The Peers Academy could become one of the 'greenest' places to learn in the UK, thanks to a Government grant scheme to make schools more environmentally friendly.

The academy, which is planned for the site of Peers School in Littlemore, is in line to receive £500,000 to slash carbon dioxide emissions.

Other measures to improve energy efficiency could include mini wind turbines to generate electricity, insulated windows, low-emission light bulbs, heating fuelled by recycled wood pellets and toilets flushed by rain water.

The school, which would by run by the Diocese of Oxford, could also recycle its own paper, plant a roof-top shrubbery to improve drainage and give children their own vegetable gardens.

Although no official decision has yet been made on whether the controversial academy plans get the go-ahead, the school is among 200 across England earmarked to receive about half a million pounds, under a £110m scheme.

Headteachers will be encouraged to give pupils so-called 'carbon detective kits', which allow them to investigate their school's carbon footprint and take action to reduce it.

And some of the funds may be spent on twinning with schools in other countries, to learn how to tackle issues such as rainforest preservation and planting new forests.

The announcement is the first step in the Government's programme to ensure all schools are entirely carbon neutral by 2016.

Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, acknowledged the technology did not yet exist to meet the target and said he would appoint a task force in the new year.

He said: "We are taking action now to reduce carbon emissions in new school buildings, while we work towards the zero carbon goal.

"This provides an additional £500,000 for the average secondary school, to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy measures on school sites."

Under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, the Government is rebuilding, or refurbishing, every secondary school in England.

Earlier this year parents of pupils at Peers said they did not know enough about plans to turn the school into a £30m academy.

Consultants distributed 4,000 information brochures to homes in the Peers catchment area about the plans - but just 22 responses were received.

A source at Mouchel Parkman, which was handling the consultation, said the response showed "a great deal of apathy".

Steve Goddard, the Liberal Democrat's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Oxford East, said: "It's impossible to argue the community is engaged in the process. I sense scepticism - if you are going to throw £30m at a project, you need to make sure the community is behind the project.

My sense is that we don't have that unanimity."

The Peers Academy would be built with an 'open plan' layout, and a new sports hall - but not a swimming pool or badminton courts.