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Airport chiefs have added a low-emission Smart Car to its vehicle fleet as part of a drive to make its ground operations carbon neutral.
The operators of Manchester Airport are aiming to be carbon neutral for its ground operations by 2015 and the Smart Car is the first of several initiatives that will take the airport to the target.
A significant amount of carbon associated with the operation of the airport is the passenger and staff transport made to the airport and is an area that the operator is looking to influence so Manchester is looking to lead the way by moving its fleet to zero carbon.
The Smart Car has been allocated to Manchester as part of a Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform-funded partnership in conjunction with the Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies and Daimler Fleet management.
The Government gave a £100 million boost to the sector at the end of October by pledging £100 million to kick start a revolution in low emission and electric vehicles, with charging points expected to be provided on the streets of the UK.
100 vehicles have been made available for corporate entities in the trial, as the vehicles are not yet readily available on market. To qualify to be able to use the vehicles, companies must be purchasing green electricity to power vehicles, something the Manchester Airports Group is committed to now and for the long term. At the moment the group sources 30% of its electricity from renewable sources with ambitions to source 100% by 2010.
The airports group, which also own airports in East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth, has leased three of the vehicles for use at each site.
Penny Coates, managing Ddirector of East Midlands and the executive board member responsible for the environment at the Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “It might look like small steps at first but the range and scope of environmental projects we are unveiling across our airports will mean we are able to make significant savings on carbon dioxide.
“What the Smart Cars provide us with is a very visible example to our passengers and staff of how our operation needs to take advantage of innovation and new thinking to deal with the carbon issue at our airports.”
The vehicles will assist in the path to carbon neutrality by releasing zero carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions and in an added bonus, zero noise pollution. In contrast to the petrol version of the Smart the electric version emits zero emissions if powered by energy from renewable sources.
Approximately 7.2 tonnes of C02 are saved over the four-year or 40,000 mile lease of the vehicle.
The car has an automatic gearbox and all the regular safety equipment on the regular smart. The car has a top speed of 60 mph and a range of up to 70 miles. Staff at the airport will be able to use the car to access the airport site and this will be the first of many vehicles to emit low or no carbon at the airport.