Â鶹´«Ã½, Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½) is embarking on a project to create a new sustainable carbon-cutting heating system to heat its campus.
This weekend the university took strides towards moving the organisation closer to its goal of net-zero carbon for its energy use by 2032- installing the first renewable energy heat pump to replace a gas boiler on its Campus Centre roof.
The new heat pump is part of a wider low-carbon project the university plans to roll out across the whole of it's campus over the coming years.
Paul Eccleshare, Â鶹´«Ã½’s Energy Manager, said: “The installation at the Campus Centre is the first time the university has removed a fossil fuel, natural gas boiler and replaced it with a heat generator that does not require fossil fuels to make it work.
“Â鶹´«Ã½ buys its electricity from zero carbon sources. By switching our heating fuel away from natural gas, which produces CO2 and other greenhouse gases when combusted in our boilers, to electricity it reduces our contribution of the gases that cause climate change
“Moving away from natural gas as a fuel for heating our spaces is essential if the university is going to meet its commitment to be net zero in regard to energy use by 2032.”
He added: “This is the greenest way for us to go, it’s an early step on our low-carbon heating journey and we have a plan to roll it out across the whole of the campus.”
The new carbon-cutting system is a further step towards the universities commitment to the United Nations (UN) Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), putting sustainability at the heart of its operations and making campus greener.
Â鶹´«Ã½’s low carbon-journey also has a positive impact for its students, Paul said: “From a student perspective this is about meeting the climate change agenda and it’s a great way for students to see their education having less and less impact on the environment and a positive step towards a greener future.
“Students could also view this from a skills point of view and the creation of green jobs, supporting their future. The future of heating is going to change, new skills are needed, therefore new high-skilled opportunities and the creation of a greener economy.”
The next installation is set to take place at Leicester Media School after the university was awarded over £175,000 earlier this year by the Government to support the replacement of the aging gas boilers with a new Air Source Heat Pump system, reducing the emissions of CO2 associated with heating this building to zero.
Posted on Tuesday 2 May 2023