St Mary’s Church Celebrates Achieving Carbon Net Zero

By Admin on October 27, 2024

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On Sunday 13^th October, thirty-nine people were in St Mary’s for worship, and, to their pleasant surprise, the church was warm!

Our new electric heating was in use for the first time on a Sunday, and we had turned off our gas boiler-fired system with its unwelcome carbon emissions.

In fact, on its very first use the previous day for a wedding, the wedding guests asked for part of the heating to be turned off as it was becoming too warm. This gives us assurance of the effectiveness for cold weather ahead.

St Mary’s ‘Cut the Carbon’ project has been running for more than two years, covering research, fundraising and implementation. We committed to try to reach net zero by 2025, ahead of the Church of England’s target. Our biggest source of carbon emissions by far was found to be our gas boiler, which emitted 10 tonnes of carbon each year. We therefore decided to replace this with a zero-carbon heating system, powered by electricity sourced through Green Journey, the ‘green electricity’ supplier endorsed by the Diocese of Leeds. On Sunday that major step was achieved, and we were pleased to find the new system a big improvement over the old one. We have gone for person-focussed heating using a combination of under-pew heaters and wall-mounted FAR infra-red units. This is in line with the recommendation from the Church of England to ‘heat the person, not the building.’ It also allows us flexibility in use to match the various activities happening in the building.

It is too early to give any comparative running costs between the old and new systems, but we are hoping that the more flexible and targeted approach, which is possible with the electric units, will enable us to be more efficient in our energy use.

Achieving this goal has been made possible through a collaboration between a lot of people in our local community together with diocesan advice and support as well as substantial external fundraising. Our architect was closely involved throughout the planning process. Throughout our project to Cut the Carbon, we have been inspired by the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury (2019): ‘Without swift decisive action, the consequences of climate change will be devastating. It is our sacred duty to protect the world we have been given as well as our neighbours around the world who will be first and worst affected.’

Vicar, Revd Canon Marion Russell, says, “We began this in response to the Church of England’s commitment in 2020 to be carbon net zero by 2030, coinciding with our beginning a replacement plan for the aging gas boiler. I am deeply grateful for everyone – within the congregation and in all our various partners – who have addressed the considerable practicalities of this vision and made it possible here. God’s work of ongoing creation is seen in people, in things, and in vision and targets – a BIG THANK YOU!”

“St Mary’s Cut the Carbon” has been generously supported by: