Environmental Consultancy

Service    Appraisals    Renewables   Benchmarking   Assessments   Carbon   Grants   Links

 

The Service

The increasing importance of the environment has led Laurence Gould extend our range of environmental services beyond that of farm based Farm Environmental Schemes.

The environmental consultancy services are managed and developed by Paul Holmes-Ling CEnv. MIEEM..

Paul has well over 10 years of experience in delivering environmental and conservation solutions to farmers, landowners and rural business.

Our services include

• Environmental Appraisals
• Renewable Energy Solutions
• Environmental Benchmarking
• Environmental Impact Assessments
• Green House Gas and Carbon Accounting
• Grant Applications
• Project Management
• Environmental Training
• Establishing Energy Services Companies (ESCo's)
  • For printable leaflets giving further detais of our Environmental Services please Click Here

 

Environmental appraisals

Working with you and your staff we can assess your business's environmental impacts and develop an action plan for improvements. Every business is different but typical impacts will include energy, carbon, water, packaging and waste.

Our expertise will allow us to develop solutions tailored to your business needs.

The Environmental appraisal can be used as a very effective business tool, helping you to save costs, improve efficiency, achieve better compliance with environmental laws and regulations, gain a marketing edge and improved company profile, and of course a reduced environmental impact.

We can also develop the environmental appraisal further and guide you down the route to environmental accreditation under ISO14001.

 

Renewables

Renewable Energy Solutions
We can help you find the ideal renewable energy solution to fit your business needs, be it to create 'in house' energy or selling to the grid.

With our experience of a wide range of renewable projects including biomass, biogas (anaerobic digestion), wind, photovoltaic and hydro as well as involvement in several large biofuel projects we can guide you through the whole process from feasibility, business planning, budgeting and planning to grant applications and project management.

 

Benchmarking

Environmental Benchmarking
With our partners 'Prime Numbers' we are currently developing www.climatecred.com an objective, measurable and reviewable system for benchmarking the environmental performance of agricultural businesses.

The benchmarking system we are developing captures measurable environmental information from agricultural businesses that can then be weighted and compared according to the clients requirements. Where a client has a particular environmental threshold /performance level / target that his suppliers are required to meet this system will clearly show the suppliers current position against these targets.

 

Impact Assessments

Environmental Impact Assessments
Our service is designed to deliver a practical approach to EIA. We use our experience in the agricultural sector to come up with solutions and mitigations that work for the farm business, whilst satisfying and sometime exceeding planners and environmental expectations.
Our EIA service can include:

• Scoping
• Consultation
• Baseline survey (bringing in relevant associates where required)
• Identifying impacts and evaluating significance
• Determining and designing mitigation
• Writing the Environmental Statement

All our EIA methodologies follow DEFRA and the IEEM guidelines.

 

GHG and Carbon accounting

Green House Gas and Carbon accounting
We can offer a range of services to calculate your business' 'carbon account' and work with you to develop action plans for making reductions.

We can also consider your business potential for sequestering carbon, and are developing our capabilities in the emerging carbon trading market.

Working in partnership with the University or East Anglia's Carbon Reduction programme (CRed) and Rothamstead Research we have recently delivered Natural Englands - Carbon Baseline Survey Project, undertaking carbon audits using the Carbon Accounting for Land Managers (CALM) tool on 200 farms across the UK.

 

Grant applications

We can use our wealth of experience to help you apply for a range of grants to finance your environmental project.

Current grant opportunities include;

ERDP (England Rural Development Programme)
Environmental Stewardship
Carbon Trust
Big Lottery Fund
Bio-Energy Infrastructure Scheme

We can also assist with business plans, expressions of interest, project design and multiple grant applications.

For further information and to contact Paul click here

 

Useful Links

England    Scotland    Wales

 

England

Following a resolution of funding issues both the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) are open for full application.

The ELS Scheme provides payments of £30 /ha (£12/ac) and although uptake of the scheme has been good to date, there are still a large number of farmers who have been sent an application pack, but have yet to apply. Mapping issues and the perceived complexity are two of the more common reasons.

Applications to the HLS scheme is potentially more involved and Natural England have reacted to fears that time will be wasted preparing applications with little chance of success by offering a pre-application assessment of the chances of success.

Assistance is available from Laurence Gould on both schemes and this includes completing application forms, general advice on options and the wider inclusion within existing farm enterprises.

 

Scotland

Background
The Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) is the new vehicle that will be used by the Scottish Government from Spring 2008 to provide grant funding to land managers. The SRDP will provide a new approach to grant funding for land managers and rural communities over the period from 2007-2013.

Rural Development Contracts - Land Managers Options
Land Management Contracts (Tier 2) will remain broadly similar to their previous form however they will be renamed Rural Development Contracts-Land Managers Options.

Rural Development Contracts - Rural Priorities Meanwhile, Rural Development Contracts-Rural Priorities will be the new umbrella scheme pulling together competitive grant schemes for agri-environment (e.g. RSS and OAS), business development (e.g.FBDS), forestry (e.g. SFGS), training and new entrant measures. Some of the measures included in the Rural Development Contracts - Rural Priorities are detailed below:

• Skills development
• Setting up of young farmers
• Restructuring of agricultural businesses
• Manure/ slurry storage & treatment
• Co-operation
• Renewable energy
• Conversion to organic farming
• Diversification out with agriculture
• Unharvested crop
• Species-rich grassland
• Creation & management of water margins & enhanced riparian buffer areas
• Woodland creation
• Sustainable management of forests & woodlands

The link below provides some more information on the SRDP. If you would like to discuss your grant funding options, please do not hesitate to contact the Edinburgh office for more information on 0131 331 3431 or edinburgh@laurencegould.com.

 

Wales

The two main agri-environment schemes operating in Wales are Tir Gofal and Tir Cynnal. Both schemes aim to deliver environmental benefits to habitats and species in Wales alongside continued farming practice. Tir Gofal operates with payments received depending upon options chosen and offers capital payment elements whereas Tir Cynnal is a more simplified scheme where payments are received based on farmed area on a set payment scale.

The Tir Gofal scheme is currently closed to new applicants. Tir Cynnal is open to all farmers and land managers (who are not in Tir Gofal) with application being made via the Single Application Form (SAF) in May each year.

Laurence Gould Partnership Limited have specifically assisted with Tir Cynnal Resource Management Plans which are part of the scheme and with completion of the SAF to enable entry into the scheme.

Downloads

• Energize Your Farm Business
• Farm Scale Renewable Energy
• Energy Efficiency on farm
• Capital Grant Support
• ELS effect on farm GHG