Corporate Responsibility

C2C	East Anglia

Coach	Bus

Targets

One of the real challenges we face is how to improve the efficiency of our vehicles. It is extremely difficult to set a reduction target for our operations for a number of reasons.

Firstly, new diesel vehicles which meet the latest standards for exhaust emissions are less fuel efficient than the older vehicles they replace. This trade-off is well known and means that our baseline emissions will increase moving forward.

Secondly, there are limited options for improving fuel economy. Diesel-hybrid technology has great potential for delivering a step change in reducing both CO2 and exhaust pollutants. We have been involved in trials of this technology but they are still not cost-effective.

Finally, average speed has a big impact on fuel economy. As with exhaust pollutants (see chart in local air quality section) fuel economy decreases the slower the vehicles travel and the more they have to stop and start in cities. Even a relatively modest increase in speed can have a marked effect on fuel economy. Bus and coach priority measures are therefore important for reducing emissions as well as growing patronage.

Overall there are huge net benefits of using public transport compared to other modes of transport (see charts above) and we are committed to growing our services and encourage customers out of cars or planes. We hope to grow our total operation and as such our total emissions of CO2. When hybrids are commercially available we will be able to set longer term targets with more confidence. This does not mean we are complacent about the need to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible but there are genuine constraints in setting robust targets.  We have a programme in place to evaluate the benefits of fuel efficiency measures including driver training.  We will continue to work with our supply chain on gaining efficiency improvements.

Our announcement to suspend our UK biodiesel bus trial using “first generation” biofuel reflects the seriousness with which we look at our own impact on the environment. Our concerns centred over whether the benefits of these first generation biofuels outweighed the impacts with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and broader sustainability issues. We are not dismissing the role they may play in the future, but it is vital that we wait for issues relating to the sustainability of supply to be resolved.

Total GHG Emissions from UK Operations (tCO2e)