Norfolk school to cut carbon emissions with new green boiler
A Norfolk school hopes to cut its carbon emissions by up to 177 tonnes per annum by installing a new boiler which will burn wood pellets instead of oil.
Flegg High School at Martham hopes to save 197,000 kwh of energy every year due to boiler efficiency, and cut its bills by up to £7,000 a year.
It also plans to use the 550 kw boiler as a resource for teaching pupils about environmental and sustainability issues and develop curriculum resources for other schools.
The cost of the £238,400 biomass boiler was met by £108,400 from school funds, £50,000 from the Government’s Bio-energy Capital Grants Scheme run by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, £30,000 from the Broads Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund, £30,000 from EDF Energy’s Green Fund, and £20,000 from Norfolk County Council. The project has been managed by Suffolk County Council which has installed several biomass boilers across Suffolk.
A back up oil boiler has been installed for heating hot water in the summer.
Head teacher Cherry Crowley said: “We wanted to do our bit for the environment by using a renewable and sustainable source of fuel. It’s a tremendous learning project for young people. We are educators and if young people can be involved in renewable energy first hand they can understand the relevance to them.
“We will take small groups of pupils to see the boiler to learn how it works. It is also my business to manage public funds and the savings we are expecting from the new boiler will benefit the school. We were so excited to get the grants - without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”
Rod Grundy, the school’s operations manager, had the idea to go green when three of the school’s oil boilers needed replacing.
He said: “It didn’t make sense to buy three new oil boilers when we could develop our use of sustainable resources and save money with just one biomass boiler. We want to improve the school’s carbon footprint and save a small amount of money each year on our fuel bills. The school plans to install further renewable energy technology in the future, including a wind turbine and solar panels.
“The pupils we have are the adults of the future. They clearly have a responsibility to themselves, their families and the world to do what they can to make a positive difference to the environment.”
15/01/2009
