As Cornwall Council are flirting with idea of widespread introduction of electric cars in a bid to reduce the five million tonnes of CO2 which is emitted in the county each year, are electric cars the realistic answer?
The calculated yearly emissions were revealed as part of a county-wide survey undertaken by Camco. As a result of the survey, the county council is taking a hard look at cars used for council business as a key target for their green programme.
However when you consider the infrastructure required to provide charging points for widespread use of electric cars, the costs start mounting up. Charging points will be required at places of work, home and shops just for starters. Surely more effort should be made into finding ways to get employees out of cars altogether?
Clearly for jobs such as grit spreading and waste removal, the more CO2 efficient these vehicles are the better. But for council employees who rarely need their cars for purposes other than getting to and from work, more effort should be invested in enabling these people to work from local offices or indeed from home. This cuts both emissions as well as costs. Afterall a 20% cut in emissions simply equates to each employee (who can fulfill their job anywhere) working from home one day a week, does it not?
