Electricity

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Electricity CO2 production at school
Learning Objectives To understand where
electricity comes from. To understand how
electricity use is measured. To learn to work out
how much CO2 released is due to electricity use.
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Power stations burn oil, coal and gas (fossil
fuels). This heats water to make steam. The
steams spins turbines (like giant water wheels),
to make electricity.
So using electricity means more fossil fuel is
burned, more CO2 is released, and climate change
increases
Can you think of 10 things you use electricity
for at school?
3
The electricity your school uses is measured in
kilowatt hours (kWh)
You can find this number on a meter (ask a
teacher). You can also find it on the schools
electricity bill.
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OWLS
Your teacher has a special machine called an
OWL. It is a Smart Electricity Monitor.
Your OWL is smart because it shows you how you
can reduce electricity use, and CO2 emissions.
And save a load of money for your school and
your mums and dads!
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How OWL works
You can watch the OWL screen to see how much
money you are spending per hour. As you turn
electricity on and off around the building the
numbers will change as you save and use energy.
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The wise OWL working
Ask your teacher if you can experiment with the
OWL. Try turning the lights off in your
classroom, or combine with other classes. Each
time you turn something on or off go back and
look at your OWL. Is it going up or down? Who
else in the building is using energy?
Now you can measure how much youre saving the
planet and money!
What effect did this have on the electricity
consumption of the school? What percentage
reduction was this? How much CO2 would this save
in a year? Remember every 1p on the OWL
87.60 per year
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How low can you go?
Lauriston School in Hackney were the first school
to use the OWL.
After 1 week they had reduced their energy usage
to 1.15p
After a day they had reduced their energy usage
to 1.50p per hour
On the first day they were using 3.57p per hour!
Lauriston School did it in ONE WEEK what
can you do?
The Government have had many meetings about
climate change. They want people to reduce
their energy use by 60 in 14 years time.
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Dr Hughs Top 5 ways to reduce electricity use
at school
Lights The Power of OFF!
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Do they really need to be on when no-one is
there? Even if they are there, can you see
safely without them?
Go round the classroom and school and see how
many lights are on in cupboards, toilets,
corridors, classrooms.
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Dr Hughs Top 5 ways to reduce electricity use at
school

• Stand-by
• Some items use up to 70 of their normal energy
  usage just on stand-by!

2
Go round and see how many computers are on with
no-one using them.
How many screens are on / on stand-by?
10
Dr Hughs Top 5 ways to reduce electricity use at
school

• Go Low
• Low Energy Lightbulbs.

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You can get the same light out of a 15 watt low
energy bulb as a 100w normal bulb! And you
probably dont even NEED that much light, a 5
watt bulb would probably do!
Project Genie has no commercial arrangement with
Glowb, we just love them for inventing a low
energy lightbulb with less mercury in them than a
filling the dentist puts in your mouth!
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Dr Hughs Top 5 ways to reduce electricity use at
school
The OWL Ask your head teacher to make sure all
the other people at school know about the OWL and
what it does.
Who else works in your school? What would they
use energy for? Do you think they know about
fossil fuels? Does the school caretaker know
about the OWL? What could they do to help save
money and the planet?
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Dr Hughs Top 5 ways to reduce electricity use at
school
Can you add one of your own?
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