EXHAUSTED DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS Issue 10 – Summer 2015
Electric car Revolution – sales soar 350%
How much? Find out how much eco-unfriendly driving costs per year
Partnership
UK workers
- we care about energy efficiency
– Liftshare and Stagecoach create business park growth
World’s First – Green double-decker
How much fossil fuel ?
EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the summer edition of Exhausted. We’ve seen an exciting start to the year for sustainability, the first six months of 2015 has witnessed record sales of electric cars. It was only ten years ago people thought the electric car would never make it, and compared them to the likes of a golf cart – slow, bulky and not very attractive. With a global push to cut carbon emissions and improved technology, it appears it’s a green movement that is finally moving. (page 9)
We continue to work hard on promoting sustainable travel solutions; in this edition we focus on our latest partnership with Stagecoach Midlands. The new venture provides more sustainable transport options to the large employment site, Birch Coppice in Tamworth – the partnership has helped reduce unemployment in the local area and seen business growth for organisations such as Ocado, who have successfully met their recruitment needs. (Page12)
So whilst electric car drivers are reaping financial rewards, it’s been reported those owners of the traditional petrol and diesel models, are wasting £700 million a year, by not using eco-friendly driving techniques (Page 4). We’ve generated a top 10 list to highlight some of the economical ways your workforce can drive, to reduce fuel costs (page 5). Obviously, we couldn’t go without mentioning that one of the easiest ways to save money is by sharing your car journey!
This is just a glimpse of what you’ll find inside, so do enjoy. If there are certain topics and issues that you’d like more info on or to see in the next issue, get in touch.
Happy reading... Polly
Editor
polly@liftshare.com
CONTENTS
Unilever to change attitudes towards sustainability
How much does eco-unfriendly driving cost? 10 tips for fuel efficient driving
3
Outline of how the summer Budget 2015 affects motorists
6
How much fossil fuel has been used in your lifetime?
4 5
6
Government’s DRIVE to scrap paper
7
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World’s first – London’s iconic double-decker bus goes green Two-thirds of UK workers care about energy efficiency, YouGov poll finds
8
Climate change causing bumble bee decline
9
A movement in cyclist safety
8
2015 revs up to the electric car revolution – sales soar 350%
9
10-11
Partnership leads to growth
12
Web: www.liftshare.com/business Linked-in www.linkedin.com/ company/liftshare
EXHAUSTED
Unilever launches online platform to change attitudes towards
sustainability
Foundry IDEAS is the new Unileverfunded global crowdsourcing platform, designed to tap into the wisdom of consumers, business, start-ups and other organisations to help drive its sustainability agenda.
The platform is designed to speed up delivery of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, it is inviting anyone, from anywhere in the world to suggest ideas. And in the process, it provides a great opportunity for Unilever to identify potential partners and help them to bring them to scale. The best ideas will be piloted or implemented, a reward Unilever hopes will incentivise participation. The platform launches with three challenges it hopes to solve on sustainability issues in the areas of sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition. • How can we help 100 million people have access to basic toilet sanitation by 2020? • Invent the shower of the future, to be more luxurious and more sustainable? • How can we enable millions of mothers and daughters in Africa to embrace more nutritious cooking? The extent of Unilever’s sustainability initiatives are apparently paying off; they are making an increasingly positive impact on its business in terms of growth, cost efficiency and resilience for the future with its ‘sustainable living brands,’ including Dove, LifeBuoy, Ben & Jerry’s and Comfort, growing twice as fast as its other brands.
DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
3
Eco-unfriendly driving costs £700m
r a e y a
British motorists are wasting £700 million a year on their fuel bills, because they aren’t using eco-friendly driving techniques, according to research by Barclaycard Fuel+ On average British drivers are wasting over 636 million litres of petrol a year, that could be saved if they drove more efficiently, and one in three motorists (36 per cent) do not use any eco-driving techniques, that could save them fuel and money. It’s the older generation of motorists who are the most likely to practice eco-unfriendly habits, such as leaving the engine running when stationary, accelerating unnecessarily and failing to use the right gear. Two of the biggest ‘fuel wasting habits’ practised by British motorists according to the survey, is revving the engine at red lights or in traffic jams, instead of using the handbrake to stabilise the vehicle (something that 40 per cent of motorists admit to). The other is speeding, which the research found that over half (51 per cent) of British motorists, admit to not always sticking to the speed limit.
