Our Operations and Maintenance Manager, Ryan Mallinder joined the judging panel at Bradford University to see ideas for a Net Zero island presented by Bradford School children.

The challenge, saw teams of year nine students, aged 13 and 14, develop ideas for sustainable living on a fictional Net Zero island. As we’re planning to build the UK’s largest low carbon hydrogen production facility in the city, we  were invited by the event partners  Northern Gas Networks,  the University of Bradford, Bechtle, Yorkshire Water, SkillsHouse and Bradford Council.

The teams of up to six pupils explored how they would produce energy for heating and cooking, fuel transport and manage waste and water for a population of 30,000, without creating carbon emissions.

The UK government has set a target of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 as it looks to slow the pace of climate change and minimise its consequences on people, places, businesses, and nature.  Bradford District has set a more ambitious target of achieving net zero carbon by 2038.

Pupils from Eden Boys, Titus Salt, Carlton Bolling, Bradford Academy and two teams from St Bede’s & St Joseph’s schools in Bradford took up the challenge and, following a launch event in early October and spent seven weeks developing their ideas.

In total 33 pupils pitched their ideas to the judges in a Dragon’s Den style challenge, with the team from Carlton Bolling being named the winners.

Carlton Bolling won the competition after presenting ideas for their Net Zero Island, that went into great detail across all areas they were tasked to research, including energy production, waste and water management, housing and transport. Their use of diagrams and statistics alongside their decision making and explanations showed a real understanding and passion for the topic. The judges were also impressed by the importance they put on sustainability, looking at the natural geography of the island and habitat conservation.