Zero Carbon Luton - Issue 5 2024
Flash floods, and how many solar panels can you fit on a stadium?
The latest climate news from Luton this autumn includes:
Sustainability features of Luton Town’s new stadium.
Flash flooding hits region.
How much CO2 will Easyjet’s electric ground vehicles save?
A stadium fit for the future
Luton Town’s new stadium will include a range of sustainability features, according to detailed plans unveiled this week.
The indoor areas of the stadium will be heated and cooled using air source heat pumps “strategically located in the roof space of the North Stand.” A separate set of heat pumps will produce hot water.
Ventilation will come through a heat recovery system that will capture heat on the way out of the building, and use it to warm incoming fresh air in winter.
To power these electrical systems, the developers propose an extensive solar PV system on the roof. A proposal in the planning documents suggests there is room for 1,784 panels. This would reduce carbon and would also reduce the running costs of the stadium in the years to come.
The development is aiming for an ‘excellent’ rating on the BREEAM standards for sustainable construction. This would make Luton Town’s new home one of the most sustainable in the country. (Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium was recently named the greenest in the Premiership, and has a BREEAM rating of ‘very good’ - just saying.)
It’s exciting to see the club investing substantially in sustainability, and we hope all these features make it into the final build.
Flash flooding strikes the town
Luton received a month’s worth of rain in one day this month, with a small tornado even spotted over Leagrave. The sheer weight of rain in a short space of time overwhelmed gutters and drains, leading to flash flooding in multiple locations across the town. The river Lea burst its banks, and the lake in Wardown took over the park. Underpasses filled up with water.
Drivers were stranded in their cars and several roads had to be closed, including the access road to the airport. Inside, passengers coming through the terminal posted videos of water pouring from the ceiling.
Most roads reopened fairly quickly, though some residents and businesses will be counting the cost for some time to come.
Luton has experienced floods before, but for many people this was the first time they had seen rainfall this extreme. It may not be the last - while it’s impossible to attribute any single weather event to climate change, we do know that warmer air holds more moisture. As the atmosphere warms, it increases the chances of more intensive rainstorms like the one this September.
Along with heatwaves, flash flooding is one of the climate impacts we are most likely to experience in Luton. It’s one of the reasons we need to keep climate change on the agenda, both reducing our emissions, and adapting to changing conditions.
Photo by Abi Spendlove. If you have any photos of the flooding that you would like to contribute to the Zero Carbon Luton gallery, let me know.
The carbon savings of Easyjet’s EVs
After a succesful trial at Berlin Airport last year, Easyjet has expanded its use of electric vehicles for its ground fleet. The airline now has 11 electric vans based at Luton Airport, and 36 electric vehicles across its various bases in Europe. Altogether these vehicles will save 54 tonnes of CO2 a year.
That’s roughly equivalent to one full plane flying from Luton to Budapest and back, according to the flight carbon calculator CLevel.
Easyjet’s total emissions were 8,081,946 tonnes of CO2 in 2022, so the press release is correct in describing electric ground vehicles as a “small but critical move”. We look forward to updates from Easyjet on the far bigger challenge of decarbonising their planes.
In other news…
A new campaign has launched to encourage more electrical recycling, with new drop-off points across the town for cables and small appliances. More information, including your nearest drop-off point, can be found at RecycleYourElectricals.org.uk
Did you know the council has a guide to climate action written specifically for Luton? You’ll find it here.
That guide is for individuals. A new one for organisations is in production at the moment, and we’ll cover that in a future edition.
In case you missed it, Luton in Bloom announced its winners. The competition will be back in 2025 if you didn’t make the list.
If you’re out in the woods, the Wildlife Trust suggest that now is a good time of year to look for fungi. View their guide and see how many you can find near you.
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