AN ECO FRIENDLY school has been awarded a funding boost from the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust.
Blue Coat Primary School in Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire, has been granted over £7,000 from the Trust to install new renewable technology.
The funding will go towards the cost of solar PV panels and a 6 kW wind turbine, as well as a web-based monitoring system and a weather station.
Alison McKean, Senior Environmental and Social Policy Manager at ScottishPower, said:
“The ScottishPower Green Energy Trust is delighted to be able to contribute towards the cost of this fantastic project, which will have great environmental benefits for Blue Coat School and the community.
“I believe it is very important that from an early age, children realise the importance of conserving the earth’s natural resources. This system will allow them to monitor how much CO2 emissions they are avoiding, as well as encouraging them to think about other ways they can help the environment.
“The staff and pupils should be very proud of themselves for showing such a dedication to environmental issues.”
The school embarked on the renewable energy project in 2008, with the aim of reducing its carbon footprint. The project will reinforce to the children and to the local community the importance of replacing fossil fuel derived power with sustainable alternatives.
A display panel will allow pupils and visitors to monitor the total equivalent CO2 emissions avoided by the installation of the new system, and will also include a description of the technologies and how they benefit society.
Children at the school will also have access to live data from the systems on the intranet via Flash Player icons on the school computers.
Mary Buckley, School Administrator, said:
“We are delighted that the ScottishPower Green Energy Trust chose to help fund our new system, and the staff and pupils at the school are looking forward to seeing its effects.
“The children will become ambassadors to the wider community concerning the need to use renewables and reduce our CO2 footprint. Furthermore, the systems will become the focus for the school’s “Environment Week” and will be used to feed into many areas of the school curriculum.
“From April 2010 we have to meet Government targets to demonstrate reduction of our CO2 footprint, and thanks to the Trust’s funding, we are confident we can achieve this goal.”
Issued on behalf of ScottishPower by The BIG Partnership.
For further information on this release please contact Eva Swanson on 0141 333 9585 / 07876 021 367, eva.swanson@bigpartnership.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
The ScottishPower Green Energy Trust was founded in 1998 as an independent charitable trust to support the development of new renewable energy sources in the UK – helping to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and combat climate change.