Local governments and public transport operators across Europe are increasingly looking at alternatives to traditional petrol and diesel vehicles for their fleets — whether vehicles are directly owned, or operated by subsidiaries or other private companies that carry out public services (such as public transport or waste collection). Hybrid, full electric, gas or biofuel-driven vehicles, for example, are being considered for a range of reasons: * Climate change — The transport section is responsible 25% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting CO2 reduction targets requires local governments to reduce the emissions of public fleets. * Air quality - Vehicles also have a major impact on local air quality in Europe’s towns and cities — they emit significant quantities of NOx, NMHC, and PM which have been linked to a range of health and environmental problems. In 2012, 11 Member States breached limits set under the National Emission Ceilings Directive - the most common pollutant being NOx , with nine Member States exceeding designated levels At the city level, NO x is repeatedly cited as a particular local air pollution issue. * Creating a market for alternatively-fuelled vehicles — Policy makers at the European and national level recognise the importance of public sector demand in helping to boost the market for cleaner and more energy efficient vehicles. At the European level, the Clean Vehicles Directive (CVD) has been introduced to encourage the broad market introduction of more environmentally friendly vehicles. It obliges public authorities to take certain environmental factors into account when purchasing road vehicles. * Example setting — Public authorities play an important role in setting an example for private citizens and companies. Employing alternatively fuelled vehicles for public transport and other highly visible public services can help encourage others to think of this option * Fuel security — There is growing concern about European reliance on oil imports, and the vehicles sector is amongst the most dependent of all. Finding large scale alternatives to petrol and diesel is a political priority. Purpose of the guide This guide is designed to assist public authorities and public transport operators in purchasing clean and energy efficient vehicles in full compliance with European legislation — in particular the Clean Vehicles Directive (CVD) . It is primarily targeted at procurers and fleet managers, but will also be of relevance to policy makers and others involved in the transport sector. The guide presents how environmental criteria can be introduced into the different stages of procurement procedures, together with information on life cycle costing (LCC) and other relevant topics. The information presented is complemented by various real-life examples from European public authorities. It has been produced by the Clean Fleets project (http://www.clean-fleets.eu) — Clean Fleets is funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Union which assists public authorities and fleet operators with the procurement or leasing of clean and energy-efficient vehicles and the implementation of the Clean Vehicles Directive (CVD).(Author/publisher)
Samenvatting