Wind turbine helping school to turn green
Enough electricity to make 110,000 cups of tea a year will be generated by a wind turbine at a city primary school.
The 17.5-metre-high mast at Coleman Primary School, in Crown Hills, Leicester, will complete a major project to make the site more environmentally friendly.
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Head teacher Nigel Bruen
A new carbon-neutral nursery building at the school has straw bale walls, ground source heating and solar panels. It is clad in timber and was built using recycled materials.
Pupil Miya Modhvadia, 11, said: "It's really good that we're becoming more environmentally friendly. You can't use gas forever but you can use the sun and wind forever.
"If we cause pollution there will be global warming and the ice will melt and there will be floods."
Classmate Mina Modhavadia, 11, said: "We hope the wind will be able to power the nursery so we don't have to use electricity from the switch.
"I actually think it's fun to save electricity."
A monitor in the school building will enable pupils to keep track of how much energy the turbine is generating and the amount of carbon dioxide they are saving.
Umar Patel, 10, said: "We hope we're going to stop pollution".
Installation of the six-kilowatt turbine was made possible with a £10,000 grant from the Co-op, together with £15,500 from the Government's Low Carbon Building Programme and £5,500 from Leicester City Council. The new nursery building is already open and work is beginning this week to put up the turbine.
A spokeswoman for Leicester City Council said: "The wind turbine is fantastic news and is part of a great project at Coleman Primary School, whereby in the next couple of months the school will have every form of renewable technology on site.
"The school really is an exemplar project in environmental design."
Head teacher Nigel Bruen said: "It's fantastic to be among the schools selected to receive a renewable energy grant.
"Our wind turbine will reduce the school's reliance on fossil fuels and save us money on our electricity bills while providing us with an invaluable resource for educating pupils about green energy."
3 Comments
by Alan, Leics
Tuesday, May 05 2009, 2:59PM
“The last report on a previous school stated a cost of £30k to save £300 a year, which to me does not seem a cost effective way of saving on public money.”
by Paul, Hamilton
Tuesday, May 05 2009, 12:00PM
“The LM does not seem to say when £31K will be paid back or how much the schools Gas and Elec bills will go down each year?”
by Kulgan, Crydee
Tuesday, May 05 2009, 8:42AM
“Perhaps monies could be found to fund wind turbines/solar panels for all schools in the County. The cost savings would pay for themselves in a few years and as budgets work in a 5 year cycle, well within the 'wit of man'.
Even though I did a typo on another comment, Online Staff you have a spelling error 3rd from last paragraph 'exemplar' should read 'exemplary'.”