Solar City
Oxford is set to become the first solar city, after receiving an £80,000 government grant to help make its homes more eco-friendly.
The money was paid to the Oxford Solar Initiative (OSI), a joint project run by the city council and Oxford Brookes. It will allow Oxford residents to receive grants to install solar units for the generation of electricity .
OSI hopes that by 2010, 10 per cent of houses in Oxford will have solar heating systems. On Sunday the group held a Solar Fair at the town hall, attended by 400 people.
Professor Sue Roaf, a Brookes member of OSI and a city councillor, welcomed the grant, which she hopes will encourage far greater numbers of people to become interested and involved in environmental issues.
Rajat Gupta, a student at Brookes, said the university's position at the forefront of environmental campaigning was down to the combination of student and staff involvement.
Brookes recently became the first fair-trade university in the country, and is following its success with a green transport plan.
23rd Oct 2003