Both the primary and secondary schools in Reepham are using sustainable biofuel manufactured from used vegetable oil to provide heat and hot water. The schools are amongst 30 properties in and around the Norfolk town which are taking part in the groundbreaking 12-month trial.
Lisa Cook, head teacher at Reepham Primary School, said: "The children are enthusiastic about cutting carbon emissions and we have energy monitors for each class. They are genuinely thrilled to be taking part in such a significant experiment."
Partners in the pioneering project are University of East Anglia's Low Carbon Innovation Centre, Norfolk County Council, local entrepreneur Andrew Robertson of Clean Energy Consultancy, and the two bodies that represent the oil heating industry in the UK and Ireland - the Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) and the Industrial Commercial Energy Association (ICOM).
Jeremy Hawksley, director general of OFTEC, said: "Results from the field trials have been extremely encouraging to date. The project has also been well supported by many OFTEC manufacturing members who are conducting their own field trials alongside this project. Having a liquid biofuel that is interchangeable with domestic heating oil means that around 1.9 million households in the UK and Ireland will be able to use renewable technology to heat their homes, with very few modifications to their existing heating systems."
EU, UK and Irish Governments are all currently developing legislation to reduce carbon emissions, and the UK in particular has committed to increase the use of renewables for energy from 1.5% in 2006 to 15% by 2020. Whilst the forthcoming Renewable Heat Incentive is likely to impose a levy on 100% fossil fuels such as kerosene, OFTEC anticipates that there will be rebates for using renewable fuels such as a bio-kerosene blend.
