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Cleaner, greener van fleets could be a reality on our roads, thanks
to a new Department for Transport fund outlined by Transport Minister
Jim Fitzpatrick today.
The programme, which will be worth an initial £20million, will
procure lower carbon vehicle models for use in public sector fleets -
thereby using the public sector's purchasing power to kickstart the
market for lower carbon vans.
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Should initial trials be successful, an additional £30million has
been earmarked to be used to develop the programme further.
Jim Fitzpatrick said: "Bringing cleaner, greener vehicles onto the
market as soon as possible is a priority for the Government, but we want
to direct our efforts where they will have the biggest impact in
reducing emissions and tackling climate change.
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"Vans account for around 15% of carbon emissions from road transport,
but currently there are no mass market low carbon models on offer to the
UK van buyer - although the technology to create them exists. By using
the public sector's considerable purchasing power, we aim to give
investors and manufacturers confidence in the existence of a market for
lower carbon vans, to encourage them to bring them to market more
quickly than they would do otherwise. This could have a big impact in
cutting carbon emissions on our roads."
Since the proposal, the Department has
engaged with stakeholders to find out how best to direct the money for
greatest environmental impact. The bulk of the funding will be used to
procure lower carbon vans in the first instance, with smaller
demonstrations of lower carbon minibuses, all-electric vans and,
potentially, plug-in hybrid cars.
Initial public sector participants are
expected to include the Metropolitan police, Environment Agency,
Transport for London, the Royal Mail, HM Revenue and Customs and the
Government Car and Despatch Agency. All these organisations have
significant vehicle fleets, suitable for fleet demonstration.
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