Welcome to our latest update, covering: carbon-neutral road resurfacing work in Cardiff, a first for Wales; £1.3m investment to cut energy use in schools; and students from Willows High named 2022 debating champions.

Cardiff completes Wales' first carbon-neutral road re-surfacing programme

The first carbon-neutral road resurfacing work in Wales has been carried out by Cardiff Council.

Just under 13,000 square metres of Northern Avenue, from the M4 slip road to Curlew Close, has been resurfaced using Slag Steel aggregate saving more than 50% in carbon outlay compared to using virgin aggregate in a conventional ‘surface course'.

The remaining carbon created in the resurfacing work will be offset using a Verified Carbon Scheme (VCS) - preventing further deforestation in Brazil - and by planting 100 saplings in the city in recognition of the scheme.

Working closely with our contractor Miles Macadam, this stretch of Northern Avenue has been resurfaced creating 53 tonnes of carbon, compared with 104 tonnes that would have been produced using a hot mix material and natural aggregate.

The carbon footprint to transport materials on and off site was 8 tonnes, compared with 17 tonnes of carbon that would have been produced to quarry the stone from further away, giving an overall carbon saving of 50.4%.

Cllr Dan De'Ath, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport said: "The council is committed to becoming a carbon neutral council by 2030, through our One Planet Strategy.

"Climate change is the biggest threat facing our planet and steps must be taken to reduce the amount of carbon produced in our everyday lives. As a council, we have assessed the carbon footprint of all our services and operations, so steps can be taken to reduce it significantly to reach our carbon neutral goal."

Read more here:

https://www.cardiffnewsroom.co.uk/releases/c25/29375.html

Cardiff schools get £1.3 million green investment to reduce energy use

Cardiff Council has invested over £1.3 million in energy saving upgrades across 11 of its primary, secondary and Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools, as part of its work to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The initiatives are set to drastically reduce the council's operational carbon emissions by up to 20% across the 11 sites - Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern, Bryn Celyn Primary School, Glyncoed Primary School, Hywel Dda Primary School, Llandaff City C.I.W. Primary School, Llanishen High School, Mary Immaculate High School, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Plasmawr, St Illtyd's High School, The Bishop of Llandaff C.I.W. High School, and Ty Gwyn Special School - as well as save an estimated £185,000 a year.

Pupils will learn about the benefits of the works, including the enhanced lighting levels and health benefits from the removal of existing fluorescent lighting through planned engagement sessions with the schools' eco teams.

Cabinet Member for Education, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "Schools form some of the largest energy users on our estate so upgrading technologies within them is an important part of our energy reduction strategy. In the face of the climate emergency, continuing to invest in these types of projects, continuing to make our energy choices as smart as possible is clearly the right thing to do."

Read more here:

https://www.cardiffnewsroom.co.uk/releases/c25/29375.html

Willows High School crowned DebateMate Cup 2022 champions!

The debate to settle which Cardiff school would triumph in this year's DebateMate Cup is over, with Willows High School crowned champions for 2022.

Students from the Tremorfa school have been taking part in the 12-week schools debating programme delivered by DebateMate with eight other schools in the city. The initiative has been sponsored by FinTech Wales and Cardiff Council's Invest in Cardiff team and Cardiff Commitment.

The 12-week programme culminated in a head-to-head debate at the Principality Stadium where pupils from Cardiff West Community High School, Cantonian High School, Cathays High School, Willows High School, St Teilo's CiW High School, Eastern High Community Campus, Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf and Fitzalan High School debated topics such as ‘This House Supports A Cashless Society' and ‘This House Believes That Sports Personalities Should Declare Their Opinions On Key Social Issues'.

Willows High and Eastern High Community Campus made it to the final, debating the topic ‘This House Believes Technology Has Done More To Disconnect Than Connect'. Team Willows, which has a strong debating pedigree with current pupils Marzooq Subhani and Crystal Tran chosen to represent the UK at a debating competition in Dubai earlier this year, went on to win the DebateMate Cup 2022!

Year 11 pupil, Marzooq, was part of the winning DebateMate Cup 2022 team along with Aiden Barrett, Inaaya Chowdbury and Carmen Haile, who are all in Year 9.

Read more here:

https://www.cardiffnewsroom.co.uk/releases/c25/29378.html