College visit highlights opportunities for reaching net zero in transport sector

Midlands Net Zero Hub and colleagues from Nottingham City Council’s Environment and Sustainability Team visited Nottingham College at their Emtec automotive education and training centre in Ruddington.

The site visit was an opportunity to tour the facility, talk about automotive technologies (including both battery and hydrogen), and learn more about the future of low-carbon technologies in the automotive industry.

Transport is the largest contributor of UK domestic greenhouse gas emissions, responsible for 27% in 2019. Domestic emissions from transport have largely flatlined for the last 30 years, so focus is needed in this sector to achieve net zero by 2050.

The visit gave us an opportunity to see the low-carbon technologies used in vehicles, including hybrid systems, battery electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

These technologies are rapidly advancing as promising alternatives to traditional gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles. We were shown how Nottingham College, working with leading manufacturers, are heavily investing in the advancement of these technologies and training, to cater to the growing demand for sustainable transportation solutions.

We also discussed the motor vehicle market dynamics and how adoption of these technologies has been steadily rising, propelled by growing consumer interest, regulatory mandates by governments, and breakthroughs in technology.

We wish to extend thanks to James Swift (Director of Bids, Projects and Planning), Gary McGinty (Director of Estates and Facilities) and the Training Team for welcoming us to the site.

The Midlands Net Zero Hub supports public sector organisations to make their local net zero projects happen. This visit builds on work the Hub has done to support local authorities in the region to decarbonise their depots with the Electrification of Council Depots Guide and funding competition which saw three local authorities receive £25,000 of grant funding to progress their depot decarbonisation projects.

The Midlands Net Zero Hub also assists public sector bodies to develop business cases for project proposals ready to be financed and to access the UK government funding streams, in particular future rounds of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) Fund.

Fill in our Expression of Interest form if you need support with your Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme 4 application.