News | Friday, 30th October 2020
Manchester Metropolitan ranked in top tier of UK universities’ sustainability report
University praised for its commitment to renewable energy in Uswitch’s first annual report
Manchester Metropolitan University has been rated as one of the most renewable energy friendly universities in the UK, according to a new survey.
The Uswitch Renewable University Report 2020 found that Manchester Metropolitan was one of the top universities that was committed to using renewable energy and taking steps to reduce its footprint and impact on the environment.
It continues the University’s successes as a leading university for sustainability – not only winning awards for its initiatives and performance but also ranking in the top three of the People and Planet University League for the past eight years.
Evidence shows that energy consumption is a major factor in climate change and by making changes to its business activities, the University is reducing its energy consumption and cutting carbon emissions as it moves towards a zero carbon target of 2038.
The University has already made good progress towards its ambitions, having reduced its carbon emissions¹ by 61.7% since 2005/6. This exceeds the University’s 2020/21 target of a 50% reduction.
Although the impact of the national lockdown from COVID-19 may have had an impact on the figures, the University was on track to exceed the target a year early.
The report recognised Manchester Metropolitan University for its:
- Renewable installations, such as: solar panels, battery storage, borehole cooling, solar thermal system and air source heat pump
- Green energy tariff
- University Carbon Management Plan
The University was the only survey respondent to feature borehole cooling, which is a renewable energy source that uses groundwater to cool buildings.
Manchester Metropolitan University's Energy Manager, Callum Donnelly said: “I am delighted that the University’s commitment to renewable energy has been recognised. Creating a university campus that is energy and operationally efficient is key to achieving our ambitious targets, and improving our performance.”
Projects
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the University used its Salix Revolving Green Fund to invest in 10 projects to install more energy efficient systems and controls to reduce energy consumption.
The annual savings from the ten projects combined has created an estimated energy saving of 336,164Wh and an estimated carbon saving of 83 tonnes – the equivalent volume of 415 double decker buses.
The University is also leading the way in harnessing renewable energy with its new £4m technology hub, the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre.
The centre is dedicated to developing new sources of green, emission-free energy and making it available to as many people as possible.
The report
The data for the report came from freedom of information request to universities by Uswitch, a UK price comparison website.
Uswitch determined which UK universities are making the most moves to become less reliant on fossil fuels by looking at three things:
- Do they have renewable installations on campus?
- Are there schemes in place to improve their emissions?
- Are they on a renewable energy tariff with their supplier?
The report placed universities into tiers based on their responses; committed to renewable energy, partially committed and least committed.
Manchester Metropolitan placed in the first tier – committed to renewable energy.
Sarah Broomfield, energy expert at Uswitch.com, said: “It’s great to see that some universities are going above and beyond when it comes to sustainability.
“Having renewable installations on campus and schemes in place to produce more of their own renewable energy shows that they are leading by example in trying to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.”
In total, Uswitch asked 136 universities, with 105 responding.
¹Direct scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions
