Britain's First Carbon Neutral Chuch

Britain's only carbon neutral church has turned on its state-of-the-art green heating system for the first time. A Grade 1 listed building, St. Michael and All Angel's church demonstrates that energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies can be sensitively retro-fitted to just about any type of building.

Located in the Cotswold village of Withington, Gloucestershire, the church has installed a 38kW wood pellet boiler which provides efficient and automated space heating as convenient as an oil or gas installation. Made mainly from sawdust - a by-product of timber processing industries - the pellets are small (usually under 10mm long) enough to flow through pipes from the pellet store directly into the boiler's burner mechanism.

Wood pellet heating technology has been developed in countries like Austria, Finland, Sweden and Germany over the last twenty years or so. More recently, with oil prices less reliable than in previous decades, many UK homes, schools and other buildings have started to turn to wood pellets as an alternative to oil heating. In the USA and UK, wood pellets have started to replace coal in power generating stations. Since wood pellets are considered a renewable fuel and carbon neutral, they are proving a great help in achieving carbon emissions reductions in developed countries.

As well as providing heat from renewable sources, the church at Withington meets its electricity requirements from an array of 24 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. The PV's were fitted sensitively to the nave roof making use of an innovative self-weighted fixing system. Dulas Ltd, based in Mid Wales, provided the energy expertise for the project.

The carbon neutralised church will be celebrating the works in a special service in Withington, led by the Suffragan Bishop of Tewksbury on November 21st.

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