Sweet recognition for our highways team

An innovative solution to reducing energy consumption, and saving money, received special recognition in November.

We competed against more than 800 nominations from around the world in the International Green Apple Environment Awards to receive a silver award at the Houses of Parliament.

We won the award for our electronic ‘hotbox’ situated at our Charminster Highways Depot. We are the first council in the country to install an all-electric solar powered container to keep asphalt (that black stuff that surfaces roads) hot while it is stored, without relying on carbon emitting fossil fuels.

The hotbox, slightly bigger than a large skip, is powered by an array of solar panels on the depot roof. This removes the need to purchase electricity or gas to run it. As well as saving money, this is helping us meet our target of becoming a carbon-neutral council by 2040.

Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment picked up the award with Dave Blackburn and Neil Turner from the Highways team.

Cllr Bryan said: “I am thrilled our innovation has been recognised with a Green Apple award. Powered by the solar panels on our Charminster depot roof, it is reducing our reliance on expensive electricity and gas and bringing us closer to our 2040 net zero target.

Dave Blackburn, Waste & Recycling Manager for Highways at Dorset Council, said: “We needed to replace our propane gas powered unit so when the manufacturer, Proteus Equipment, told us they had a prototype all-electric unit we jumped at the chance to trial it!

“Costing the same to purchase as an equivalent gas-powered unit, the hotbox enables us to be self-sufficient with our energy consumption and gives the crew a consistent supply of hot asphalt to carry out local pothole and patching work”.

When in use, the hotbox runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week using a maximum of four electric elements. It doesn’t use much more energy than a kettle.

The judges said of their project: “In pursuit of environmental goals, Dorset Council optimised renewable energy by utilising solar panels to power the UK's first all-electric asphalt storage hot box, reducing carbon emissions by 80,443kg/year. Their commitment to corporate social responsibility aligns with Dorset's climate emergency declaration, driving innovation and a path towards becoming a carbon-neutral council by 2040."

As a result of this International Green Apple Award success, the council has been invited to accept Green World Ambassador status and have their winning paper published in The Green Book (the leading international work of reference on environmental best practice) so that others around the world can follow their lead and learn from their achievement

Notes:

The Green Apple Awards are run by The Green Organisation - an international, independent, non-profit, non-political environment group that began in 1994 to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world.

We have an array of 415 solar panels on our Charminster depot roof, made possible thanks to funding secured from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. See how we are making our buildings greener and cleaner.

We are currently looking for new storage capacity, but in the meantime, excess energy generated by the solar array is fed back into the National Grid.