One of the innovations in the new Public Realm contract is a specific target to reduce carbon emissions, which I don't believe featured in the 2007 contract it replaces. The target refers to emissions from office buildings, other operational buildings, vehicle fuel and "non-vehicle" fuel. The intention is to cut emissions from 2,717 tons of CO2e per year in 2014/15 to 2,690 in 2016/17.
While this is welcome, it is small beer compared to the benefit of cutting the waste sent to landfill. Landfill is a huge generator of methane as food waste rots in the grounds. Even though modern landfill sites such as the one in Calvert in Buckinghamshire that West London uses, burn the methane for electricity it is still a major greenhouse gas contributor. Thus, the reduction in actual waste is likely to be a more important factor than the direct carbon emissions of the vehicles.
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