Going green is widely seen as a good thing, up there with giving money to charity. But sooner or later many organisations arrive at the stage where employees or customers realise there is a price to pay. The Hampshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is at that point now, as it tries to explain to its 4,000 staff why mileage reimbursement rates are due to fall by an average of 20% in April.
A Green Fleet Review by the Energy Saving Trust in 2009 identified that 99% of the trust's business travel is conducted by staff driving their own cars, the so-called grey fleet, so there was bound to be an impact.
"There is some resistance from staff," says head of facilities and environment, Scott Jones, the man driving the trust's move to green its fleet. The current mileage rates, which go as high as 59p a mile, encourage staff to use their own cars, which generate an average of 175g of CO2 for every kilometre travelled.
Dropping the rate to as low as 24p is intended as a disincentive.
At the same time the fleet is expanding its car pool, and has capped emissions at 120g CO2/km. It is also working with external car-pooling scheme Liftshare to further reduce the number of cars used by staff to get to work, while enrolling them in smarter driving courses.
Paul Jackson, managing director of The Miles Consultancy, says there are side-benefits for staff in smarter driving courses. The Miles Consultancy won a Fleet Hero award for its TMC carbon-reporting tool, a system in vehicles that helps drivers and their employers keep track of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Jackson says fuel consumption and emissions can be cut by nearly a quarter when drivers use eco-driving techniques of reading the road farther ahead, cutting out aggressive braking and slowing at roundabouts, rather than stopping, if the road is clear.
About 70% of people fall into the "good driver" category after these programmes, compared with 30% before, says Jackson. This means staff can see their own fuel bills cut outside working hours.
Jones is convinced that the road the Hampshire Foundation Trust is taking is the right one. Since the NHS accounts for 5% of road traffic in England, he says, it needs to set an example if the UK is to meet its ambitious emissions reduction goals.
