Renew On Line (UK) 30

Extracts from the March-April 2001 edition of Renew
These extracts only represent about 25% of it

DETR’s Cleaner Vehicles

As we noted earlier, the DETR has provided a £69m package to tackle pollution and promote cleaner, greener vehicles and fuels. Over the next three years, the Government says it will ‘more than double’ its annual expenditure on encouraging the use and development of greener cars which can ‘cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and cut the cost of motoring.’

This increased funding forms part of a broader Government response to the final report of the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force. which was set up in 1997 to encourage the development, manufacture and purchase of cleaner, more fuel-efficient, quieter and less resource intensive vehicles.

The extra investment for 2001-2004 includes:

* £30m for the ongoing Powershift programme to promote cleaner fuel vehicles delivering air quality benefits- this will support the purchase of around 35,000 vehicles including gas and electric vehicles.

* £30m to expand the Cleaner Vehicles Programme which was set up earlier this year to tackle pollution from urban vehicles such as buses, taxis- and potentially cars- to help local authorities meet air quality objectives.

* £9m to support the introduction of new technologies such as fuel cell and hybrid vehicles offering significant benefits for both local air quality and climate change.

There certainly are a lot of programmes underway- part of the governments ten-year transport plan to accelerate the take-up of cleaner fuels and cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

ALTER

Three years ago the Deputy Prime Minister sponsored the launch of the Europe wide Alternative Traffic in Towns- or ALTER- Project as part of the UK Presidency of the European Council. In February this year City and Company leaders convened at a global launch in Rome.

120 local authorities and half the capitals of Europe are committed through this project to clean renewal of their transport- and the introduction of urban clean zones. The project now is moving to cities' joint buying of clean vehicles, with co-operation from many companies.

Cleaner Vehicles Task Force

The Cleaner Vehicles Task Force was set up in late 1997 to bring together Government, industry and other interested parties to discuss practical ways to encourage the development, manufacture and purchase of cleaner, more fuel-efficient, quieter and less resource intensive vehicles.

The Task Force was chaired jointly by Lord Macdonald, Minister for Transport, and Ian McAllister, Chairman and Managing Director Ford Motor Company Ltd., and included Michael Meacher, Minister for the Environment, and Patricia Hewitt, Minister for Small Business and E-Commerce. The Task Force’s final report ‘The Way Forward’ was published in June 2000 and is available on the DETR Website at http://www.roads.detr.gov.uk/cvtf/index.htm

Powershift

The Powershift programme is administered on behalf of DETR by the Energy Saving Trust. Started in 1996, it aims to develop a sustainable market for cleaner fuel vehicles in the UK, bringing benefits for air quality, noise and climate change.

Powershift provides grants towards the additional cost of purchasing new gas (liquified petroleum gas and natural gas) and electric vehicles that offer air quality benefits over their petrol or diesel equivalents. Between 1996 and March 2000, Powershift supported the purchase of almost 3,700 gas and electric vehicles. For 2000/01, the Powershift programme’s funding of roundly £10m will support the purchase of around 6,000 gas and electric vehicles. For more information see www.est-powershift.org.uk

Cleaner Vehicles Programme

The Cleaner Vehicles Programme was set up last year with a budget of £6m for 2000/01. As with the Powershift programme, the CVP is administered for the Department by the Energy Saving Trust.

The programme aims to reduce pollution from vehicles operating in urban areas such as buses and taxis by providing grants towards the cost of fitting them with emissions reduction equipment or converting them to run on alternative fuels. The programme is a direct response to recommendations from the Cleaner Vehicles Task Force and the Commission for Integrated Transport that the Government should introduce mechanisms to tackle pollution from existing vehicles.

Initiatives already being supported include the fitment of particulate traps to urban bus fleets, the conversion of London taxis fitted with catalytic converters. Future developments may include the expansion of the programme to fit older cars based in urban areas with catalytic converters.

New Vehicle Technology

The DETR note that ‘emerging technologies such as fuel cell and hybrid vehicles offer potentially significant benefits in terms of air quality, climate change and noise compared to conventional vehicles’ However they say that Fuel cell vehicles ‘are not expected to be commercially available until around 2004, though a number of vehicle manufacturers are demonstrating prototype vehicles’.

The new £9m support programme will, they say, ‘encourage the early introduction of these and other promising technologies, commission relevant research and raise awareness amongst fleet operators and the public of their environmental benefits’.

They add that the programme's activities will be further influenced by the outcome of a web-based consultation exercise on fuels and technologies.

Graduated VED and other measures

Meanwhile, the Government has introduced a system of graduated Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) so that from November last year all cars with engines up to 1500cc benefit from a £55 reduction in VED. To help consumers choose the most environmentally friendly cars the Government will publish information on CO2 emissions for all new cars. And shortly there will be a Europe-wide scheme of labeling for all new cars with information on CO2 emissions and fuel economy.

Last year the Government launched "Motorvate", a scheme for greener fleet certification. The core target is to reduce vehicle fleets’ CO2 emissions by 12% over three years. Together with the National Society for Clean Air the Government is looking at the practical implementation of ‘low emission zones’. It also plans to extend roadside emission testing to any local authority that declares an air quality management area.

Outcomes?

The DETR say that the Air Quality Strategy, launched in Jan 2000, sets out objectives for eight major air quality pollutants for the next five to ten years and beyond. The new package should ‘encourage the uptake of cleaner technology and will make a significant contribution to achieving these objectives’ and, along with the transport measures set out in the UK’s Climate Change Programme, should help the UK to achieve a saving of 5.7 Million Tonnes of Carbon by 2010.

See DETR Web site http://www.detr.gov.uk/