The National Trust (NT) is to reduce use of fossil fuels by 50 per cent within the next 10 years with a ‘grow your own' energy programme. The move will aim to cut the NT's carbon emissions from energy use for heat and electricity by 45 per cent - beating the government's target of a 34 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020.
In addition to the benefits to the climate, the move could also help dramatically reduce the £6 million-a-year the organisation spends on fuel to power and heat its building stock.
The target will be met by reducing energy use for electricity and heating by 20 per cent and introducing ‘grow your own' micro and small scale energy schemes using wood fuel, solar, heat pumps, hydro and wind.
The initiative will involve the Trust's entire in-hand building stock, which includes 300 major historic houses, office buildings, visitor centres and 360 holiday cottages.
It also plans to install more than 50 new wood fuel boilers into its mansions and larger buildings over the next five years. The fuel will be sourced either from its own estates or from local suppliers, with replanting and maintenance benefiting woodland and wildlife habitats.
The organisation anticipates that most of the schemes will break-even within the next 10 years, even allowing for the huge variability in the price of energy and uncertainty over the future of grants and subsidies.
It claims its projected reduction in the use of mains electricity, gas, oil and LPG will be equivalent to removing 4,500 family cars from the road.
"World leaders may not have provided a political solution to the climate change problem at Copenhagen, but that should not delay us from delivering practical solutions on the ground," said Fiona Reynolds, director-general of the National Trust.
"The Trust has a responsibility to look after the special places in our care for ever, requiring us to make long term decisions that will protect them for future generations to enjoy."
The National Trust already has more than 140 renewable energy systems in operation on sites across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with an installed capacity of 2.3 MW heating and over 1 MW of electricity generation.