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Warwick wins Technology/Innovation Award

The University is this year's winner of the European COGEN Technology/Innovation award. The award comes to us in recognition of our commitment to the energy-efficient Combined Heating and Power (CHP) plant that provides campus with electricity, heating and cooling.

The Estates Office have been working to install and upgrade the components of Warwick's CHP system over the past 14 years with the aim of cutting the University’s carbon emissions and optimising the amount of money we spend on heating and electricity bills.

The system currently burns fossil fuels to create electricity, but then captures the heat emitted during this combustion, using it to provide hot water to the rest of campus through a series of insulated pipes. This vastly reduces the amount of energy wasted – our CHP and district heating system can reach 85% efficiency where traditional power plants operate at around 40-50%.

Further work on the CHP system is a key part of Warwick's Carbon Management Plan. Before 2020/21, we intend to increase the amount of energy the system generates (reducing our reliance on less efficient energy sources), then convert the system to run on biomass instead of fossil fuels, dramatically cutting the amount of carbon emitted.

Bob Wilson, Director of Estates, said:

"It's fantastic to see our hard work recognised on an international level. This is a clear acknowledgement of Warwick's commitment to reducing its impact on the environment, and our ongoing work to make campus a more environmentally sustainable place"

For more information on Warwick’s work on the environment, and how you can help, visit warwick.ac.uk/environment.

Joel Cardinal and Alistair Lawry accepting the COGEN Technology/Innovation award