Green Gown Awards 2021: 2030 Climate Action - University of Warwick - Finalist

Carbon emissions removal: The Warwick way to sustainable. Aligning engineering decarbonisation with science based targets

In 2019, the University declared climate emergency and committed to net-zero carbon emissions (scope 1, 2) in 2030.

The plan deploys a series of low/no-regret investments in incremental emission reduction implementations. The project aims to deliver continual annual emissions reduction, ensuring the University’s contribution towards a 1.5°C global temperature scenario.

Significant investment in on-site generation, energy storage and heat pumps will annul CHPs, increase resilience to ever-increasing electricity import cost transience, while slashing emissions. Energy storage and internal switchboards will increase flexibility, further improving energy system resilience.

The University will continue reducing its consumption through betterment of its building stock (excellent refurbishments, low energy new-builds…), and energy efficiency by optimising control strategies, improving data management and SMART solutions. The plan aims to deliver scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction of 19% by 2024, 36% by 2027 and a total 70% reduction by 2030 compared to a business as usual projection.

Top 3 learnings:

• Learn and inspire from international best practices.
• Combine Estates and academic expertise.
• Create a core team with ‘can do’ attitude to maintain focus and delivery.

Videos

• Video #1 (click to hide)