Sustainable Development Management Plan - North East ...

NORTH EAST AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN – PROGRESS REPORT PRESENTED BY: Director of Finance

Executive Summary A progress report, against the Board approved Sustainable Development Management Plan, was presented at the 25 March 2010 Board meeting. Detailed below is a further update; Action Plans are presented at each meeting of the Environmental Management Working Group (EMWG):- the report below summarises action taken by the relevant sub groups:1. 2. 3. 4.

Fleet (including travel) Energy and Carbon reduction Waste and Water management Procurement

A full suite of key performance indicators has been developed in association with the Monitoring and Compliance Officer to produce a dashboard for carbon reduction, and these will be presented at the December Environmental Management Working Group. The graphs outlined in this report are illustrations of the information being included in the dashboard. The dashboard itself is available on the P drive. 1.

Fleet (including travel)

The main features of the management plan are: Investing in more fuel efficient vehicles. As reported to the March Board meeting, all front-line vehicles from 2009-10 are Euro V compliant – producing lower emissions to the atmosphere and resulting in an average saving of 1.8 mpg. This will help the Trust to reduce its carbon output. This means a further 17 of these vehicles will be added to the fleet during 2010/11 while removing the same amount of pre-euro V engine vehicles. However, the operating conditions that the ambulance service places on front-line A&E vehicles may not be fully achievable. It should also be noted that while we strive to reduce our impact on the environment we are doing this against a backdrop of changing activity, beyond our control, as demand fluctuates which alters our baseline figures for a like for like comparison. But on the upside an increase in the “see and treat” of patients will help reduce our carbon footprint. For example in 2009-10, 81,589 patients were treated at home, rather than being transported to hospital. Carbon Reduction Dashboard - Fuel As we now have the information for 2009/10 we are developing a monitoring tool for measuring fuel used against the increased activity of A&E and PTS vehicles with figures obtained for 2010/11 – to the end of August. The fuel used in financial year 2009/10 was 2,884,340 litres and by calculating the amount of carbon produced, the figure of kilogrammes carbon dioxide equivalent was 7698.30 kgC02 . Between 1st April 2009 and 31st August 2009 the Trust used 1,065,819 litres compared to 1,092,497 litres for the same period in 2010. An increase of 26,678 litres or 71.2kg/CO2. However it should be noted that between 1st April and 31st August 2010, A&E activity increased by 2.73% over the same period for 2009.

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If this percentage were applied to the fuel consumption for 2009 then the expected fuel consumption would have been 1,094,916 litres which would have resulted in a reduction of 2419 litres or 6.46kg/co2.

We will be looking to develop a measure taking into account mileage traveled by our A&E and PTS so we can track our carbon footprint via emissions per mile traveled. This will help us to calculate the effect of increased activity on our carbon footprint more accurately. Following guidelines outlined in the Foundation Trust Network’s publication *Making sustainability add up and good practice identified by the Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the EMWG will endeavour to reduce fuel costs by implementing eco-driving techniques (such as not warming up engines and driving smoothly) initially through increased training and staff education programmes, recognising that the implementation plan requires staff buy in over the longer term to ensure that the effects remain an integral part of the Trust and that the longer term impact can be seen. We will continue to monitor the fuel usage on a monthly basis, using information provided by the Finance and Business & Performance departments, producing reports for the Trust’s EMWG.

