Case study detail
Gateshead's fleet depot
Gateshead’s bio-fuel initiative saves money and wins award
Contributed by:
Maria Arnold
Organisation:
SDC
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Gateshead Council cut mileage by 269,000 miles last year and saved £77k by quadrupling bio-fuel in 10% of their vehicle fleet and training drivers to be fuel efficient.
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Overview
 | Supported by CIPFA, the LGA and the IDeA, Financing Local Futures is a web-based resource designed to help those involved in local government financial decision-making to develop their own organisations' contributions to sustainable development. |
Sustainable development benefits: Reduction of CO2 emissions, higher productivity for council staff, efficiency gains
Mechanism used: Sustainable procurement
Economic rewards: £77k savings in fuel in trial year
Case study:
Gateshead Council won the Energy Saving Trust’s ‘Fleet Hero Award’in 2006, recognising a drive towards sustainable development by the transport department. The Council were rewarded for introducing 20% bio-fuel to a tenth of all their vehicles. They also trained drivers in fuel efficiency and allocated them jobs closer to their homes – a trial which saved £77k in the first year.
The council had initially started to convert its fleet to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), but found that the costs incurred (an average of £2,500 per vehicle) undermined the potential savings. Increasing the percentage of bio-fuel, however, incurs no additional costs and has no adverse affect on performance. The Gateshead fleet was even tested at minus 17 C.
“Since Kyoto, the transport department have been thinking ‘what can we do?’” said Graham Telfer, Fleet Manager for the Council: “The goal behind the project was to reduce our CO2 emissions, but we had to make sure it wasn’t going to be at a cost to the tax payer.”
Telfer points out that bio-fuel is subsidised by central government to make it as cheap as regular diesel. The project as a whole increases mileage by 2-3% and this success has meant that all vehicles in Gateshead's 400 strong fleet are now to be operated on 20% bio-fuel.
Key features
energy
local government
transport
Key data
Project Team:
Cost:
Local Authority: Gateshead Council
Links
Gateshead Council
Energy Savings Trust
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