Vegetable oil fuel is a 'risk worth taking', says council
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."
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".
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