Schools going green to generate renewable energy

Thursday, 17 March 2022 17:36

By Adam Clark

The impact of climate change and rising energy costs mean that there is an increasing need to create more sustainable sources of power that will help reduce emissions and meet environmental targets.

In 2019 Rochdale Borough Council declared a climate emergency and set a goal to become carbon neutral by 2038 along with the rest of Greater Manchester.

Since the declaration was made the council has installed more electric car charging points, installed solar-powered smart bins, launched an electric scooter trial, and secured funding to build a solar farm on land near Heywood.

The council has also secured £11m of funding through the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) to invest in heat decarbonisation works and other measures for 19 public buildings, including leisure centres and schools. This will allow significant investment in decarbonising many public buildings and schools across the borough. The works include LED lighting, insulation and double glazing, solar Photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage and the installation of Air Sourced Heat Pumps (ASHP).

The 19 buildings set to benefit from the funding include Rochdale Leisure Centre, Middleton Arena, Heywood Sports Village, Number One Riverside, Rochdale Town Hall, Fashion Corner, the council’s Green Lane depot, Rochdale Crematorium, Bowlee Sports Pavilion, Brook House Middleton, and nine primary schools across the borough.

Whittaker Moss Primary School in Norden is one of the schools that is having new green technologies installed. The installation of roof-mounted Solar (PV) and battery storage will make an impact towards reducing the schools' energy costs and in turn reducing carbon emissions.

Councillor Sara Rowbotham MBE, the cabinet member for climate change and sustainability, said: “These decarbonisation projects on our public buildings and schools are part of our commitment to meet our target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2038. It is fantastic that we are able to install renewable energy on our schools to generate green energy and reduce our carbon emissions. We want to do many more schemes like Whittaker Moss Primary School across all the borough and show what can be achieved by working together to meet the challenge of climate change.”

Councillor Rachel Massey, the cabinet member for children’s services and education, added: “I am so pleased to see our schools being involved in having green technologies installed, it’s a great move forward and shows a borough-wide commitment to reducing carbon emissions and using more renewable energy. Doing this not only benefits the school but it also educates our children on the importance of reducing our carbon footprint from an early age, which is vital.”

Further information on the council’s commitment to tackling climate change can be found at rochdale.gov.uk/climatechange

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