Liverpool City Council says it will spend almost £600,000 taking its petrol and diesel vehicles off the road and go all-electric. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool City Council will replace all its petrol and diesel vehicles with electric ones by 2030 under a proposal to be considered by senior councillors.
In a project costing £590,000, the council will commit to replacing every eligible vehicle between 2026 and 2030 with an electric vehicle (EV), subject to availability and market delivery capacity.
This will be discussed by the cabinet on Tuesday, September 16. If approved, it will mark the end of Council vans and lorries polluting the city’s air with fumes from internal combustion engines.
In 2019, the council’s own fleet, including subsidiary LSSL, emitted 2,314 tons of CO₂, representing 11.7% of the Council’s total 19,820 tons of CO₂ output.
It is also addressing the reduction of emissions across other areas, such as the launch of new food waste collections and the decarbonisation of roads as part of the ADEPT Live Labs project.
The authority will also secure capital for on-site EV charging infrastructure to ensure reliable, fast charging across all council depots and offices.
And it will transition existing non-EV vehicles and those not scheduled for renewal within this window to hydrotreated vegetable Oil (HVO), reducing lifecycle CO₂ emissions by up to 98% based on DESNEZ conversion factors.
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Cllr Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool City Council, said: “Achieving net zero by 2030 means tackling every significant source of emissions. This investment is a clear commitment to cleaner air for our communities, long-term savings for taxpayers, and a greener legacy for future generations.
“It dovetails with other major projects we are undertaking to cut our emissions, such as including council buildings in local heat networks, rolling out our new food waste collection service, and the decarbonisation of our cultural sector through the Accelerator City initiative.”