Students Snowdonia trip

TECHNOLOGYTRIP: Students from Bungay Middle School have been on a trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales to further explore the latest technologies available to those who wish to reduce their impact on the environment.

TECHNOLOGYTRIP: Students from Bungay Middle School have been on a trip to the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales to further explore the latest technologies available to those who wish to reduce their impact on the environment.

The visit, following their trip last month to the United Nations Youth Conference in Norway, was to Snowdonia, where the centre houses eco cabins, restaurants, a visitor centre, shops and residential facilities for visitors and MSc students who study and develop green alternatives.

The facility, including the gravity railway which takes people from the valley bottom to the visitor centre on the top of the mountain, is completely independent of the national grid and mains water supplies.

The Bungay pupils were invited to learn about the ways in which the mixture of hydroelectric, wind, thermal and solar power are used in combination to sustain the centre.

During their stay, pupils monitored their energy and water use, and had to replace water they had used each day from the reservoir, carrying buckets hand to hand. They were encouraged not to waste food, and designed their own eco house. They studied biodiversity in the area and considered the merits and uses of biomass.

Suzie Phillips, the teacher who led the trip, said it had provided inspiration for their ongoing climate change project.

“It was a brilliant experience, in the most beautiful setting,” she said.