17.12.24

On an isolated island like Flat Holm, with no mains water, gas or electricity supply to connect to, simple things like boiling a kettle and staying warm in the colder months can be more complicated than they are back on the mainland - and also create more climate-damaging carbon emissions than they have to.

Now, the Cardiff Council owned nature reserve is going greener than ever before with the help of a new 14 panel solar array with battery storage, the installation of thermal-lined doors in the island farmhouse, and a new gravity-powered rainwater harvesting system.

The new solar panels, installed on Flat Holm island.

The green technology is being installed as a result of £42,000 of capital funding as part of the local authority's One Planet Cardiff response to climate change.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Strategic Planning and Transport, Cllr Dan De'Ath said: "All of us as individuals need to make changes to how we live and work if we're going to play our part in tackling climate change. But so do Cardiff's businesses and other organisations, including the Council - and that's exactly what we're doing through our One Planet Cardiff strategy.

"This green technology on Flat Holm will reduce our CO₂e emissions by approximately 3 tonnes per year. That may not sound a huge amount, but every green choice counts, and together with all the other changes we've already made to reduce the council's carbon footprint - things like switching to LED streetlighting, starting the transition to an electric vehicle fleet and putting solar panels and heat pumps in new council homes, it makes a meaningful contribution to our plans to become a carbon neutral council."

In 2019/20, when Cardiff Council launched its One Planet Cardiff response to climate change, the local authority directly created 42,211 tonnes of CO₂e. The latest available figures, for 2022/23 show that has been reduced by 11.7% to 37,284 tonnes of CO₂e.