Public sector fleet operators are set to benefit from up to £50m of government money over three years to encourage them to improve their van fleets' green credentials. The money will be available through the Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Pro-gramme to be administered by Cenex, the UK's centre of excellence for low carbon and fuel cell technology, on behalf of the Department for Transport.
"At this stage, funding is only available for the public sector as the scheme does not have clearance for state aid, although hopefully it will lead to the development of a number of benefits of scale that will help all fleet owners," says LCVPP programme manager Adrian Vinsome. The scheme will initially run over two periods of three years with £20m available up front and another £30m to come subject to levels of interest.
"The first three years will see the phased introduction into the public sector," says Vinsome. "The aim is to fund the increased costs incurred in these fleets taking up green technology," he adds. "Local authorities will, for example, be able to renew their fleets on their normal cycle without incurring a penalty for adopting new technology."
According to Vinsome, the programme also hopes to encourage sufficient demand for greener technology to allow suppliers to develop it. "There will be no supply-side funding but there will be a market for suppliers." There will, however, be a pre-qualification process for suppliers. The first step is to ensure they have sufficient resources so they can respond to any demand that is generated. This will be followed by a dialogue with potential suppliers to discuss final specifications.
Currently the aim is for a reduction in CO2 production of 10% compared with current best in class, although suppliers will also be able to help set the brief. "They could say they can reduce CO2 emissions by 20%, or they might say that they can only reduce them by 7%, but there's only a £200 on-cost," Vinsome explains. Once final specification is drawn up, contracts will be awarded by competitive tender with one or more suppliers being successful.
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