Gloucestershire College will launch its zero carbon project, GC Zero, next week (October 8).

The college has pledged to be carbon zero by 2030, but is set to achieve this much sooner, thanks to a £4.8m energy retrofit that will transform its Cheltenham and Gloucester campuses via the installation of ground source heat pumps, solar panels and smart energy controls.

The college will be celebrating the launch of the project with a ceremony featuring talks from Matthew Burgess, principal; Alex Chalk, MP for Cheltenham; and Russell Burton, founder and director of Hillside Environmental Services.

Borehole drilling for the heat pumps will start at Cheltenham campus on Monday October 4, and at Gloucester Campus on Monday October 11, following successful test drilling in August.

Matthew Burgess, principal of Gloucestershire College, said: "There's no point in investing in people, if the planet where they will live, work and raise their own families is broken beyond repair. I believe it's our moral responsibility to lead by example and act now for climate change.

"We've got a plan to get to carbon zero very much sooner than 2030. By moving from gas to ground source heating and generating our own electricity, we can massively reduce our carbon footprint."

Mr Burgess is very aware of the scale of the task. He continued: "It takes the equivalent of 13 million kettles being boiled to run our main campus every day or 63 million hours of continuous Xbox play."

But one of the campuses already has a head start.

"We're extremely proud that our Cinderford campus in the Forest of Dean is already well on the way to carbon zero, with fully renewable solar energy supplies for much of its lighting and heating."

Hillside Environmental Services will be working with the college on achieving the ambitious target.

Russell Burton, director of Hillside, said: "First of all, we're installing ground source heat pumps to enable the college to take advantage of the decarbonising electricity grid and take them away from gas consumption for heating.

"The second stage is to install solar panels on roofs, so they can generate green electricity to offset additional electricity they'll use for heat pumps."

Gloucestershire College is the first college in the country to drive decarbonisation; aiming to deliver net zero campuses by 2030 and operate renewably and responsibly across its three campuses in Cheltenham, Cinderford and Gloucester, including resources, facilities and transport links.