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Posted on: 09/12/2020
One of the largest multi-academy trusts in England is now one step closer to becoming a carbon neutral educational organisation with the support of business electricity supplier, SmartestEnergy and energy consultants, Zenergi.
Oasis Community Learning, a trust with 52 schools across England has now switched 41 of its academies to SmartestEnergy’s renewable electricity product, that’s 80% of its schools.
The 100% renewable electricity product has been independently certified by the Carbon Trust, meaning every megawatt hour of electricity supplied is matched with a UK-recognised origin certificate, SmartestEnergy sources these certificates from renewable generation projects including, wind, solar, water, thermal, and anaerobic digestion (AD).
Under the two-year supply agreement, SmartestEnergy supplies 100% renewable electricity to Oasis Community Learning at their contracted sites from 1st November 2020 to 31st October 2022.
John Barneby, Chief Operating Officer at Oasis Community Learning, said;
“We believe that the education sector has a responsibility to raise awareness and empower future generations to ensure the sustainability of our planet. We are incredibly excited about this project as it will reduce our impact on the environment and represents the start of a bigger and longer-term initiative to lead the way in the education sector.”
Oasis Community Learning have an ‘Environmental and Sustainability Group’ with colleagues from across the Oasis family.
The group acts as ‘sustainability champions’ across the family of academies and will look at developing a policy, strategy and implementation to roll out this exciting project.
James Graham, VP Sales and Marketing at SmartestEnergy said,
“SmartestEnergy are proud to support Oasis Community Learning on their net-zero journey. We champion the role of independent renewable generators and empower businesses to deliver their net-zero roadmap by providing transparent renewable products.
“Our renewable electricity products are certified by the Carbon Trust to be compliant with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, which means Oasis Community Learning can confidently report zero carbon emissions for purchased electricity [when reporting using the market-based method].”
"Procuring 100% renewable electricity is one of the most effective ways for businesses to embark upon their net-zero journey and demonstrate their commitment to combating climate change.”
Simon Firth, Head of Energy Solutions at Zenergi said;
“Zenergi are delighted to be supporting Oasis Community Learning by reducing their carbon footprint and facilitating the purchase of renewable electricity across all their academies.”
Oasis is set to announce its Environmental Sustainability Strategy within weeks with their first goals being; a new carbon neutral waste and recycling contract, setting up an eco-champion in each of their 52 schools, and create educational change around energy efficiency and usage.
It doesn’t end there, Oasis has also partnered with Eden Sustainable to add solar power panels across an initial fourteen school sites. With this initiative, Oasis will be reducing their carbon footprint, reducing energy bills and equipping academies with real life data that can be used as a teaching resource in Science and Technology.
