England plans ‘greenest Olympic Games’ with renewables

LONDON, England, January 31, 2007 (Refocus Weekly) The 2012 Olympic Games will install a range of renewable energy technologies, providing 20% of the Olympic Park and Village energy demand in the post-games period from renewables.

A 120 m wind turbine is proposed for Eton Manor (north of the park site) to generate electricity for the equivalent of 1,200 homes. If the facility is approved, construction will start next year with the turbine operational by 2010, and will provide power for 20 years.

In addition to the turbine, the Olympic Park will include biomass boilers to supply heat to the site, and organizers are investigating the potential for a microhydro scheme. Integrating ground source heat pumps and solar PV panels into the permanent venues in the park is also under consideration.

The energy supply strategy of the Olympic Delivery Authority focuses on providing the energy infrastructure required for the immediate post-games legacy requirements, thereby “future-proofing the development and avoiding the need to install additional infrastructure post-games,” organizers explain. Looking beyond 2012, it covers wider issues to support local communities and local ecology.

The strategy aims to minimise carbon emissions associated with the Olympic Park through a 50% reduction in CO2 by 2013, and reducing waste by recycling 90% of demolition material and 20% of materials used in permanent venues. It will ensure efficient water use, reuse and recycling, to reduce demand for potable water in permanent venues by 40% and a 20% reduction target for residential development.

The strategy will promote walking, cycling and public transport, and will involve the building of 80 km of walking and cycling routes, and to transport 50% of construction materials to the park by water and rail.

“We want to ensure London 2012 is remembered not only as two weeks of fantastic sporting action, but also as the 'greenest Games' in modern times,” says David Higgins of the ODA. “This strategy is unprecedented for a development of this nature and signals a watershed moment in the delivery of sports facilities in the UK.”

“We are meeting tomorrow's requirements today - far exceeding current policy targets,” he adds. "Sustainability runs through all we are doing, through the design and construction of venues, the sourcing and use of energy, the re-use of waste materials and the use of sustainable transport routes such as the waterways in the centre of the Olympic Park.”

“The 2012 Games are the perfect platform to demonstrate how high sustainability standards will help transform London into an exemplary, sustainable world city, in line with my London Plan,” says London mayor Ken Livingstone. “The Olympic partners will need to set the highest standards of design, quality, resource management and environmental protection.”

A number of cost-benefit analyses are being conducted to assess the options for small-scale use of renewables as part of site works. Small wind turbines are being considered to power satellite site offices, as is the use of solar street lighting.

“This is a really ambitious strategy which will deliver the most sustainable Games in history and a sustainable legacy for the UK,” says environment minister David Miliband.

The ODA is the single delivery body responsible for creating the venues and infrastructure for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Its objectives support the sustainability themes set out in the London 2012 Sustainability Policy.


Click here for more info...

Back to contents...