There’s never been a better time to talk about the impact cars are having on the environment – and what we should do about it. And that’s because the Sustainable Innovation Forum has just taken place in Paris, a city lauded for its progress on making green improvements.
The objective of the annual conference was to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate from all the nations of the world. It’s a big task that needs total global commitment if it’s going to reach its goal of being implemented by 2020. Many offshoots and smaller discussions lead up to this final agreement, and one of those is the issue of reducing emissions.
Reducing emissions is key
Alongside the forum, there’s a global call to develop greener cars – that is, cars that don’t do as much damage to the atmosphere as many models on the road currently do. There are lots of ways this can be done, such as the introduction of AdBlue, which is a diesel exhaust fluid that will be sprayed into the exhaust gas of all new cars to meet the new Euro 6 standards.
With the public getting behind more green policies there’s increasing pressure on businesses to become more environmentally aware. Ben and Jerry’s CEO Jostein Solheim, who spoke at the conference, told journalist Lucy Sherriff: “What’s most important is that businesses take responsibility to make their operations, products, and services more sustainable, and to set ambitious reduction targets.”
At Kia, we believe that fleet managers must be part of this movement, and look at ways to reduce their company’s carbon footprint, but it’s difficult to do that in a relatively new and unknown arena.
We also acknowledge that there’s some nervousness about upgrading your fleet and changing the way you work. Guardian journalist Jemima Kiss recently wrote of electric cars: “Car dealers are largely ignorant, allocating junior staff to their electric vehicle sales [...] And after-sales service is very poor; customers are left to research the complexities of installing at-home charging units.”
It seems that going green requires extensive, committed research, which is why fleet managers need inspiration and guidance from government and councils. We’ve found several that are flying the flag for greener fleets – from implementing it in public transport to encouraging car sharing.
Green fleets around the world
Camden’s green fleet
The London borough council was the first to launch an entire fleet made up of vehicles powered solely by renewable energy back in 2010. The fleet of 15 vans are powered with a specially compressed biomethane gas made from organic waste that produces the equivalent power to 1,200 litres of diesel fuel. And with a bio-fuel recharge station and charging point available to all commercial electric vehicles, going green need not seem so daunting a prospect.
European Green Fleet scheme
Meanwhile, through their ECO Stars scheme, Glasgow City Council is actively encouraging operators of trucks, vans, buses and coaches to run their fleets more eco-efficiently. Offering a free consultation and roadmap service, it gives fleet managers insight into the state of their cars and offers tips on how to improve carbon emissions.
UK government
The UK government has committed to incorporating 140 plug-in vehicles as part of their £5m investment to reduce emissions, so far four ministerial cars will be replaced. And there are plans to encourage fleets to increase their take-up in the coming years.
Chichester council goes green
Chichester District Council stepped up its green offering last month, when councillors voted to replace seven of their petrol cars with electric versions once the lease runs out.
International green fleets
Internationally, countries like India and China are demonstrably making strides to cut their emissions. In January this year, Delhi banned the use of cars on alternate days in a bid to cut their notoriously high levels of pollution.
Meanwhile, China is set to introduce a new car-sharing programme towards the end of 2015, where 1000 electric vehicles will be used by multiple drivers. The scheme is part of a wider series of moves designed to help the country improve its energy efficiency.
And in a bid to lead by example, Johannesburg launched a fleet of green buses during the United Nations 21st Conference of the Parties this year.
It’s these kinds of prolific examples are exactly what fleet managers need in order to gain the confidence and knowledge to make the switch to go greener.
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