A DORSET school has shown its green credentials by becoming the first school in the South West to install a wood-fuelled biomass boiler.

St Osmund's School in Dorchester will have its heating powered by the renewable energy resource as part of the South West Bioheat Programme.

The school's gas boiler failed in 2008, prompting the headmaster to consider more energy efficient resources.

The school intends to use the boiler to help pupils' understanding of sustainable energy while also cutting costs and reducing carbon emissions.

Ron Jenkinson, headmaster of St Osmund's, said: "It is really useful for the children to gain practical experience of renewable energy to complement their theoretical learning.

"We are a centre of learning and by embracing bioheat, we are providing a new learning opportunity for our students."

The green move aims to convince the region's schools and businesses to go green by fitting wood fuel boilers instead of gas and oil.

It was funded by the South West Bioheat Programme which received £650,000 from the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) when the programme was launched in 2007.

The programme, run by Regen SW, was considered such a success that the RDA was awarded £3 million by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in April 2008.

The money is being used to fund 30 bioheat projects across the South West, including St Osmund's.

It will also allow some of the region's biggest heat-users to make the switch from oil and gas to wood heating, utilising wood from sustainable South West supplies.

Once finished, the 30 projects will save an estimated 7,000 tonnes of carbon each year.

The region's sustainable woodland resources provide the ideal platform for an energy efficient future.

Mark Prior, wood fuel partnership officer for the South West RDA, said: "Our region is leading by example in the field of renewable energies and it is particularly pleasing to see St Osmund's School become the first school under the South West Bioheat Programme to install and start using a woodchip boiler."

He also pointed out the importance of developing alternative sources of energy and promoting a low carbon, resource efficient economy in the South West.

The project has raised the school's status in the Eco Schools' award scheme which ranks schools based on their energy sustainability. Stephen Green, technology project manager of Regen SW, said: "The installation at St Osmund's School is a real milestone in the South West Bioheat Programme and it clearly demonstrates that wood fuel heating and energy generation can benefit not only businesses, but also schools in the region."

The South West already has the largest number of biomass boilers in England and the second-largest amount of woodland resources, after the South East.

The boilers currently provide 30 megawatts of biomass energy with this figure set to double when the fuel project is completed.