Carbon standard for College Campus

Editorial Department • Published 9 Feb 2012 13:30 0 Comments

The Colleges of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise across Northern Ireland have been re-certified under the Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of progress made in reducing their carbon footprint and significantly cutting energy costs.

The Carbon Trust Standard requires an organisation to reduce its carbon footprint by at least 2.5% a year and also measure up to a number of assessment criteria. These include an energy reduction policy, good accounting processes for energy usage, investment in energy saving technologies and systems and also communication with staff members to involve everyone in the process.

CAFRE is one of only five organisations in Northern Ireland to obtain the Standard. Significant savings have been made in reducing heating oil use and cutting electricity bills.

According to DARD, the approach to this has been twofold. A range of energy efficiency measures have been introduced such as upgrading oil boilers, installing better heating control systems in buildings and developing a culture of energy efficiency among the staff and students.

The second strand to reducing the carbon footprint is the adoption of renewable energy technologies, including their use on the farms and in the horticultural and food technology units. Wind power, solar hot water systems, a heat pump and four biomass boilers all contribute to the College's energy needs and reduce the fossil fuel consumption. Almost 25% of the energy needs are met from renewable energy sources, with the biomass boilers being the single largest contributor.

The 300 kW biomass boiler on Enniskillen Campus will be on display on Wednesday, February 22 during the Practical On-farm Renewable Energy event. There will be regular tours to show the operation of the boiler and the delivery system for the locally grown wood chip. The event runs from 1.30pm to 10pm and will cover the full range of renewable technology options for the farming and rural community.

Advice will be given to farmers, rural businesses and community groups who could benefit from a new funding programme for renewable energy projects, which is now available through the NI Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2007-2013.

Eligible applicants can apply for 50% of eligible project costs up to a maximum of £50,000 funding per project. Funding is also available for 50% of the cost of technical assistance up to a maximum of £5,000 per application.

The RDP is administered by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and delivered locally by Local Action Groups (LAGs).

Seminars on funding run at 2pm and 6pm on February 22.

Tweet

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 09 Feb 12

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

You must be logged in to post. If you have not registered with us, please do so now.

Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users do not have to complete word verification once logged in and can also take part in competitions and other registered user only features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.