwell Forest wards	£500 to £5,000, up to 75% of project cost	Annual gas and electricity kWh, tariffs, current emissions, projected emissions and savings, and how you calculated them
Capital Growth Grant, South Midlands Growth Hub	Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire	£5,000 to £25,000 at up to 50%, for innovation and growth projects including carbon reduction	A decarbonisation plan on completion for carbon-reducing projects

The South Midlands 2026 round has passed its application deadline. It is still a useful picture of what funders ask for, and similar rounds often return.

What figures do green business grants ask for?

The Bulwell application is a good model, because it spells out exactly what many funders want. In its carbon savings section, it asks for:

• Your annual gas and electricity consumption in kWh
• Your current energy tariffs
• Your estimated current carbon emissions in kg or tonnes
• Your estimated emissions after the project
• Your estimated annual carbon savings
• How you calculated those savings

Other schemes ask for less, but almost all want some version of “what do you use now, what will change and how do you know”. You will usually also need supplier quotes, proof of trading history, and landlord permission if you rent and the work affects the building.

We go through each figure, with a worked calculation, in the kWh, tariff and carbon saving figures grant funders want.

What do green business grants usually pay for?

Eligible costs are surprisingly consistent across schemes. Typical examples include:

• LED lighting and lighting controls
• Insulation and other building fabric improvements
• Replacing an inefficient boiler with a more efficient system or a heat pump
• Solar panels, often with a requirement that they are sized mainly for your own use rather than export
• Energy-efficient equipment such as compressors, motors or refrigeration

What they usually will not pay for is just as important. Running costs, repairs, like-for-like replacements, VAT and anything you ordered before approval are commonly excluded. Several schemes also exclude vehicles. If your project is borderline, email the grant team before you spend time on a full application.

How to find green business grants near you

Start local and work outwards.

1. Your Growth Hub. England has a network of Growth Hubs that know the local funding picture. Use the Growth Hub Finder to find yours.
2. Your council’s business or economic development pages. Search your council name plus “business grant” or “low carbon grant”.
3. Find a Grant. The government’s Find a Grant service lists national schemes, including Innovate UK competitions.
4. Your local chamber of commerce or energy hub. They often hear about new rounds first.

Sign up for newsletters where you can. Popular schemes can be fully committed within weeks of opening.

How to get your carbon baseline ready before you apply

The most time-consuming part of a green grant application is often the numbers, not the writing. Getting your carbon footprint done before a round opens means you can apply in the first week, when funding is most available.

ESG Now produces that baseline from a plain-English questionnaire. You enter your electricity and gas use from your bills (or estimate from floor area if you do not have them yet), plus any company vehicles, flights, rail travel, waste and water. The report calculates your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions using the UK government’s conversion factors and shows every line as activity multiplied by factor in the appendix, which is exactly the “how did you calculate it” evidence funders want. For grant applications, use your actual bills wherever you can, because funders usually expect measured energy figures.

Most small businesses finish in under 30 minutes, and your answers save as you go, so you can pause. Your first report is free. Start your report, or read our guide to showing a carbon baseline for a decarbonisation grant. The grant applications hub brings all of our grant guidance together.