Our Story

In 2006 the Lake District National Park set out on a vision to be “an inspirational example of sustainable development in action”, and we identified carbon reduction as a priority. Since then, we have been on a journey to reduce our emissions from all of our operations, in particular buildings and transport. Recently, we’ve gone one step further and have adopted a net-zero ambition, placing more emphasis on reducing our carbon emissions.

Our friends at the Carbon Trust gave us a helping hand in the early days who helped identify we could make carbon savings not just from charging the vehicles, but how we manage our journeys. Our early work involved adopting a ‘travel hierarchy’ which encouraged options like video-conferencing, active travel, public transport and lift sharing. We replaced mid-range diesel vehicles with smaller AAA-class cars.

The move to fully electric cars represents the next step in our efforts to decarbonise our fleet. Coupled with a fully renewable electricity tariff will mean zero emissions from our vehicles. So far we swapped 13 of our overall fleet of 42 vehicles, with five more in the pipeline.

The Challenge

We have been progressively reducing our transport emissions by both greening our fleet and reducing our mileage for 14 years, but the coming of age of electric vehicles (EVs) has enabled us to take a major leap forward by swapping our diesel vehicles for fully-electric vehicles.

Finance was a major consideration, and although the reduced running costs of EVs means a lower cost in the long run, installing the charge-points was a major challenge. We were able to do this thanks to significant assistance from the European Structural and Investment Fund, plus subsidy from the UK Government’s Workplace Charging Scheme.

Another consideration for us was whether EV’s would actually be suitable for our transport needs. The Lake District’s mountainous terrain and cool wet climate would test the mileage range that electric batteries provide. We looked carefully at the typical daily outing date for our existing diesel pool vehicles, then moved to extensive testing with a number of EV models to see see whether an EV would perform well in often tough conditions.

The remaining 24 vehicles in our fleet will take longer to find suitable alternatives. 4×4 EV’s provide a tough challenge in finding suitable long-range batteries that can handle heavy trailer-towing.

Our Solution

So far, the reaction from users has been almost exclusively positive. Our pool car usage is nearly all within the normal working day, enabling overnight charging and requiring almost no en-route topping up.

Staff were encouraged to try out various test vehicles that we were loaned out during the research period and feedback was solicited to help with the decision over which model to commit to. Guidance has been provided on how driving an EV differs from that of a petrol or diesel, but people have taken this in their stride and became accustomed very quickly.

The result is a project that not only encourages people to consider whether their journey is necessary in the first place, but provides greener travel options when staff need to travel.

Want to find out more?

Want to find out more about how The Lake District are decarbonising?

Find out more here: https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/aboutus/media-centre/latest-news/news-releases/a-range-of-projects-are-cutting-carbon-in-the-lake-district