Green vehicles help University cut carbon and make savings

Published On Thu 14 May 2015 by Grant Hill

The University of Dundee has taken delivery of three new electric vans, an electric car and 12 electric bikes that will help to cut its carbon footprint and promote green transport amongst staff and students.

Funding of almost £70,000 from Transport Scotland enabled the University to purchase the vehicles. Its clean energy fleet now stands at seven all-electric vans, one electric car and one hybrid flatbed truck. The electric bikes, funded by a grant from TACTRAN, can be accessed by staff and students through Drive, the campus cycle-hire shop.

It is anticipated that using the electric and hybrid vehicles to carry out University business will save the equivalent of 9 tonnes of carbon every year as well as in excess of £10,000 per annum as a result of not having to refill at the pump and reduced maintenance costs. As these vehicles have zero emissions they help reduce air pollution and improve air quality.

Trudy Cunningham, Environment & Sustainability Officer at the University, said, “Ultimately we want to be a zero-emission university and these vehicles are another step in that direction. Not only do we want our transport choices to be as green as possible, we want to help staff and students to make those choices as well.

“In addition to being able to hire electric bikes, our liftshare is the biggest and best-used in the Scottish higher education sector and the percentage of low-energy vehicles in our estates fleet is also now the highest of any university in Scotland.”

Other green initiatives introduced by the University include the installing 23 ‘Big Belly’ bins, which prevent overflowing by holding seven times as much as conventional bins resulting in a reduction of the number of collections, while their design also makes them seagull proof.

A student freeshop and staff re-use portal encourages them not to throw items away and save money on goods that others give away, while the removal of individual desk bins and introduction of recycling points in offices and corridors across campus has drastically cut waste and increased recycling figures. Dundee also took part in a trial for ‘Reverse Vending’ machines, which reward users with a voucher to spend in campus shops for every can or plastic bottle put into the machines.

Future developments this year will see the installation of new bike shelters and a bike repair hub with 24/7 access to a bike stand, stirrup pump, tools and an inner tube vending machine, the first such facility in Scotland.

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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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