Legacy reaches Aussie town
We have launched a project to convert saw dust we collect from the community and turn it into pellets that we use for heating.” Toby Jason Thorpe, a Grade 11 student
When Nellie Smit, a teacher from Huonville High School located in the small town of Huonville in Tasmania, Australia, first heard about the Zayed Future Energy Prize, she could not believe it. “I thought, how could a Sheikh in the United Arab Emirates give away $100,000 as prize money for schools for sustainability. It sounded too good to be true,” Smit told Khaleej Times.
But after doing her research, Smit and her team thought they have found the right solution to their energy problems. “We were struggling under hefty electricity bills of AUD 100,000 and above annually because we had to switch on the heaters all the time. We decided to launch a project to take part in the Zayed Future Energy Prize and that was a new beginning.”
The Huonville High School was a finalist in 2016 and won the Prize in 2017 for implementing solar energy solutions in their school.
With the prize money, the public school that has around 400 students, converted an old building in the campus into ‘Zayed Energy Hub’. The schools uses it to conduct energy workshops and demonstrations. “We have also launched a project to convert saw dust we collect from the community and turn it into pellets that we use for heating. We conducted an energy audit in the whole school and proposes to reduce our energy consumption by 20 per cent,” said Toby Jason Thorpe, a Grade 11 student of the school.
But the biggest impact of winning the prize, Thorpe said, is that the school has been able to involve the whole community in sustainable initiatives.
“Everybody is so proud of our achievement. And they are beginning to understand how important it is to take steps towards a sustainable future.”
“Till the time we won the award, nobody even knew about Sheikh Zayed. But now his legacy has even reached our small town in Tasmania.”