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Reducing business travel The introduction of a car sharing scheme into the Trust Liftshare (details available on the intranet) shows a steady increase in participants in March there were 12 members, in September 34 members, and in November there were 39 members. The environmental benefits of car sharing are also reminded through articles in the Pulse. In addition, through the introduction of teleconferencing, remote working e.g. use of blackberry handsets and home access to NEAS emails should further assist in the reduction of our carbon footprint It is currently being investigated how we can track and record our business travel mileage. We would like, if possible to to break down our business travel into specific areas, namely Air, Rail, Pool Car, Lease Car mileages. Through this we can track our carbon footprint via emissions per mile traveled. Developing Green Travel Plans and incentives for staff and partner organisations The Trust’s Green Travel Plan (GTP) was approved by the Trust’s Governance & Risk Committee at the 20 September 2010 Meeting. The required actions emanating from the GTP will be progressed at the next meeting of the EMWG (15 December) and subsequently reported at each EMWG Meeting. Action taken to date includes a meeting with Sustrans Area Manager on 1 October, which was to investigate how public health can be promoted via peoples transport choices, which in essence means encouraging more walking and cycling. Other action to date, includes attendance at the **Delivering Active transport Solutions in the North East Conference/Workshop on 17 November – following an invitation for the Trust to participate – which included the following keynote speakers: Director of Public Health North East; Transport Minister, a Health & Transport Consultant and the Director of Sustrans Research and Monitoring Unit. ** Reference: Public Health North East (PHNE) is leading efforts to bring the transport and health sectors together to create more opportunities for safe active travel across the region. In partnership with the Government Office for the North East, PHNE have set up a multidisciplinary North East Active Travel (NEAT) group to help health and transport agencies deliver active travel solutions over the next few years. Sustrans, under the brand ‘NEAT moves, is coordinating delivery on behalf of the group. Investigate the use of Electric Vehicles/Alternative Fuels /Aerodynamics Following on from the visit to Smiths Electric Vehicles, as contained in the last Board report in March, three EMWG members have experienced test drives in two Citroen C1 Electric cars, courtesy of South of Tyne & Wear PCT, the outcome was reported at the last EMWG meeting. In addition, a report on the current electric vehicle range and potential use of alternative fuels will be presented at the next EMWG Meeting, on 15 December (See Appendix 1) A group of 6 ambulance Trusts (including NEAS) have agreed to work together collaboratively with the University of Leeds into work to improve the aerodynamics of future ambulance designs. Hopefully this will benefit the Trust with improved fuel efficiency helping to reduce our carbon footprint. 2. Energy and Carbon reduction The main features of the management plan are to reduce the amount of energy used at all Trust locations. This has been achieved by:


Replacing inefficient boilers on an ongoing basis

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Replacing current lighting systems with new low energy lighting systems – this has now been completed for all ambulance stations Commencement of a programme for installing PIR detectors to switch lights on and off by detecting movement in these areas The phased introduction of a hibernation system that shuts down all computer systems to save energy when not used after a preset period of time

Future Plans




Better insulation of older buildings Replacement of windows with more modern double glazed units Trial of Solar Panels at Pallion – a report will be presented at the 25th November Executive Meeting to trial solar panels on the Pallion site. This trial will be for a 6 month period and should the trial be a success, we will ask the Board permission to roll out solar panels on all the units at Pallion, plus other locations across the region.

Electricity usage In terms of reductions achieved, the amount of electricity used from April to the end of August 2010, the Trust has increased by 48,118 kwh when compared to the same period 2009/10. It should be noted that Russell House was fully commissioned in December 2009. The usage at Russell House for the period 1 April 2009 to 31 August 2009 was only 16,167 kwh. After commissioning Russell House, the consumption for the same period rocketed to 180968 kwh. This is an increase of 164801 kwh over the same period. Taking this into consideration if we take the increased usage at Russell House out the equation then we are actually 116687 kwh less. Electric Consumption Exc. Russell House (kw/h) April May June July 2009/10 228972 231715 263312 242886 2010/11 240888 230273 211918 196028 Difference 11916 -1442 -51394 -46858

August 235489 206580 -28909

Total 1202374 1085687 -116687

Electric Consumption Inc. Russell House (kw/h) April May June July 2009/10 230303 234069 267572 247039 2010/11 276382 245366 253172 241834 Difference 46079 11297 -14400 -5205

August 239558 249901 10343

Total 1218541 1266655 48114

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Gas usage The amount of Gas used from April to the end of August 2010, has also increased by 133737 kwh when compared to the same period in 2009/10. Due to an error by our gas provider at Russell House we are unable to verify the usage at Russell House. Due to this we have compared the figures for gas usage excluding Russell House. When the figures are available, we will confirm the outcomes and report back to the Board. GAS CONSUMPTION EXC. RUSSELL HOUSE (kw/h) April May June July 2009/10 284070 189595 139878 99229 2010/11 273967 185014 170268 204893 Difference -10103 -4581 30390 105664

August 100857 113224 12367

Total 813629 947366 133737

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3.