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Follow these 10 simple changes to the way you drive to help you reduce your fuel bill:
1. Basic car maintenance Ensure your car is well maintained, simply checking your engine oil level and pumping up your tyres keeps everything running efficiently. A poorly tuned engine could be using up to 50 per cent more fuel. Under-inflated tyres cause more rolling resistance and friction, and that means the engine has to work harder to get the same results.
2. Ditch the weight Ensure that you only carry what you need in your boot - if there’s anything in the boot you don’t need on a journey take it out; extra weight has an impact on fuel economy. If you drive about with a roof rack, cycle rack or top box beware this creates more wind drag, which means the engine has to work harder - if you don’t need it, take it off.
EXHAUSTED
Top 10 tips for fuel efficient driving 3. Plan your journey It’s worth viewing a map before you set out to check the best and most economical route – an estimated 350,000 tonnes of fuel is wasted every year by drivers who are lost.
4. Avoid peak travel times Travel at times when the roads are quieter sitting in queues uses up more fuel.
5. Switch off the air-con Air conditioning uses more power and therefore fuel, it’s worth switching it off if you don’t really need it.
6. Look ahead Driving smoothly with gradual and light acceleration, avoiding unnecessary braking and accelerating, will get you at more miles for your money. Hard acceleration and sudden braking could use up to 40 per cent more fuel.
7. Don’t freewheel! You may have heard of the old myth ‘coasting’ - letting your car roll in neutral – to save fuel. When freewheeling in neutral you are not in full control of the car, losing engine breaking and the ability to accelerate if needed. The engine control unit in modern cars cuts the fuel supply once you take the foot off your accelerator.
8. Change up earlier Try changing up through gears earlier. As a guide, try changing up when the engine speed reaches 2000rpm in a petrol car and 2500rpm in a diesel car. Newer cars come with ‘Gear Shift Indicators’ - often a little green arrow on the dashboard - that will recognise the most efficient point to change gear for the car in the current conditions.
9. Keep to the speed limits The faster you go, the more fuel you consume. The majority of cars run at their most efficient at 60mph. Every 5mph above that you drive, you will lose six per cent of your fuel economy. Keeping to the speed limits will not only save you from getting points on your licence, it’ll help keep your fuel bill down
10. Car-share your journey with others Look at the option of car-sharing on your daily commute, Liftshare can connect you with up to 1.5 million drivers across the UK - visit liftshare.com/uk
DRIVING DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABILITY IN IN BUSINESS BUSINESS
55
An outline of how the summer Budget 2015 affects motorists The Chancellor, George Osborne, has made a number of major announcements relating to vehicle taxation in this year 2015 Summer Budget. New Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) – Road tax rates to be introduced for new cars registered in the UK from 1 April 2017. There’s no change to rates for existing cars. MOT TEST – The government will extend the deadline for the first MOT for new cars and motorcycles from 3 years to 4 years. FUEL DUTY – George Osborne confirmed that fuel duty would be frozen and would remain unchanged until 2016. ROADS FUND – The new VED revenue will be ring-fenced in England from 2020 for a new Roads Fund which will pay for the building of new roads and maintenance in England.
How much
has been used IN YOUR
lifetime? How much fossil fuel has been extracted since you started reading this summer addition of Exhausted? Or since you were born? The numbers on the below link highlights the staggering amount of oil, coal and gas we take out of the ground – and how quickly change is needed.
Read more here: http://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/kiln/ fuelticker/combined.html
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EXHAUSTED
Government’s
DRIVE to scrap paper
In June this year we waved goodbye to the paper part of our driving licence, showing further evidence of the government’s drive to move away from paper in favour of online services. The paper counterpart will no longer be issued by the (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) DVLA which means, from now on, when you renew or change anything on your licence – such as your address - only a new photocard will be sent back and everything else will be recorded on the DVLA’s digitalised database. The DVLA in particular has already moved many of its services to its online portal, including phasing out the physical tax disc and allowing vehicle owners to buy their road tax online, simplify the services it offers.
