GREEN-LOVING Dartington Hall is planning to light up the medieval estate using the wind and the sun.

Dartington Hall Trust bosses are aiming to become the first in the UK to combine a system of wind and solar power to run the street lighting on the 1,200 acre estate.

The estate already has three new wind and sun powered LED street lamps waiting to be assembled so it can launch the energy saving experiment.

If it works out, it is planned to bring more on to the estate as part of a massive campaign to reduce the whole estate's carbon footprint to zero over the next few years.

The trust's chief executive Vaughan Lindsay said: "Over the next few years we intend to make the estate carbon positive, focusing on new innovations in renewable energy and environmental education, daring to pioneer experimental solutions to some of the most pressing environmental problems of our time.

"If the massive success of the last year is anything to go by, we are optimistic we can deliver the changes needed to become an international champion of sustainability."

The estate recently brought in a 'heat seeking' camera to see just where dozens of buildings on the estate, including the Great Hall, are leaking heat.

Since the launch of the energy saving campaign the estate has:

Cut its energy use by 300,000kw/h.

Saved enough energy to heat 25 domestic homes.

Improved energy efficiency by seven per cent (figures take into account the warmer winter).

Cut its carbon footprint by 11.5 per cent.

Increased recycling from 25 per cent to 60 per cent.

All 38 domestic buildings on the Dartington estate have been accepted for insulation improvements, funded through West Country Energy Action. With around 15 homes seeing noticeable improvements before Christmas.

From October 1, Dartington swapped supply over to EDF Green Energy.

Mr Lindsay said this is a 12-month stop gap while the estate puts in place its own energy systems.

"We recognise it would be far more ideal to generate our own renewable energy than take a share of that which is already being produced," he said.

He also pointed out the White Hart bar on the estate has replaced its outdoor pub heaters with a carbon neutral brazier designed by King Edward VI Community College students at Totnes, while plans are progressing to make the estate's 21-strong fleet of vehicles more sustainable and it is hoped to take on its first electric van next April.

On December 1, Charlie McConnell, the former chief executive of both the Carnegie Trust UK and the Scottish Community Education Council, becomes the first ever Director of Sustainability to join Dartington, making the charity one of the first organisations in the UK to bring sustainability to the top table.