CCA’s Mark Francis has been pondering if it’s okay for cathedrals to not bank ethically if they have solar panels. He’s run the numbers and the results are in.

The transition to renewable energy is a vital part of the fight against climate change. So it’s always very good news to hear that a cathedral or church is considering having a solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed on its roof. Solar PV generates electricity.

Solar is good!

Installing solar PV typically has a significant impact on the emissions related to the use of energy at a cathedral or a church. The emissions saving may look a little like this for a solar system on a cathedral roof;

• Installed solar PV system = 40 – 50kWp (typically, perhaps 100 x 400W panels)
• Electricity generated = 40,000 – 50,000kWh per year (based on 1000kWh/year per kWh of panels)
• Emissions reduction = 14 – 17.5 tonnes CO₂ per year (based on 0.35kg CO2 per kWh)
• Therefore, the outcome gives a very significant saving of approximately 15 tonnes CO₂ per year.

We certainly want more renewable energy in the UKs energy mix, and at CCA we applaud the many cathedrals and churches that have installed solar PV or are going through the process of doing so.

Fossil Fuel-Free Banking is very good!

So much good is happening in the Church of England to tackle climate change, but many parts of the church, including cathedrals, are still banking with banks that invest in new fossil fuel energy generation.

CCA has recently launched an ethical banking table which highlights this issue and indicates which Church of England cathedrals still bank with fossil-fuel-funding banks.

This generates an interesting question: What would be the impact of – say – £70,000 invested with Barclays Investment Bank ?

• Mothertree has estimated that 2.376 tonnes of CO2 emissions are created by every £10,000 invested with Barclays Investment Bank.
• Therefore £70,000 invested in Barclays Investment Bank would generate approximately 16 tonnes CO₂ every year.
• Sadly, this means that £70,000 held in Barclays Investment Bank completely undoes the positive contribution of a large solar PV system.
• Banking with the Co-operative Bank (one of a number of more ethical options) would reduce those emissions from 16 tonnes to 1.6 tonnes.

Given that most cathedrals will have far more than £70,000 in the bank, making the right choice around banking can have an even greater impact than the significant impact of installing solar.

Both/and, not either/or

No one cathedral, church, individual or organisation can do everything we need to do to tackle climate change, but excusing ourselves from doing one thing because we’ve done another is a dangerous route to go down. We all need to do as much as we can to reduce emissions if want to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

If a cathedral can, it should install solar AND move to a bank that doesn’t invest in fossil fuels.