UK Government puts £30 million into low-carbon transport

The UK Government yesterday announced a £30 million boost for low carbon transport.

The funds will be divided between various schemes aimed at reducing emissions from transport and improving air quality.

The Government’s existing scheme to provide funding to local authorities and bus operators for low carbon buses will get an additional £10 million. The scheme has already supported the purchase of around 350 low-carbon buses in England.

Meanwhile, the Technology Strategy Board’s Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform competition launched last December will get an extra £5 million taking the total available funding for low and ultra low carbon vehicle supply chains to £24 million.

Heavy good vehicles (HGVs) are also getting a low-carbon makeover under the plans with a £3.5 million demonstration project looking at the potential savings that hybrids can offer freight operators.

The Government is also setting aside £3.7 million to set up a test centre in Nuneaton to develop intelligent transport technologies that could improve fuel efficiency and improve congestion.

Alternative fuels also get a look in with a £3.5 million biogas demonstration project, which will upgrade biogas into biomethane for transport fuel, and an additional £1 million for the Government’s Alternative Fuel Investment Grant Programme (AFIGP). The extra investment in AFIGP will allow two additional rounds of funding for the installation of refuelling or recharging stations for gas/biogas, hydrogen and electricity.

http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/i/2932/