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Transport Strategy The Council’s transport strategy is part of the Climate Change Strategy for Woking and includes:-
Setting improved standards for taxi and private hire vehicles licensed to operate in the Borough incorporating a low carbon strategy to be achieved by 2010/11;
Revising the Council’s Transport Plan with a view to all Council owned vehicles, lease cars and cars used on Council business being low carbon vehicles by 2010/11;
Promoting the use of low carbon vehicles and introducing from April 2004 a carbon offset charge for the use of the Council’s car parks and the hypothecation of the carbon offset charge to the Climate Change Fund;
Promotional campaign with fuel station operators in the Borough to encourage the provision of alternative fuels (LPG, LNG, CNG, hybrid, hydrogen) at local filling stations;
Promotional campaign through Council publications to raise awareness of alternative fuel vehicles.
Natural Gas VehiclesA Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) system ( www.lng-cng.com/lng/woking.htm )was implemented in 1998/99 due to the high energy density of LNG and its ability to remove NOx which has a lower liquification temperature than natural gas. The payload characteristics of LNG is about the same or better than diesel vehicles overcoming the need for extra refuse vehicles if Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) had have been used. Also, LNG can be converted to CNG economically for smaller vehicles whereas CNG cannot be economically converted to LNG. A LNG system provides for both NGV options without being anywhere near or connected to a gas grid, setting in place a sustainable strategy that would enable the take up of future schemes to serve other public and private sector users and therefore increase the take up NGV’s. The Council first implemented its Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) strategy replacing two of its diesel refuse vehicles with a small LNG station and two LNG refuse vehicles. The trial was so successful in relation to environmental and noise emissions, payload and driving range that the Council let its new waste management contract in 2000/01 on the basis that the vehicle fleet had to be LNG/CNG vehicles only. The small LNG station was replaced by a larger LNG station as part of the new waste management contract.
Further Council vehicle contracts are in the process of being tendered based on LNG/CNG vehicle fleets expanding the Council NGV vehicle fleet. A LNG/CNG conversion station is also being planned to provide alternative LNG/CNG fuels to serve smaller vehicles, taxis and private hire vehicles.Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) and hybrid LPG/petrol vehicles that comply with the Council’s emission standards will also be permitted under the proposed taxi and private hire vehicles licensing scheme. Electric Vehicles A solar electric vehicle scheme is included in the Council’s Energy Services Service Plan. Electric/petrol hybrid vehicles that comply with the Council’s Emission standards will also be permitted under the Council’s transport strategy.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell TransportA renewable hydrogen energy system for the built and transport environment is planned. Hydrogen will be generated from electricity produced from a large scale photovoltaic roof system via an electrolyser providing renewable energy to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles without the need for an on board reformer. In addition, utilising the reverse electrolyser/ fuel cell principle or separate electrolyser/fuel cell technologies, electricity will be stored in the form of hydrogen at times of low energy consumption and reconverted back to electricity at times of high energy consumption, particularly during the maximum demand periods, thereby overcoming the intermittency problem of renewable energy and providing an integrated renewable energy supply for both buildings (heat and electricity) and transport (hydrogen fuel) demonstrating how a wholly renewable energy society can be achieved without the need for fossil fuels or nuclear energy through the Renewable Hydrogen Energy Economy.
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