Bath schools energy project to get national rollout

An education programme trialled by schools across Bath & North East Somerset teaching young people about how to make their schools more energy efficient is being rolled out nationwide.

The Energy Sparks project for primary and secondary school pupils shows pupils, teachers, school management and the wider school community how to save money and benefit the environment. The scheme has recently secured £500,000 from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to make improvements to the programme and roll it out to schools across the country.  

Bath & North East Somerset Council has backed the project, which was developed by Transition Bath, a local charity working to reduce carbon emissions and climate change.

Schools participating in Energy Sparks have been able to demonstrate real energy savings in a short period of time. Pupils at Freshford Church School used Energy Sparks to identify energy wastage of £740 per year from an inefficient freezer. They wrote to school management to recommend a more efficient replacement freezer. The electricity savings paid for the investment within 4 months, and over the 10-year life of the freezer will save the school around £7000.

Sarah Warren, joint cabinet member for Climate Emergency, said: “Addressing the climate emergency is an issue that young people really care about and the Energy Sparks programme enables pupils to take real action to reduce their school’s carbon footprint. I’m delighted that young people across Bath & North East Somerset have been the first to benefit from Energy Sparks and would encourage other schools across the country to get on board with this excellent project.”