For its trail-blazing Project ViTAL Living Lab, which collaborated with Newcastle University to design, test and evaluate zero carbon interventions in a Defence context, the RAF Leeming-based RAFX team has been announced winners of two prestigious Sanctuary Awards.
Celebrated for more than 30 years, the Sanctuary Awards showcase military and civilian efforts to integrate sustainability and conservation within Defence, spanning the MOD’s land and operations at home and abroad.
Winners and runners-up were presented with their awards at a Chelsea awards ceremony livestreamed across Defence. Initiatives recognised ranged from environmental advancement and climate change resilience to the Silver Otter Award for conservation.
The RAX Team was thrilled to be recognised with both the Innovation and Sustainable Delivery Awards for its pioneering partnership with Newcastle University, forged with the joint vision of understanding how RAF stations generate emissions, enabling the MOD to gather evidence to support prioritised funding and ultimately adopt green technology interventions.
In collaboration with academia from Newcastle University, and using £3 million from the Defence Innovation Fund, a real-world Living Lab was set up at Royal Air Force Leeming. Over three years, Project ViTAL incorporated six experiments on: carbon accounting; lightweight solar PV technologies; carbon capture; geothermal energy; sustainable ground transport; and carbon lifecycle analysis. Using RAF Leeming as a living lab enabled researchers to evaluate it as a microcosm of everyday life with working, living and green spaces all located together – much like a mini village. This was critical to bringing together data and insights through life cycle assessment.
The project had many notable achievements and milestones, including the world’s first investigation on the full lifecycle impact of basalt rocks for enhanced rock weathering carbon capture. Another first was the submission to NATO of a prospective lifecycle assessment framework to help militaries understand the life cycle environmental impacts of estates, equipment, and operations. Co-Director, Prof Oliver Heidrich has been invited personally to speak at NATO forums as well as international conferences and policy events.
Not bad for a team which started with the vision of former RAF Leeming Station Commander, Air Commodore Blythe Crawford in pre-COVID days. Project ViTAL was co-directed by four station commanders and involved dozens of world-leading academics and research assistants working alongside the core RAF Leeming-based team of service personnel.
Squadron Leader Mike Tunstall, who heads the RAFX Team, said: “Project ViTAL was very much a team effort. It started with Air Cdre Blythe Crawford’s vision and an unsolicited telephone call to Newcastle University asking whether they would be interested in collaborating on a cutting-edge project. Project ViTAL put RAFX on the world stage and has included visits to and partnerships with the United States Marine Corps base in the French Air and Space Force in Cazaux. Everyone should be proud of their achievements and their contribution to some groundbreaking experiments.”
Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said: “The outstanding work of the environmental torchbearers showcased in this year’s Sanctuary Awards isn’t just helping to make Defence greener but also represents a key element of our defence capabilities and our shift to warfighting readiness.
“From reducing environmental risks to our military infrastructure to investing in more energy-efficient technologies, sustainability underpins the resilience of Defence. By supporting the UK’s net zero targets at the same time as strengthening our national security, this work is helping to deliver on the Government’s Plan for Change.
To browse the full list of Sanctuary Awards winners and learn more about the MOD’s sustainable development activities, you can read the latest issue of Sanctuary magazine, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sanctuary.
