Greener prisons in the works, says government

The government has announced that the new prison at Glen Parva, Leicestershire, will become ‘the greenest ever’.

The major infrastructure project acts as a blueprint for the government’s prison-build programme, which aims to create 20,000 modern, rehabilitative places by the mid-2020s. The programme is backed by funding of £3.8 billion, confirmed in last week’s Spending Review.

In all, the new prison will be 35 percent greener than HMP Berwyn in North Wales, which was opened just 4 years ago.

Opening in 2023, Glen Parva has been largely built off-site, speeding up construction and minimising waste. Rubble from the old, demolished prison on this site has been reused, and the prison itself will use green energy, including more than 960 solar panels and infrastructure for electric vehicle charging points.

The construction project has also piloted the use of power generators which have been converted from diesel use to be fuelled by specially treated vegetable oil – cutting CO2 by 90 percent through this fossil-free technology.

Following on from Glen Parva, the next four new prisons are being specially designed to further cut carbon emissions by at least 85 percent – ultimately saving 280,000 tonnes of carbon and slashing energy bills by £100 million.

As part of the government’s plans reach net zero by 2050, prisoners will also help to plant over 3,500 trees this winter, which will prevent 875 tonnes of carbon emissions during their lifetime. Tree nurseries will be established at a further seven prisons which will eventually grow 100,000 trees from seed every year and provide offenders with the opportunity to gain horticultural skills and qualifications.

Offenders at HMP Garth are also being trained up in the production of LED lights, which use 62 percent less electricity and are expected to save the Prison Service around £2.5 million in energy costs a year once installed across the estate.

And an additional £12 million investment is funding the installation of solar panels at a further 19 prisons in England and Wales, bringing the total number of panels across the estate to over 20,000. More than 200 electric vehicle charging points are also being installed for staff across 40 jails.