Cumberland Council is taking further measures to ensure that more of its vehicles are more environmentally friendly, thanks to a new trial.
In order to cut carbon emissions and help achieve net zero amongst the council fleet, the council has launched a new trial that will see Hydroteated Vegetable Oil (HVO) replacing diesel as fuel in some refuse and recycling collection vehicles. As an alternative fuel, HVO offers the opportunity to reduce carbon emissions by 90% and will help the council to help meet carbon reduction targets.
Due to the nature of the fuel, no modifications to vehicles will be necessary, as HVO being able to be used as a drop-in alternative to regular diesel. Expectations are that the trial will deliver carbon reductions of 67.5 tonnes over the six months period (135 tonnes across a full year).
Councillor Denise Rollo, Executive Member for Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places, said:
“This is an important trial that will support deliver our carbon reduction targets.
“We will monitor the progress of this trial closely and if successful we will be keen to explore options to roll this out further across other areas of Cumberland and in other fleet vehicles to further reduce carbon emissions.
“The trial also complements our other fleet carbon reduction activity as evidenced by the introduction of additional electric vehicles as direct replacement for diesel vehicles. Collectively, we are working to deliver a cleaner, greener council fleet for Cumberland.”
The trial is to run for six months, with four vehicles in the Whitehaven area utilising the new fuel, as the council retains the option to roll this out across further areas in Cumberland and to additional vehicles.
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