It has been a little less than twelve months since we launched our Environmental Policy. However, we have decided to publish our 2020 Environmental Statement early, to coincide with lessons restarting on 4th July 2020 following the Covid-19 lockdown, as we are making a few changes to our operations.
Lockdown has reduced our vehicle emissions to almost zero for three months from April 2020 to July 2020 (we have driven the tuition car for the purposes of filming video footage for our online resources). Consequently, our office use of gas and electricity has increased slightly through increased computer use.
From August 2019 to July 2020 in-car driving lessons and office use was responsible for the production of approximately 4.5 tonnes of CO2. We have not calculated office use exactly but have estimated a value that greatly errs on the generous side.
We will repeat last year’s pledge to offset an additional 25% of CO2 emissions by investing in an accredited Carbon Offset Scheme.
Plans for July 2020 onwards
- Following a trip to the Driving Examiner Training Centre at Cardington earlier this year, we will commit to promoting, in lessons, the use of in-car technology proven to reduce fuel consumption such as cruise control, speed limiters, stop-start technology, and instantaneous fuel consumption display.
- We will continue to offer a financial incentive to customers who use public transport to travel to a local pick-up point rather than the instructor driving a longer distance to the customer’s address.
- We will actively encourage customers who live more than 5 miles away to travel by public transport (previously our cut-off distance was 7.5 miles)
- We will promote discussion about alternative forms of transport (such as bicycles or walking, and car-sharing)
- We will include efficient journey planning in lessons to reduce unnecessary mileage, and discuss other issues such as avoidance of peak times for making journeys.
- We will continue to include basic vehicle maintenance in lessons to keep the vehicle running efficiently.
- We will continue to encourage longer lessons by offering a discount for lessons of 2-hour duration or longer.
- We are working towards a target of running an electric/hybrid vehicle by the end of 2022.
Despite our objections last year, we have decided to begin using an L-Plate roof box, as is used by almost all driving instructors. We have decided that the safety benefit of improved visibility (especially at busy roundabouts) outweighs the benefit of lower fuel consumption. We believe that the net environmental cost of having our car repaired after being hit from behind masks much of the benefit of running a vehicle without a roof box.