Can my Insurance company access my licence details?
What does this mean for employers?
You can still use the counterpart driving licence to change your address with the DVLA but you can now also do this for free online. If you’ve only got a paper driving licence, the next time you make any alterations to your address or renew it, you’ll only be issued with a photocard.
If your organisation employs drivers as part of your business, evidence of your employees driving record, can now be accessed online using the DVLA’s free Access to Driver Data (ADD). This portal service means you can instantly review employees’ licence status, check a driver’s name, address, date of birth and driving entitlements, as well as penalty points and disqualifications.
What does this mean for the 46 million motorists in Britain? Hiring a car abroad?
Going forward insurance companies will also be able to check drivers details online, through a joint venture between DVLA and the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) called, MyLicence. The move was designed to cut down on fraud by stopping drivers making false statements when taking out car insurance, particularly regarding motoring convictions which could invalidate a policy. How will I change my Driving licence address?
How will police and the courts record endorsements? The police can access this information electronically at the roadside via the Police National Computer so the paper licence doesn’t add anything extra. All endorsement notifications will be recorded electronically after any court proceedings and are detailed on the driver record held by DVLA.
Anyone wanting to hire a car while traveling abroad will need a special code to show endorsable convictions like speeding. Before you go on holiday you will need to log on to the DVLA website, to get this code, which you give to the hire company to use to access your details.
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World’s first
London’s iconic doubledecker bus goes green
London is one of only a few cities in the world that operates doubledecker buses, partly because it is a London tradition, and partly because of the large number of people who use buses in the city. With twice as many people traveling on buses, than on the Tube in London every day, a plan is needed to reduce bus emissions in the capital. Later this year we will see the city’s well known bus Route 16, to Victoria Station, getting the world’s first fleet of electric-only double-decker buses. A city-wide pilot by TfL plans to test how the new line of electric powered doubledecker buses will withstand the long hours
and stop-start driving conditions of central London - to date, the city has only seen eight single-decker electric buses being used on shorter commuter routes. Six of the buses are designed by British firm Optare and two made by the Chinese firm BYD which is also supplying the trial doubledecker version. As part of the green push, TfL aims to have 300 electric-only buses operating in the capital by 2020.
Two-thirds energy efficiency, of UK workers care about
YouGov poll finds
Recent research carried out by YouGov showed that nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of workers take extra care to help make their work place more energy efficient.
Whilst the results indicate a positive inclination toward the economical use of gas and electricity, it’s worth mentioning that fewer than half (43 per cent) of workers said that their company or organisation ensures that all lights and computer screens are switched off when not in use and fewer than one in five (18 per cent) said they conduct a regular energy audit. Employee engagement in energy efficiency and carbon reduction can help change behaviours not only in the workplace, but at home too. With statistics showing that millions of UK residents are currently living
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in fuel poverty - simple tactics such as businesses encouraging employees to turn lights off in rooms that are not in use, to reduce unnecessary energy consumption could have a positive influence on employees to help to significantly lower energy bills at home, reducing the issue of fuel poverty. It can be small adjustments that make a huge difference not only to the environment, but to business overheads too. *Y ouGov polled 1,118 workers across the UK.
EXHAUSTED
2015
electric car revs up to the
revolution sales soar 350%
350,000 electric and hybrid cars have been registered in the UK, representing a three per cent share of all car sales in the last six months.
Given the fall in the oil price, which has made conventional motoring cheaper, you might have thought that electric vehicles would be falling out of favour – but 2015 looks set to become the most successful year ever for electric vehicles in the UK, with over 14,000 plug-in cars being sold in the first six months.
So why are electric cars grabbing the market share from traditional petrol and diesel models? • T he rise in interest in low-pollution cars may be down to greater choice - there are now 27 models which qualify for the government’s Plug-In Car Grant – compared to a selection of six back in 2011. • W e’ve seen an expansion of charging points across the UK. There are now 3,000 places where you can plug-in, and by doing so take advantage of motoring costs as low as 2p a mile. • B usinesses have been some of the biggest customers buying electric cars. The main attraction being the lower rate of car tax - while the most polluting cars pay 35% in company car tax, electric cars pay just 5%. As a result, any business with a fleet of vehicles could still save thousands of pounds a year by going electric. While the volumes are still small at the moment, but the direction of travel is increasingly clear.
