Social Innovation at One of London's Historic Railway Stations

London's historic railway station, Blackfriars Bridge, built in 1886, is undergoing a multi-million pound social innovation 'green makeover, which will turn it into the world's largest solar bridge as more than 4,400 solar panels will be installed above the new station platform. Solar panels are the perfect way for rail operators to cut their carbon footprint; a carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organisation, event, product or person, which can be emitted through transport, land clearance, the production and consumption of food, fuels, manufactured goods, materials, wood, roads, buildings and services.

The work at Blackfriars will be completed in 2012 and it is expected the panels will generate around 900,000kWh of electricity a year, providing half of the station's energy, reducing its annual CO2 emissions by an estimated 511 tonnes. Derry Newman, CEO of Solarcentury, the company managing the project, says, "Blackfriars Bridge is an ideal location for solar energy: a new, iconic large roof space, right in the heart of London. Station buildings and bridges are fixed parts of our urban landscape and it is great to see that this one will be generating renewable energy every day into the future. For people to see that solar power is working is a vital step towards a clean energy future."

Other social innovation energy saving methods such as sun pipes for natural lighting and rain harvesting systems will be fitted at Blackfriars, as part of Network Rail's plans to reduce carbon emissions by 25 per cent per passenger kilometre by 2020. Lindsay Vamplew, Network Rail's project director for Blackfriars, believes the refurbishment will make the station a template for green stations around the world and says, "The Victorian rail-bridge at Blackfriars is part of our railway history. Constructed in the age of steam, we're bringing it bang up to date with 21st century solar technology to create an iconic station for the city."

Another solar railway bridge can be found in Belgium. It is a two mile long rail tunnel built to protect the trains from falling trees from a nearby protected forest; to avoid felling the trees the tunnel was built. This high-speed line in Europe runs from Paris to Amsterdam, passing Antwerp, and is topped with 16,000 solar panels. This social innovation array of solar panels is capable of powering all the trains in Belgium for one day a year and will help to power Antwerp station.

Railways have the opportunity to create a bright future by supporting a successful green economy and it seems solar energy is being recognised globally as the way forward. The U.S. government has awarded a $1.46bn project to install 8.8 million solar panels in Riverside County, California. This is a project that will eventually reach 550MW capacity, making it one of the world's largest solar plants. There are also social innovation plans to develop about 20,000 hectares of solar power parks in Greece to export renewable energy to Germany, making Greece a showcase of solar development in Europe.

Photo Credit: Solarcentury's Main Website