$50,000 up for grabs

$50,000 up for grabs

Rotorua – YHA New Zealand is in the running for a £25,000 ($50,000NZD) grant from London-based Hostelling International’s Sustainability Fund (HISF) to fund a renewable energy project at its Rotorua hostel.

However the not-for-profit organisation needs your help. YHA New Zealand is competing against 12 other countries for a share in the overall grant pool. Only two grants will be given and one grant is based on popular votes.

YHA applied for the same grant in 2013. Not enough people voted to support New Zealand, which came in close but not close enough to gain the grant.

Chief Executive Mark Wells says: “We hope New Zealanders, especially YHA supporters, will get in behind us this year and submit their vote (which doesn’t cost anything to do) and we can beat out our competition. We had great support last year but it wasn’t enough. We hope to mobilise the same enthusiasm and then some for this year’s effort.”

YHA New Zealand is proposing to lower its CO2 emissions by harnessing geothermal energy at YHA Rotorua. This will be accomplished by tapping into a pre-existing down-bore heat exchanger that would heat the hostel’s potable hot water supply.

Maureen McCloy, YHA New Zealand’s Manager, Corporate Services, is excited about the project. She says: “Seeking to harness geothermal energy in our Rotorua hostel continues YHA’s longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability. These energy efficiencies will enable our guests to learn more about geothermal power and how geothermal power supports CO2 reductions.”

The savings realised by the heat exchanger will be reinvested to support YHA’s sustainability commitment by implementing further energy efficiency into YHA Auckland International.

YHA Rotorua produces a significant amount of YHA New Zealand’s total carbon emissions due to its use of natural gas and electricity. There is a unique opportunity to significantly reduce these emissions by 30% (or 18 tonnes per year) by tapping into geothermal activity. Geothermal energy is possibly the cleanest form of renewable energy as it is constant (day and night) and requires the lowest amount of embodied energy processes to capture and utilise.

YHA New Zealand will not be unable to realise this project without a grant from HISF and is relying on its 25,000 members and the goodwill of the New Zealand public to vote for New Zealand and YHA Rotorua.

Voting closes 28 October 2014.

Vote for New Zealand and YHA Rotorua here, scroll to the bottom of the page where it says “Vote now”: http://blog.hihostels.com/sustainability/#NEWZEALAND

Read the international candidates here: http://blog.hihostels.com/sustainability/

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