Birmingham to have 'green' council vehicles within six years

Nov 28 2009 by Paul Dale, Birmingham Mail

GREEN car manufacturers have been given a huge boost after Birmingham City Council announced its aim to switch to a fleet consisting entirely of environmentally friendly vehicles within six years.

Hundreds of vans and cars purchased by the local authority, including all dustcarts, will be electrically powered or run on liquefied petroleum gas by 2015. Eventually, the council’s entire fleet of 1,249 vehicles will be powered by “green” fuel.

The announcement could be good news for at least two Midland firms.

Coventry-based Modec, which claims to be the world’s first manufacturer of purpose-built zero emission vehicles, recently received a £23 million grant from American President Barack Obama to roll out its electric vans to the US market.

Sutton Coldfield-based Zytek, meanwhile, is also involved in developing electric delivery vehicles for the Americans.

Both firms could benefit if, as is likely, Birmingham is joined by other West Midlands councils in a dash to comply with Government emissions targets by replacing their polluting petrol-driven fleets.

The radical move is part of an initiative by deputy council leader Paul Tilsley to position Birmingham as the leading UK city in the fight against climate change and global warming.

Other measures include a commitment to reduce the council’s energy consumption by a quarter and to ensure that at least ten per cent of homes in the city are linked to green heating systems within the six-year deadline.

Coun Tilsley also wants to create ten “low carbon communities” similar to the Summerfield Eco-neighbourhood in Edgbaston where householders were given grants to install insultation, new boilers, solar panels and wind turbines.