Cabinet Member for Environment
Decision:
It was RESOLVED:
1.1 That Cabinet agreed to move to using HVO as a replacement for conventional diesel in the Council vehicle fleet. This is a cleaner, less polluting fuel and results in a significant CO2 emission reduction.
1.2 That Cabinet agreed to proceed with the procurement of a supplier for the provision of HVO fuel and the supply and installation of a fuel tank at Chilton Depot, Sudbury.
1.3 That Cabinet agreed to secure the capital and revenue budgets funding for the project for a minimum of 3 years as identified in the report.
1.4 That Cabinet agreed to proceed with a CIL bid to fund the capital element of the project.
Reason for Decision: To reduce the councils CO2 emissions by 900 tonnes a year. This represents 26% of total the total emissions. In accordance with its commitment to be zero carbon by 2030.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
Other alternatives to de-carbonise the vehicle fleet were researched; electric, biodiesel, and HVO were considered
1.1 Electric
There isone modelof electricRCV commerciallyavailable, theeCollect manufactured by Dennis Eagle. The costs of the vehicle are 40-80% greater than a conventional diesel engine version. However, electric costs to power the vehicle are about a third of diesel with additional savings in the form of zero vehicle tax and reduced servicing costs. There would be additional costs in the form of suitable electric vehicle charging points and associated infrastructure at depots.
1.2 There are no areno appropriatetechnical performancedetails ofthe electricvehicles availablefrom DennisEagle. Thereare trialsoccurring acrossthe country,notably theCity ofLondon, however,these arepredominantly inurban areas.A trialof anelectric vehiclehas beenrequested fromDennis Eagle.
1.3 Due to the lack of performance data for the electric RCVs there would be many risks associated with moving over to electric RCVs immediately. A large proportion of the RCV fleet comes to the end of their current lease in 2023. A consideration may be to review this exercise again before that date by which time there should be more data available to make an informed decision.
1.4 Biodiesel
Biodiesel otherwise known as FattyAcid MethylEster (FAME)is adiesel fuel replacement produced from plant and vegetable oils. Such oils cannot be blended directly with conventional diesel and so a chemical reaction using methanol and sodium hydroxide as a catalyst is used to convert vegetable/plant oils into their constituent methyl esters. These can then be blended with diesel at levels of up to 10%. However, the standard norm in the UK is to blend biofuels to a maximum of 7% of the total fuel.
1.5 Plant/vegetable oils may come from a variety of sources, such as oilseed rape, soy, palm, used cooking oils (UCO) and waste oils. Depending on the provenance, the biofuel can save around 50-60% of the emissions resulting from a ULS (ultra-low sulphur) diesel fuel. However, they do have their own unique other ... view the full decision text for item 49
Minutes:
49.1 The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for finance who provided Members with details of the various alternative fuels which had been considered.
49.2 Councillor Malvisi moved the recommendations in the report. Councillor Ward seconded the recommendations.
49.3 Members debated the benefits of the transfer to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and the costs involved.
49.4 Councillor Parker queried if there were any other Local Authorities who had already undertaken the transfer to HVO. The Assistant Director for Environment and Commercial Partnerships advised that the closest Authority who had done so was the Borough of Hackney. However many Authorities were considering a change.
By a unanimous decision
It was RESOLVED:
1.1 That Cabinet agreed to move to using HVO as a replacement for conventional diesel in the Council vehicle fleet. This is a cleaner, less polluting fuel and results in a significant CO2 emission reduction.
1.2 That Cabinet agreed to proceed with the procurement of a supplier for the provision of HVO fuel and the supply and installation of a fuel tank at Chilton Depot, Sudbury.
1.3 That Cabinet agreed to secure the capital and revenue budgets funding for the project for a minimum of 3 years as identified in the report.
1.4 That Cabinet agreed to proceed with a CIL bid to fund the capital element of the project.
Reason for Decision: To reduce the councils CO2 emissions by 900 tonnes a year. This represents 26% of total the total emissions. In accordance with its commitment to be zero carbon by 2030.