Waste and Water management

Reducing and recycling waste Water usage The amount of water used from April to the end of August 2010 has slightly increased by 71 cubic metres, when compared with April – August 2009, ignoring the water usage at Russell House, which increased from December 2009, when the Contact Centre became fully operational. When we include Russell House the consumption increases further to 560 m3. Water Consumption exc. Russell House (m3)

2009/10 2010/11 Difference

April 1814 2024 210

May 1915 1974 59

June 1806 1812 6

July 1818 1695 -123

August 1722 1641 -81

Total 9075 9146 71

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Water Consumption inc. Russell House

2009/10 2010/11 Difference

April 1816 2177 361

May 1917 2127 210

June 1808 1965 157

July 1830 1725 -105

August 1734 1671 -63

Total 9105 9665 560

Conserving and recycling water As previously reported, the Trust has signed up to Aquafund, an agreement between the Trust and ADSM Plc. To date they have have made slight alterations to 22 locations. These alterations have so far only reduced water consumption at these sites by 23cm3. 4.

Procurement

The introduction of sustainable procurement issues was initiated in May 2007. To-date we have introduced the following: i)

Introduction of environmental conditions of contract which although are now incorporated in the Trust’s terms and conditions, incorporating the need for contractors to comply with the Trusts environmental policy and Supplier selection criteria e.g. are company’s ISO 14001 approved; are they currently working towards accreditation or do they plan to seek accreditation? Company’s should have their own environmental policy, and provide the Trust with a copy.

ii) They should be able to prove that they can comply with the Trust’s Environmental Policy by giving details of previous similar contracts where they have complied with other organisations environmental policies iii) More environmentally friendly requirements needed to be included in specifications e.g. encourage the use of sustainable products, iv) Encouraging suppliers to cut down on the use of excess packaging, v) Encourage the use of recycled materials, vi) Avoid the use of products that release substances that can deplete the ozone layer vii) Encourage the use of energy efficient equipment and appliances Future improvements to the strategy would include: i)

Choosing more efficient products by taking into account energy efficiency information, end of life disposal costs and future replacement costs

ii) Better on site management of waste produced by construction works, including minimization of waste produced being removed from site to a landfill site. We are to meet in the near future with an industry expert consultant regarding this issue. iii) Supplier Assessments - relating to the number of local suppliers used within our SHA operating area in an effort to establish how many of our goods and services are provided within our operating area. We would look to establish a “tracker” to monitor our performance in reducing product miles.

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Recommendation The huge increases in energy consumption at Russell House has distorted our original baseline figures, making it appear that our carbon footprint is increasing at an alarming rate. For the purposes of this report it has been necessary to produce two sets of figures, one with and one without the Russell House usages. When we have a full set of information for Russell House it is planned to reset the baseline incorporating the increased usages. This will take effect from the end of this financial year. We also have an issue with gas usage at Russell House. Due to a problem with the gas supply information at Russell House it is not possible at this time to give a comprehensive position regarding the Trusts performance regarding reducing our carbon footprint. We have no information at this time on gas consumption. To summarise, excluding Russell House figures, our carbon footprint has changed in the following proportions: Diesel usage

