As increasing emphasis is put on the state of the environment, Kent Science Park (KSP) has committed to doing its part having opted to purchase all the electricity used on site from renewable sources.
KSP follows in the footsteps of companies such as Marks and Spencer, Toyota and Barnado’s, making the conscious effort to ‘go green’. Kent Science Park and is keen to shrink the carbon footprint on the site, reducing its tenants’ footprint and hopefully encouraging further cuts to be made amongst companies. As one of the largest campuses in the South East, Kent Science Park houses over 60 innovative companies; making the decision to ‘go green’ an extremely significant one.
KSP’s suppliers utilise a wide range of sources from which they obtain electricity including wind farms, solar farms, hydro schemes and energy from waste. Wind farms are becoming an increasingly popular way to produce energy, with more than 600 onshore wind schemes now operating across the UK. The UK has recently been placed first in the ‘investment in offshore wind’ table. It is now looking to challenge top countries such as China and America in the ‘renewable energy attractiveness’ index.
The energy providers to Kent Science Park also use wave and tidal power to create electricity. The UK is considered the world leader in development of such energy and projects in Orkney are playing a key role in the improvement of the source. The Park’s suppliers work with major landfill gas operators such as Viridor in order to further develop contaminated gas as a solution to energy. Generating energy from waste helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deals with waste that cannot be effectively reused or recycled.
Anaerobic Digestion is one of the less well-known sources of energy. Known as AD, it uses plant or animal waste and purpose grown crops to produce biogas, which is then used for electricity generation. This source of energy is becoming increasingly popular due to the benefits of diverting waste from landfill.
James Speck, Site Director at Kent Science Park is pleased with the efforts that the Park is making so far. He said: “The actions being taken to utilise innovative energy sources and make such a big reduction in our carbon footprint is crucial. We continually look towards the future to set about protecting our environment. We already have companies such as Boundless Horizons who created a solar powered horticultural box (SG1) that can be sent worldwide to aid the fight against world hunger and Plantworks who work on helping to improve the environment by creating products for the planting and revegetation of stressed land. Hopefully this will inspire other companies to use renewable sources wherever possible and push for a greener, cleaner Kent”.
It would make more sense to have an Anaerobic Digestion plant on site, using the electricity on site, feeding surplus into the grid, and locating businesses on site which need the hot water which is generated as part of the generation process.