by Juliet Davenport

What a beautiful day to celebrate renewable energy in action at the well-loved Portishead open-air swimming pool! I – and hundreds of residents and visitors - enjoyed a reenergising low-carbon swim in the sunshine.  What better way to spend a bank holiday?

The volunteers had put a huge amount of effort into making the opening day go well with bunting galore around the new biomass boiler and the swimming pool itself.   Their time and effort was truly rewarded with a great turnout and fantastic weather.

The new biomass boiler, funded largely by Good Energy, will reduce fossil fuel usage at the pool by 80% and save 2000 tonnes of carbon over its life.  It was officially named Tiger, after a competition amongst local children, which seems fitting for the locally sourced wood burning bright to provide heat for swimmers. 

I would particularly like to thank the trustees for welcoming us to a wonderful community event, local MP Liam Fox for giving up his time to reopen the pool and celebrate the new biomass boiler, plus the South West Regional Development Authority, local council and Sustain for their help and support with the project.