+ 26678 litres

+71.2 tonnes carbon

Electricity

- 116887 kw/h

- 63.6 tonnes carbon

Gas

+133737 kw/h

+ 24.6 tonnes carbon

This would give a net increase of 32.2 tonnes over the position we were at when we reported to the Board in March, where we reported a 155 tonnes decrease. However this is based on increased activity in A&E compared to last year. This would give net reduction of 122.8 tonnes against our original baseline of 9545 tonnes as calculated by the Carbon Trust. The new total would be 9422.2 tonnes. If we use the re-calculated tonnage for diesel usage taking into account the increased activity, then the carbon increase would only be 6.46 tonnes and the Trust would actually have reduced its footprint by a further 32.5 tonnes, giving new total of 9357.5 tonnes. Members are recommended to note progress made by the EMWG, in line with the Sustainable Development Management Plan.

Kevin Lewis Chairman of the EMWG 15th November 2010

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Appendix 1 NORTH EAST AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WORKING GROUP UPDATE FOR MEETING TO BE HELD 15 DECEMBER 2010 Introduction Members will be aware that trials have been undertaken on Citroen C1 cars, courtesy of South of Tyne & Wear PCT and presented to the September 2010 Environmental Management Working Group (EMWG). Report is attached for information In addition, to road testing larger electric vehicles (prospective short journeys stores issues etc) courtesy of Smith Electrics, a full report was presented at a previous EMWG meeting. Purpose The purpose of this report is to update members on progress made in researching alternative methods of fuels and researching new technology in vehicle design for the future, and an evaluation of the feasibility of such vehicle technology within the Trust. Involvement in Switch EV Electric Vehicle trial This project ((Future Transport Systems) provides a choice or electric cars with a trial period of 6 months per vehicle. Vehicles would be provided on a cost neutral basis; however there would be an additional small monthly cost for the cars, not thought to exceed the cost of standard vehicle. Nissan’s electric car (Leaf) Powered solely by electric batteries the Nissan Leaf produces no carbon dioxide, road tax is therefore zero and in some areas parking is free. The cost of electricity to run the Leaf is estimated at £1.70 for 60 miles, maintenance costs estimated at 15% lower than conventional cars. The price is currently £28,990, with a Government subsidy of up to £5,000 reduces the price to £23,990. The original subsidy pledge was promised in 2008 by the Labour Government, a commitment for four years covering some 43,000 cars – however, once 8,600 cars have been sold, this subsidy will cease. (Local Authorities and Energy Companies are prospective purchasers – ticking the ‘green box’) General Motors Chevrolet Volt (Only available in the US next year (2011) Powered by an 111kW electric motor plus a 1.4 litre petrol unit, which drives a 53 kW generatornot the wheels. Torque is 49bhp/273 lb ft, top speed 100 mph (limited), fuel consumption estimated at over 100mpg. Depending on the range required (estimated around 50 - 60 miles) the petrol engine may not ‘kick in’ although the transition is seamless (saving on CO2 emissions) and the electricity supply can be obtained through a 240v domestic supply taking around 4 hours to fully charge. Purchase price in the US currently £26,500 reduced with concessions to £21,300. This vehicle will be available in the UK in 2012, known as the Vauxhall Ampera. Electric cars - powered by fuel cells – hydrogen