Climate change causing
bumble bee
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> decline Research has shown that bumble bees are declining, with a drop of 60 per cent in the UK since 1970. This has led to concern for agriculture as bees are responsible for pollinating one third of the food and drinks that humans consume. Bumble bees are also seen as critically important for pollinating not just food crops but many wild plants and flowers as well. If they disappear there will be a knock on effect for a wide range of other species. Climate change caused by emissions from cars, factories and power plants is squeezing the habitats suitable for bumble bees to live in. As temperatures have risen over the past 110 years, the bees are being killed off by increased heat in their southern habitats. But to the surprise of scientists, they are failing to move north to cooler climes, unlike other species.
DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
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A movement
in cyclist safety We’ve recently seen a new movement for cyclist safety; technology is transforming by helping motorist and non-motorist share the road more effectively and politely, making cycling safer and more viable option.
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DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
EXHAUSTED We’ve taken a look at some of the latest products on the market that can help draw drivers’ attention to cyclist using our roads
Garmin’s Varia Garmin prides itself on supplying GPS and traffic tech, but the Varia is something very unique, even for this company; their latest devices is to improve a rider’s safety by warning the rider when a vehicle is approaching from behind and at the same time alerting the driver that they are coming up to a cyclist. The full Varia set up consists of a radar tail light transmitter which also acts as the tail light that scans up to 140m behind a bicycle for traffic. It then hands that data on to either a compatible Garmin Edge system or a standalone handlebarmounted unit with an array of lights to warn riders of what’s behind them and how fast it’s approaching. The rear light looks like a really good idea on busy roads, in built-up areas and/or on quiet country roads, a good quality light which reacts to your speed and that of approaching cars can only be a good thing.
Lumos helmet with automatic brake lights
Reflective safety spray ‘Life Paint’
With drivers often frustrated at the difficulty in both seeing and predicting where some cyclists want to go on the road, a bicycle helmet has been designed to address these issues.
The car manufacturer Volvo UK has come up with a low-tech solution, a product aimed at increasing the visibility and safety of cyclists on the road. Life Paint, a temporary light reflective spray contains powder-fine reflective particles designed to react to a car’s headlights, alerting drivers to the presence of cyclists in the dark. The paint is invisible in daylight, but in the dark it reflects light in the same direction as the light source to illuminate the objects it has been sprayed on.
The next generation bicycle helmet designed by Lumos, comes with turn signal indicators that can be controlled wirelessly, but also a brake light that comes on automatically as you slow down. Lumos helps you more effectively communicate your intentions to drivers and people around you.
Dispensed in a spray can, the paint can be washed off, so it can also be applied to clothes, helmets, pushchairs, dog leads and obviously, bikes.
The rear light “ looks like a really
good idea on busy roads, in built-up areas and/or on quiet country roads...
”
DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
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Partnership between
Liftshare & Stagecoach leads to business park growth An exciting collaborative partnership between Liftshare and Stagecoach Midlands is providing a sustainable transport solution to large employment site, Birch Coppice in Tamworth. The new venture utilised myPTP an online interactive personal travel planning tool, developed by Liftshare. The tool integrates multiple modes of transport including, walking, cycling, driving, car-sharing, and also provides results for public transport options. Working in partnership the two organsiations combined travel information to offer a more ‘joined up’ approach to where services will be most effective, in order to encourage modal shift.
...it has also “ contributed
in reducing unemplyment in the local area...
”
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The site which previously had been almost entirely cardependent now has a regular bus service which meets commuters needs
and a successful car-sharing scheme, which not only offers an alternative travel option, it has also generated substantial cost savings to employees. The partnerships hasn’t just helped current employees on the Birch Coppice site, it has also contributed in reducing unemployment in the local area – seeing business growth for organisations such as Ocado, who have successfully met their recruitment needs. Liftshare are keen to set up similar partnerships across the UK with other providers working together in this joined up approach.
Read more here: usiness.liftshare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ b Liftshare-Article-3-pages-2.pdf