A pledge has been made to invest in greener technology for Perth and Kinross Council vehicles.
The local authority hopes to follow in the footsteps of its counterparts in Canada, Germany and Strathspey by switching from diesel and petrol to cleaner alternatives.
Trials are already being held, with members of the dog control team using two new vans one powered by electric, while the other uses a hybrid engine.
Head of environmental and consumer services Keith McNamara said there is still some way to go before the council is in a position to replace its entire fleet.
”I would like to say that all refuse collection vehicles will be LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) soon, but technology is still not at that stage,” he said.
Undertaking this change to green fuel could pose some problems for the local authority, however, as efforts in the Highlands to have a fleet of vehicles powered by electric were apparently curtailed last winter.
Environment convener Councillor Alan Grant said the cars used in the Strathspey area had to be taken off the road as they could not cope with the low temperatures and harsh weather.
”Electric and hybrid cars are fine to an extent, but we need to have something that will deliver what we need and when we need it. ‘At the moment, we don’t quite have the technology,” he continued.
Steps are also being taken to ensure that Perth becomes one of the first places in Scotland to trial a new green transport scheme.
In October, councillors backed plans to apply for almost £500,000 to establish a three-year pilot project to reduce air pollution caused by heavy goods vehicles.
Under the scheme, deliveries would be made to a central location on the Inveralmond Industrial Estate before being consolidated and brought into the town, ideally by an electric vehicle or by one with a ”cleaner” engine.
Backers of the scheme hope this would go some way to reducing the 1000 lorries that enter Perth every day.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user CarbonNYC.