JCB Academy uses Archimedes screw for green water power

By Holly Ranford, Website Contributor

JCB Academy Trust Director Alan Thomson sees the Screw into position.

The JCB academy, in Rocester, will use ancient green technology to power its energy needs.

The learning centre will be using an Archimedes Screw turbine to generate the majority of the centre's electricity requirements when students arrive in September.

The turbine will harness water power from an adjacent river as part of efforts to be environmentally friendly.

It is a modern version of a screw used by farmers in ancient Greece.

The Academy has been set up to teach engineering students, and is sponsored by the famous Staffordshire excavator firm.

Archimedes Screw

The giant Archimedes Screw is winched into place at the JCB Academy.

JCB Group Property Director, Alan Thomson, said: "When we designed The JCB Academy we wanted to be as green as possible - and the Archimedes Screw turbine embraces the very latest technology to generate electricity in an environmentally friendly way".

The screw - popularly believed to have been invented by the ancient Greek philosopher Archimedes - is a mechanical way to lift water uphill.

The screw is just one of the "green" methods JCB is using to generate power, alongside a wind turbine and solar panels.