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The GAA and ESB have announced a major joint environmental
initiative - Cul Green - aimed at making Croke Park
a carbon-free stadium.
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The Cul Green plan sets ambitious environmental targets
- dramatically reducing the carbon footprint at the
sporting venue over the next six years.
The new project in the immediate-term will cut Croke
Park's annual 4,500 tonnes carbon emissions output by
more than two-thirds.
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It will establish a state-of-the-art environmental-improvement
programme covering the stadium's electricity, waste and water
management systems.
A total of 2.2 million people attended Croke Park last year
- making it the biggest venue in Ireland - and the new sustainability
plan will extend to fans' activities in reducing the environmental
impact of their travel to and from the stadium.
Croke Park will immediately contract its electricity supply
from a renewable source and an energy efficiency audit will
be conducted by ESB to establish how the stadium can most
rapidly achieve zero carbon.
ESB will provide expertise in environmental management, as
a specialist from the company joins the Croke Park team for
the next 12 months to achieve internationally-recognised best-practice
environmental standards at the stadium.
An energy audit begins immediately to establish how Croke
Park can maximise efficiencies and reduce consumption. This
detailed examination will be concluded before the All-Ireland
finals in September.
It is estimated that fans travelling to
games at the stadium produce carbon emissions of 15,000
tonnes a year.
A special website - www.culgreen.ie
- will be established within two months to allow fans
participate in the Cúl Green initiative. Fans will be
able to log-on to the website and also pledge different
ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint. |
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Croke Park will also include an environmental awareness dimension
to the stadium's museum, which has more than 75,000 visitors
each year.
GAA President, Mr Nickey Brennan, said that ESB's track-record
on energy efficiency, respect for the environment and delivery
of major projects, makes it an excellent sustainability partner
for the organisation.
"Both ESB and the GAA have a national presence and tradition
of service and support for the community. This initiative
will set a standard of responsibility towards the environment
for all our supporters and is a showcase for what can be achieved
through the active participation and behaviour of our fans"
- he said.
ESB Chief Executive, Padraig McManus, said that the partnership
at a world-class stadium such as Croke Park will increase
awareness about sustainability and climate change across -
not just the GAA family, but a far wider supporting public.
"ESB's recently-announced €22 billion capital spend (Click
Here) included ambitious carbon-reduction targets
for the company - leading to an ESB that is net-zero carbon
by 2035. Initiatives such as the Croke Park Cul Green
environmental project is a natural progression for ESB in
pursuit of this radical climate change agenda" - he
added.
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