Thursday 23 August 2018

Could Hackney’s green spaces provide London’s clean heat?

An innovative new project could see Hackney’s green spaces generating enough clean energy to heat  buildings in the area.

That's according to charity 10:10 Climate Action, which is partnering with Hackney Council and energy consultancy Scene to see if heat pumps could be effectively used to heat council buildings, local schools or homes and in doing so, displace the gas, oil, or electricity previously used for this purpose.

Heating currently accounts for about a third of the nation's entire greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through the burning of natural gas.

Heat pumps use electricity to concentrate low temperature heat stored in the ground or bodies of water and pump it through pipes into buildings.

The first phase of the new project, which will consider whether the scheme is feasible, is due to begin later this year.

Max Wakefield, Lead Campaigner at 10:10 Climate Action, said: "To avoid catastrophic climate change we need to rapidly cut carbon - and that means stopping burning gas and oil to heat our buildings.

"Heat pumps are one way to do that - and what’s so exciting about this project is the possibility of tackling climate change and helping protect the green spaces all of us value so much at the same time."