Skip to main content

UK introduces grants for low-emission retrofit bus fleets

The UK government have set up a £30 million grant scheme for local authorities in England and Wales looking to fit bus fleets with an accredited and cost-effective retrofit program that enables emissions-reductions. The Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme, developed by LowCVP and Energy Saving Trust, follows an evaluation report presented by LowCVP on findings from two public grant programmes that used retrofit technologies over a five-year period -- the clean Vehicle
September 29, 2017 Read time: 1 min

The UK government have set up a £30 million grant scheme for local authorities in England and Wales looking to fit bus fleets with an accredited and cost-effective retrofit program that enables emissions-reductions.

The Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme, developed by LowCVP and Energy Saving Trust, follows an evaluation report presented by LowCVP on findings from two public grant programmes that used retrofit technologies over a five-year period -- the clean Vehicle Technology Fund and CleanBus Technology Fund.

The report showed the highest emission reductions (80% - 100%) were seen for retrofit SCR after-treatment and diesel bus engine conversion to use an electric powertrain, and moderate emission reductions (25%-29%) were achieved by retrofit thermal management and flywheel hybrid technologies. Finally, low NOx emission reductions (3%-6%) were achieved by mild hybrid, hybrid assist and dual fuel CNG conversions.

Related Content

  • July 24, 2017
    Truck platooning trials take to the highways
    There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin
  • April 12, 2017
    UK Government funding for driverless and low carbon projects
    The UK Government has awarded US$137 million (£109.7 million) of funding, alongside significant funding from industry, to help develop the next generation of driverless and low-carbon vehicles, as part of the Industrial Strategy and the government’s Plan for Britain. Seven innovative projects will share grants from the latest round of funding from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), the joint industry-government programme to put the UK at the forefront of low carbon vehicle technology. The projects,
  • April 13, 2017
    Mild hybrid 48V vehicles 2017-2027
    Vehicle emissions regulations for 2025 and 2030 are unlikely to be met by conventional vehicle technology as applied to most vehicles beyond small cars, according to IDTechX researchers. Going to strong hybrid and pure electric powertrains involves considerable expense and delay and often totally new platforms. However, an intermediate technology has reached a stage where it can incrementally improve traditional powertrains by replacing the alternator with a reversible 48 V electric machine and adding a
  • December 2, 2016
    Finland successfully tests wood-based diesel fuel
    Finnish company UPM has tested Finnish wood-based diesel fuel both in laboratory conditions as well as in traffic and says the tests demonstrated that its renewable diesel, UPM BioVerno, works like the best diesel fuels. The laboratory tests of renewable UPM BioVerno diesel were conducted at the VTT Technical Research Centre (VTT), with field tests in Helsinki region bus traffic in collaboration with Helsinki Region Transport (HSL). The year-long bus field tests measurements were carried out by VTT and t