By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
A Nottinghamshire council is to consider using biofuel to run its bin lorries to reduce damage to the environment.
Rushcliffe Borough Council, which declared a climate emergency in 2019, trialled the renewable diesel alternative last year.
The update was given to councillors who were reviewing the carbon management plan during a Communities Scrutiny Group meeting on April 28.
The authority aims to become carbon neutral by 2030 and to be ”Net Zero” as a Borough by 2050.
Scientists predict that without significant change in human behaviour and policy, global warming could reach 1.5C between 2030 and 2052.
A council officer said during the meeting: “A lot of councils are talking about changing their vehicles to electric vehicles, that deny work for us.
“In Rushcliffe borough, we have a lot of remote houses so it’s not always easy to have that electric charging because of the distance they have to go
“In October 2021 we started a trial using HVO, it is a really good swap over.
“It has been really successful, we haven’t had any breakdowns or issues.
“It’s a completely renewable fuel and it reduces C02 emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to fossil diesel fuel.
“We used 4300 litres of as of November 30 2021 and that reduced over 12000 tons of C02 that’s not been released into the atmosphere.
“We are going to be looking forward about how we can roll it out across the fleet, what are the cost implications, how manageable is it, where would we store and source the fuel.
“We’ve got to get through those hurdles first but it’s a really positive step in the right direction.”
The authority created a £1m Climate Change Action Reserve in 2020 to support projects to “protect and enhance the environment”.
So far, £30,000 has been earmarked for works at Rushcliffe Country Park for photovoltaic panels and a new heat pump.
The UK’s Committee on Climate Change states that there is a “crucial role” for local authorities to reduce emissions.
The council’s carbon management action plan currently has 63 ‘live actions’ to complete.
Priority is given to actions with the greatest carbon impact including property, fleet and transport.
The authority is also carrying out energy audits on council properties to understand the steps to be taken to reduce emissions.
They said this could include installing solar panels across several properties reducing costs overall, instead of working through each building one by one.
The new Bingham Leisure Centre also has £367,000 worth of carbon reduction technology and aims to be 80 per cent more efficient than other leisure centres.
Rushcliffe Oaks Crematorium, set to open later this year, will also host one of the first electrically-powered cremators in the UK.
Council documents stated: “It is vital to act on the largest sources of emissions as early as possible, not just to ensure the trajectory to target, but to minimise the total emissions released into the atmosphere by the Council’s activities and assets.”
