Rock 'flour', EV batteries, and renewable tech - May roundup
Satisfaction with heat pumps is as high as gas boilers
New research shows that more than 80% of households that have had a heat pump installed are happy with their new heating system. This figure is similar to satisfaction rates for gas boilers.
In Nottingham, around 30% of the city’s carbon emissions come from heating and powering our buildings. The UK Government hopes to install 600,000 heat pumps across the country each year to tackle carbon dioxide emissions linked to heating homes. Through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, homeowners can get a grant of up to 6,000 to replace their gas boiler with a heat pump.
Improved EV batteries to have enough power to drive from Nottingham to Frankfurt
A China-based startup is aiming to be the first company to mass produce electric vehicle (EV) batteries with a range of 1,000km. This is roughly double the current standard. Gotion High Tech, a supplier to Volkswagen, will begin mass production of the batteries in 2024. 1,000km range is enough to be able to drive from Nottingham to Frankfurt in Germany!
Break through shows that billions of tonnes of CO2 can be trapped in rock ‘flour’
Scientists have shown that rock ‘flour’ from Greenland’s glaciers can trap carbon dioxide when spread on fields. This ground-breaking research has global potential to remove billions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. Greenland’s ice sheets produce 1bn of rock flour naturally per year as the glacier grinds on the rocks.
In Nottingham, the focus of our carbon neutral action plan is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is produced in the city. However, we are also trying to remove carbon from the atmosphere through measures such as tree planting. You can get involved and help us plant trees by joining Nottingham Green Guardians.
Calls to install solar panels on existing buildings and car parks
Installing solar panels on existing buildings and car parks can provide over half of the UK’s solar energy targets a new report from CPRE has found. The publication marks the launch of CPRE’s new campaign for all suitable new buildings to have rooftop solar. By installing solar panels on existing rooftops and other areas such as car parks, could provide up to 50GW of energy in England by 2035.
Nottingham has been making great progress on installing solar panels on buildings in the city, with 50 of the City Council’s commercial buildings having arrays. The Broad Marsh car park has 720 solar panels on the roof which will produce around 240MWh of energy in a year and save 46 tonnes of carbon dioxide being produced.
Green jobs top list of fastest growing roles
New data from LinkedIn shows that hiring for ‘green’ jobs consistently outpaced overall hiring rates for four year in a row. Roles like sustainability analysts, sustainability specialists, and sustainability managers feature on the list of fastest growing roles.
But the sustainable job revolution is much broader than sustainability managers. From marketing professionals who can run behaviour change campaigns to engineers who can install heat pumps in homes, there are lots of opportunities to work in the sustainability space.