Eden Project

Eden Project to drastically increase energy efficiency

We’ve just unveiled a raft of new energy efficiency measures designed to cut our emissions by a quarter over the next two years. The upgrades to our technical systems – lights, boilers, controls – will also save us £160,000 a year.

Here’s the technical stuff, explained in layman’s terms:

A new Building Management System
What that means: Basically, it’s a giant TV remote control that allows us to tightly control heat and electricity consumpion around site, including in the Biomes.
Estimated carbon saving: 694 tonnes carbon dioxide a year.

A new gas-fired high-efficiency boiler system
What that means: A really efficient boiler in place of our oil-fired system at our plant nursery, our Visitor Centre and our energy centre (our onsite hub for gas and electricity).
Estimated carbon saving: 182 tonnes carbon dioxide a year.

746 LED lights
What that means: One of the biggest UK installations of these super-efficient, long-lasting lightbulbs (below) which are one step ahead of the ‘energy-saving’ compact fluorescent lightbulbs most people are now fitting in their homes.
Estimated carbon saving: 51 tonnes carbon dioxide a year.

All in all, we’re investing £580,000 in these energy efficiency initatives over two years, but they will pay for themselves in less than three and a half years and then deliver fantastic savings annually. As our Finance Director, Peter Cox says, ‘This is a very exciting project for Eden which makes absolute sense in both environmental and financial terms. What is more, it is all well-established and proven technologies which any business could look at.’

Matt Hastings (above), Eden’s Energy Manager, adds: ‘While renewables are very important, the most critical tool in the box is a focused commitment to reducing consumption… The energy crunch is coming… We are fixing the roof before the rain comes.’

To complement these efficiency measures we’ve also got exciting plans for a geothermal power plant, which will provide both heat and electricity.

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Categories:

Climate change, Sustainability

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Climate change, Environment, Sustainability