SARA KEVIN

So all our centres are costing a fortune to run. Are we burning gas to heat them all?

“Yes, at the moment almost all our heating is via gas. Behind the scenes, things are changing. Central government set up the public sector decarbonisation scheme (PSDS), essentially a huge pot of money for local authorities like TC to apply for whatever projects they are prioritising on.”

Is this for things like solar and air sourced heat pumps (ASHP)?

“Precisely.”

Sara Kevin

So, will all our roofs soon be covered in solar panels and what exactly is an ASHP?

Sara Kevin

“Yes, pretty much all our roof space that can be utilised with solar photo voltaic panels (SPV) will have them. SVP will contribute to the energy required but in isolation they will only generate a small percentage of our demand.

Heat pumps source existing heat from environments like the air, ground or water. It may not feel like there is a lot of heat around in the middle of winter, but any heat we have is very usable. A Leisure centre in Lancashire uses heat sourced from the local river! Some of our mine shafts around the country are being reappropriated for ground sourced heat pumps. This short video: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/air-source-heat-pumps/ helps explains how they work. Move Altrincham when refurbished will have our first commercial ASHP. Its about the size of a shipping container. ASHP & SVP is planned for all our facilities.

As certain times of the year, so in winter for heating or summer for cooling, our energy demands may mean we will still have to top up and import electricity off the grid. We have just renewed our electricity contracts so from April all our leisure centres will use electricity from renewable sources.”

Sara Kevin

Will we ever get to a point where we do not have to import any electricity off the grid or even better can we generate more than we need and see energy as means of income?

“Possibly, but not in one giant stride or within the next year or so. It could happen in stages, underpinned by finance, technology and a real desire from us all to make it happen; every individual and every business has a part to play. Net zero for some aspects of our business will financially cost more to achieve & right now, that makes it very tricky. Ironically it may be the golf course not so much our leisure centres that is key to achieving net zero.”