Energy
Birkbeck’s energy use makes up a large portion of its overall carbon footprint. As well as producing large amounts of emissions, energy costs a significant amount of money each year, so reducing our energy use has impacts in multiple areas.
Birkbeck’s energy comes from four different sources:
- Gas used to heat our buildings and produce hot water
- Electricity purchased from the grid
- Electricity generated onsite (we currently have one small installation of solar PV at 373 Euston Road)
- The Bloomsbury District Heat Network provides heat to our new Student Central building
A key element of decarbonising our buildings will be making them more energy efficient to reduce the overall amount of energy we use.
| All figures in kWh (Aug-Jul) | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total gas use | 4,105,232.0 | 4,548,227.0 | 3,767,279.0 |
| Total electricity use | 6,717,981.0 | 6,717,981.0 | 5,958,903.3 |
| Electricity generated onsite | 24,000 | 24,000 | 24,000 |
| Total district heat network | 202,395.0 | 415,270.0 | 321,392.0 |
| Total energy use | 11,049,608 | 11,651,494.2 | 10,047,574.3 |
Birkbeck’s Heat Decarbonisation Plan and Energy and Carbon Management Plan outline the ways in which we will aim to improve the thermal efficiency of our buildings to reduce gas use, and explain some of the interventions that can be taken to reduce electricity use across our campus.