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“Hydrogen’s role in sustainable mobility is likely to grow as fuels and power sources for transport diversity in decades to come’ (Source “Green Logistics – Sustainable Development and the UK Distribution Industry – Chris Suddes MBA Programme February 2003 and Hydrogen – Environment and Society - www.shell.com/alternative energies-transport) On 11 September 2010, the world’s first production family car arrived in Britain – The Honda FCX Clarity. The vehicle runs on hydrogen which creates electricity through a chemical reaction to power its electric motor, the only emissions being water. The car is a five seat saloon with a range of around 300 miles and a top speed of 120 mph. The car has had trials in both the US and Japan where there are the necessary filling stations. Cars are currently leased by Honda for around £290 per month. Honda says this car offers three times better fuel efficiency than a petrol powered car. The highly explosive hydrogen is kept safely in a pressurised tank in the boot. Biofuels Energy Demand is set to double by 2050, driven by population growth and economic development. Fossil fuels will continue to provide the bulk of energy for the coming decade, so developing ways of to capture and store CO2 that comes from burning fossil fuels is essential to help mitigate serious climate change Shell innovations – source: Shell Biofuels Sustainable Low CO2 fuel today – July 2009 The International Energy Agency estimates that Biofuels could grow to as much as 30% of the world’s road transport fuel mix by 2050 as demand for fuels that emit less CO2 increases Shell and COSAN signed an agreement for a joint venture in February 2010, for the production of ethanol, sugar and power and the supply, distribution and retail of transportation fuels in Brazil. Shell are ensuring purchases for blending are produced in a more sustainable way – thus safeguarding the environment and delivering benefits to communities and wider society. Recent innovations by Shell, include the following: Shell/Iogen corporation- Cellulose Ethanol - from Agricultural waste Shell and Iogen have formed a partnership to develop ethanol made from wheat and barley straws using enzymes Shell/Codexis – New enzymes to convert Biomass to high performance transport fuels Shell and Codexis have a joint technology development programme to ‘evolve’ natural enzymes into improved variant enzymes to convert biomass into fuel. Shell/Virant – Converting sugar into fuel Shell and Virant have a joint technology development programme to convert plant sugars directly into a range of high performance liquid transport fuels, rather than ethanol. Shell/Cellana – production of vegetable oil for conversion into biodiesel Shell is a majority shareholder in Cellana, a small company in Hawaii to grow marine algae and use it to produce vegetable oil for conversion into biodiesel Compressed natural gas

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‘Compressed natural gas (GNG) is a lower –carbon transport fuel that can be used as an alternative to petrol and diesel in countries with a natural gas supply and distribution network’ CNG is stored under high pressure and can be used in specially adapted vehicles or in dual-fuel petrol vehicles. A UK supermarket (Former Safeway) found the CNG produced 97% less CO2, 86% less nox, 94% less particulates, and 81% less hydrocarbons in a typical fleet of 40 – producing savings of £400K per annum Source:- www.shell.com/alternative energies-transport) Shell sell CNG in a number of countries including Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Germany and Pakistan. 1New Technology – Nexeon Technologies – Lithium-ion Batteries – (Source: Article in the Sunday Times, Energy and Environment section - dated 29 August 2010) Summary of article Nexeon Technologies, a company formed through Imperial College, London are working on components for Lithium – ion batteries that would increase the power output of batteries by 30%, perhaps eventually doubling it. Work on new materials for use in batteries has attracted significant investment as the current lithium-ion batteries have anodes – negative electrodes made of carbon. This British company is making batteries out of silicon, which extracts more power and should be just as durable. Nexeon provided the following quotation: “We are confident we can get 30% more out of a conventional cell and once other parts of the battery are changed we think we could get 200% more” Evaluation Electric cars • • • • •

Lack of adequate range – may be addressed in the future by new technology see 1New Technology – Lithium-ion Batteries, above paragraph Charging points; although the North East is supported in this initiative by ONE – which may be disbanded in the near future CO2 emissions (2 Power stations are the supply source of electricity (fossil fuel fired boilers) Battery life – Currently expensive £3K -£5K to replace after 5-6 years Overall purchase price – compared with the current range of highly efficient petrol engine cars – returning 70+mpg

2Carbon capture and storage is the only technology available to mitigate emissions from large fossil fuel use – particularly for power generation – source:- International Energy Agency (IEA). It could account for nearly 19% of the total CO2 reductions needed by 2050. The IEA points out that the economic cost of stabilising these emissions through other technologies would be considerably higher Cars powered by hydrogen Risk of explosion in the event of an RTA? Lack of filling stations/subsidies - needs further Government support Biofuels Need further development, Government backing/support and subsequent network fuel station installations. Compressed Natural Gas

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Need further development, Government backing/support and subsequent network fuel station installations.

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