Council to 'risk' switching fleet to vegetable oil

A council which cannot afford to switch its vehicles to electric says it will now "risk" a move to vegetable oil instead.

The move by Swindon Borough Council will cut emissions by 80% but will add £150,000 to its annual fuel bill.

The council predict that the efficiency of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) will balance out the extra spend.

Chris Watts, the council's cabinet member for the environment and transport, said the authority hoped the move would be as "cost neutral as possible" but it remained a "risk" as they were "quite new at this".

Chris Watts said the council was "quite new" at the idea of using vegetable oil

Swindon Borough Council invested in a new fleet of diesel vehicles in 2023. Mr Watts said because of this investment and because of the up-front costs the council is "not in a position to invest in electric vehicles".

He said there will come a time when the council has to look at moving to electric and at that time "we'll have to look at the maths and the business plan".

Despite HVO adding an additional £150,000 to the council's fuel bill Mr Watts said making the move may not be an "expensive stop-gap".

Adding vegetable based fuels "burn cleaner and are more efficient" meaning vehicles may not have to refuel or be repaired as often.

'Risk' of switch

The borough council has been looking at other local authorities who have already made the transition to HVO.

Mr Watts said: "We're [local authorities] all quite new at this so there is a risk that we take when we make these sorts of decisions but at the moment I think its worth us going ahead.

"It gets us someway towards meeting our [net zero emission] targets and hopefully we'll have a cost neutral solution."

Swindon Borough Council hoped the move to HVO will be an investment

The Labour-run council said it wanted to be judged by the electorate on its progress towards making Swindon a greener town.

Mr Watts added: "What we're hoping is that with the fuel being more efficient, we use less of it and that its more efficient in terms of servicing and breakdowns therefore it could become an investment, our vehicles will last longer.

"Year on year we're hoping this will be cost neutral".