Herefordshire is to spend up to £120,000 on first steps to making all its schools less dependent on fossil fuels.
The expenditure has just been confirmed by the council’s corporate director for children and young people Darryl Freeman, as part of plans for the county to become carbon-neutral by 2030.
“Schools play in important part in this journey to become carbon-neutral as they are the biggest contributor to the council’s carbon footprint,” his decision notice said.
The money will go on drawing up “heat decarbonisation plans” for all 101 schools the council maintains in the county, setting out how each will switch to low-carbon energy sources such as heat pumps, and install insulation and other retrofitting measures.
RELATED NEWS:
- Herefordshire due £5 million payback from troubled council
- Half-million-pound digital upgrade to Herefordshire services
- Herefordshire school reveals 3G sports pitch plans
It will also cover the cost of turning some of these plans into design specs, which will form the basis for grant applications or for capital bids to the council, in order to put them into practice.
“This is the beginning of the decarbonisation journey,” the council’s decision says.
Heat decarbonation plans are “essential” before it can move onto funding the actual measures, it adds.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here