As a stakeholder in the Cenex-managed Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme, the agency has already been trialling a fleet of 12 Ashwoods hybrid Transit vans for the last three years. It has now been briefed on the Cenex Fleet Carbon Reduction Tool (FCRT) to understand how low-carbon technology can be deployed within its operations.

The FCRT shows CO2 output, fuel usage and cost from different power sources, and can also calculate the battery range needed for vehicles to undertake specific tasks.

Dale Eynon, head of fleet operations at the Environment Agency, said: ‘The Environment Agency has improved the performance of its fleet over the past few years, reducing mileage by 19 million, cutting carbon emissions by 5,000 tonnes and saving some £10m.  We are leading the way across government to dramatically increase the environmental efficiency of our fleet operations.’