Council / New essy kerts to be ‘hydrogen-ready’
FOUR new refuse collection lorries due to come into service later this year in Shetland will be “hydrogen-ready”.
It means that as or when hydrogen becomes available these will be fully converted which will “realise significant carbon savings” given their high fuel use.
The four vehicles are due in August, and they have been delayed from last year.
A report to Shetland Islands Council’s environment and transport committee on Monday added that the local authority is also “looking to see how this can be implemented across different types of vehicles within the fleet, such as tipper trucks”.
Other councils across the UK have begun to introduce hydrogen cell bin lorries.
Hydrogen can be used as a fuel for transport but it is still an emerging technology.
There is an aim within Shetland to produce industrial levels of hydrogen from wind power in the future. For instance Sullom Voe Terminal operator EnQuest said it has an ambition to generate one million tonnes of hydrogen a year from the site in the future.
Meanwhile councillors were informed on Monday that a mooted 2025 timescale for greening the SIC’s vehicle fleet was in “serious jeopardy”.
Environment and estate operations manage Carl Symons admitted: “I don’t honestly think we can meet it.”
He previously said finance and supply issues were two factors behind this.
Symons highlighted that there needs to be the charging network in place to allow for the SIC to buy more electric vehicles in bulk.
“All of that will take time to do,” he said.
Development committee chairman Dennis Leask suggested the council was “setting ourselves up to fail” regarding timescales.
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