Maynooth University

The Road to zero – Maynooth University Grounds Department

Maynooth Universities Grounds Department , has set out on “The road to zero” to become a carbon neutral outfit by 2030. The project scope is to look at viable alternatives to manage the campus using more environmentally friendly machinery. The project has set out to replace all its Diesel and petrol machines with battery powered alternatives .

The project began in 2019 with the purchase of a fully Electric Mower to cut large areas of grass on the campus. After this in 2021 and 2022 respectively, two compact tractors have been traded in for battery powered utility vehicles, smaller 2 stoke petrol machinery has been replaced with battery powered alternatives , and smaller push lawn mowers are beginning to be replaced with battery alternatives .

Not only is machinery being looked at but how the campus is managed to reduce the dependence on machinery to maintain it. As of April 2023 the grounds department has stopped using diesel in all machines and begun to run the remaining diesel machines on HVO (Bio-diesel) until such a time that they can be replaced with a battery alternatives.

Top 3 Learnings

1. It has created a cleaner, greener and quieter environment for both users and the general public.
2. We have learned that it is possible to change maintenance practices to adapt to using electric machinery.
3. Just because we have been doing it this way for the past 100 years, doesn’t mean it’s the right way of doing it! Just transition!