Keele University
Sustainability
Keele ’ s Root and Branch campaign continues to “ embed sustainability in everything we do ” and our vision is to be an international leader in campus sustainability encompassing activity across all aspects of the University estate and operations , our business activities , our engagement with the wider community , and in our core areas of education and research .
This year has seen significant progress in some major campus-wide sustainability projects such as our Smart Energy Network Demonstrator and HyDeploy ( a trial to add hydrogen to our gas grid ).
These initiatives will also allow the University to further develop its unique position as a campus which is on the scale of a small-town and that includes educational , research , residential and business communities , to be a genuine “ living laboratory ” where we can develop and test innovative sustainability solutions which can ultimately be introduced to wider society .
The Root and Branch campaign has also helped the University launch further campus sustainability initiatives and communicate the benefits to everybody across our campus community and beyond .
Notable achievements this year include :
• Keele has reduced its campus carbon emissions by 39 %, exceeding its original target of 34 % a year ahead of schedule .
• The ground-breaking HyDeploy pilot trial came to an end , with hydrogen gas being blended into the campus gas network in a promising new initiative which could generate a drastic reduction in carbon dioxide emissions . The initial results reported this year have been promising , with users reporting no differences using the hydrogen blended gas , and with similar trials now underway at a larger scale in England thanks to the success of the Keele trial .
• Close to 100 % of our undergraduate programmes integrate opportunities to explore related sustainability challenges .
• Keele won the Global Sustainability Institution of the Year award at this year ’ s International Green Gown Awards , just months after winning the same title at the UK and Ireland awards .
• We have continued our work with ENGIE to help design a new zero carbon smart energy system for the Staffordshire town of Rugeley , contributing to the design of a Smart Local Energy System that will demonstrate how such a system can reduce carbon and energy costs for residents , whilst providing a catalyst for town regeneration and employment creation .
• Work has begun on our Low Carbon Energy Generation project which will see 12,500 solar panels , two wind turbines and an industrial sized storage battery installed on campus , which will supply up to 50 % of Keele ’ s campus electricity needs when fully operational .
• Keele was ranked among the Top 40 universities in the world for sustainability , for the fifth consecutive year , placing 37th out of over 900 universities in the most recent UI Green Metric World Rankings .
• One of the largest electric vehicle charging hubs in the region was launched on Keele ’ s campus this year , providing 20 new car charging points which are free to use for electric vehicle owners .
• Professor Zoe Robinson is continuing to deliver sustainability training to the ten local authorities in Staffordshire to help them reduce their environmental impact and work towards Net Zero carbon emissions .
• We were pleased to be ranked in the Top 100 globally in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings , emphasising our commitment to the UN ’ s Sustainable Development Goals . We also ranked 5th in the world for our performance against the Reduced Inequalities SDG , and our strong performance highlights the University ’ s commitment to sustainability and embedding it across all aspects of our operations .
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