A new government fund totalling £35 million has now been made available to cities and towns looking to reduce air pollution through support of electric and hybrid cars, according to recent reports.
The fund administrator, the Department for Transport, has asked for interested local authorities to put forward workable ideas for the support of low-to-no-emission vehicles (EVs, hybrids, etc) — ideas such as electric vehicle charging point installation, the creation of low-emission zones, etc.
The money for such plans — coming via the Department for Transport’s new Go Ultra Low City Scheme — is also of potential use on the policy side of things, through the support of workplace schemes, and/or the trialling of new technology.
As per the plans for the fund, the £35 million will be split between no more than four different cities. The current deadline for the outline of bids is February 20, 2015 — with the winners/recipients being expected to be announced by the autumn.
According to the Transport Minister Baroness Kramer, this new fund represents a clear sign that the UK government was supportive of the push towards reducing pollution via the increased adoption of EVs and hybrids. She continued thusly: “I would like to encourage local authorities to take up this fantastic opportunity. This can help to transform people’s quality of life in their cities and build a stronger economy.”
Considering the UK government’s recent legal battle (and loss) in the European Court of Justice recently over its failure to meet legally binding limits for nitrogen dioxide emissions, I think that remains more of an open question.
That said, having such limits imposed on you from afar probably leaves a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth of many Brits — so it’s questionable to my mind if it’s intelligent to have limits like that legislated from afar. I suppose that point may become a moot one next year though, if the UKIP party wins a big enough portion of the vote and gets its wish for a referendum on EU membership.
Image Credit: © Michal Wnuk
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