The journey to Gloucestershire college (GC) zero

Gloucestershire College is the first college in the country to drive decarbonisation and pledges to be carbon zero by 2030 - that's 20 years ahead of the Government’s commitment to 2050. This means the carbon it generates running all of its campuses will be 100% offset by the carbon it saves operating renewably and responsibly. To give you some idea of the task, it takes the equivalent of 13 million kettles being boiled to run the Gloucester campus every single day. Or 63 million hours of continuous Xbox play. Or 17.7 million miles in an electric car.

Following a robust environmental audit and strategy undertaken by Hillside Environmental Services, and successfully securing funding from the Government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, a £4.8m energy retrofit began in October 2021, covering three main elements.

• Stage 1: Electrify heating by drilling 40 boreholes - each 200m deep - into both Cheltenham and Gloucester campus car parks, to install heat pumps that warm the buildings via renewable electricity, rather than combustion-based fossil fuels. This type of ground source heat pump system harnesses natural heat from underground by pumping water through it in pipes; using less electrical energy than the heat they produce.
• Stage 2: Install solar panels to generate green energy on site to fuel the heat pumps and produce the College’s own renewable electricity.
• Stage 3: Optimise energy use by installing battery storage and smart energy controls to balance the College’s energy needs to use power at the most economic times. This includes producing heat overnight and storing surplus electricity. The College will then be able to convert to its new energy system in spring 2022.

These changes will make a lasting impact. GC is leading the way for FE colleges by taking action that will combat climate change for good. It will reduce its carbon footprint by 63% in year 1 – and by following the decarbonisation of the UK national grid by 95% in 2030.

To support the wider GC Zero ambition, the College is also making changes to its curriculum, transport links, goods consumption and more to achieve its goal of becoming carbon zero by 2030.

Find out more on their net zero website.