Yesterday we chalked up another milestone on our journey to make the Watermill Cool and Green. Our array of photovoltaic panels in the south-facing roofs of the Watermill complex have now produced more than14,000 Megawatt Hours of electricity this year, bringing our total production since we installed the panels two-and-a-half years ago more than 35,000 MWh. The picture below, from our handy little monitoring app, shows how we are getting on.
What’s more, we have reduced the world’s carbon dioxide production by 35 tonnes. (Not much, it must be confessed in the face of China’s continuing building of coal-fired power stations, but at least we are doing our bit…)
Although we have to buy electricity from the grid when the sun isn’t shining, we put back much more (they pay us, eventually!), so that we are more than self-sufficient in electricity. That’s the Green bit. The Cool angle is that all our bedrooms and public rooms are air-conditioned powered by this ‘free’ electricity.
We have taken other steps to become greener, cutting our consumption of plastic, insulating our buildings to make them more energy efficient and sourcing our food locally wherever possible, cut down on ‘food miles.
As you may know, The Watermill is surrounded by two environmentally protected areas: The National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, the backbone of Italy, and the Regional Park of the Apuan Alps, home of the marble mountains of Carrara. The air and the water are pure and unpolluted, and the area abounds in wildlife.
Come and share all this yourself on one of our internationally renowned painting, creative writing, knitting and Italian language courses. We still have spaces on some of our renowned creative courses later this year and we would love you to join us and be Cool, Green and Creatve. Just click here to see what’s on offer.