Peterborough schools awarded thousands of pounds to become carbon neutral

A Peterborough schools trust has been given tens of thousands of pounds to help their buildings become carbon neutral.

Peterborough Keys Academies Trust (PKAT) has been awarded nearly £35K from the Government’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero to help its five schools within its Trust to become carbon zero.

The trust runs Jack Hunt, Longthorpe Primary, Nova Primary, Ravensthorpe Primary and Thorpe Primary schools.

Over £2m worth of grants have been awarded to fifteen recipients of the Public Sector Low Carbon Skills Fund in in the East of England.

Director of Programmes at Salix Finance Ian Rodger said: “The Low Carbon Skills Fund enables public sector organisations to develop a heat decarbonisation plan and conduct feasibility studies and design works for future decarbonisation projects. Most of the buildings in the public sector still rely on fossil fuel-based heating and expert skills are required to identify and plan how these heating systems can be replaced, ideally at the end of their working lives.”

Mr Howard Nelson, Chief Finance and Operating Officer at PKAT said: “It is fantastic to have received funding to help lower our carbon emissions. One of the most significant obstacles to achieving the UK’s 2050 Net Zero objective is transitioning the heating of buildings to a low-carbon model. The majority of our buildings still depend on fossil fuel-based heating systems, necessitating the expertise to identify and plan for the replacement of these systems, preferably as they approach the end of their lifecycle. This funding will help us get specialist and expert advice to facilitate heat decarbonisation efforts throughout our school properties.”