The Defence School of Transport is to star in the latest episode of Guy Martin’s Power Trip.
The three-part Channel 4 documentary investigates how Britain makes its power from coal to nuclear. The Defence School of Training (DST), as a flag bearer for the MoD’s move to harnessing solar energy, features in the show being broadcast this Sunday at 9pm.
It sees Guy drive a Man Support Vehicle under instruction on the DST off-road driver training area, before joining Babcock personnel in DST’s workshops undertaking various tasks all powered by energy from the solar farm.
This includes using an air gun to undertake an Oshkosh wheel change; Bar armour removal on a MAN 9-Tonne Support Vehicle; brake and emissions testing on a MAN Enhanced Palace Loading System with a simulated load; jacking-up a MAN 6-Tonne Support Vehicle with a Somers lift for an oil change; and a visit to the solar farm.
The British Army’s first photovoltaic solar farm was completed at DST in 2021 as part of Project Prometheus, a £200 million investment in renewable energy. The first of four pilot sites, the farm is made up of more than 4,000 solar panels.
The project estimates £1 million in efficiency savings and 2,000 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) annually, with saving costs due to be reinvested into essential Army infrastructure.
Colonel Chris Henson QGM, Commandant of DST said: “The Defence School of Transport was delighted to host Guy Martin to film part of his Power Trip TV series at our base in Leconfield, East Yorkshire.
“This was a great opportunity to showcase how Defence supports the need to secure a healthy environment for all our futures.
This was a great opportunity to showcase how Defence supports the need to secure a healthy environment for all our futures.
“As a major vehicle operator, DST strives to limit and offset our unavoidable environmental impact. The Project Prometheus solar farm on site, the first of several now opening on the Defence estate, is a great example of this.
“Our instructors and workshop staff enjoyed the chance to show what they do to a fellow vehicle enthusiast. With his huge enthusiasm for our core business of driving, Guy was able to explain DST’s environmental approach to a wide audience who may have known very little about what we do.
“I place a high priority on mitigating the environmental impact of the vehicle-miles that we drive to train Service personnel. Guy really got our approach, we had fun hosting him for the day and he had some good suggestions on how to take our sustainable energy usage forward even further.”
DST was formed as a centre of excellence for driver and transport management training for Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines personnel.
