Sustainability Report 2005-2006
Department of the Environment and Water Resources, 2007
Canberra environmental performance
Energy
EN3: Direct energy use segmented by primary source-transport energy use
Goals 2005-06
Provide information packs for all staff eligible for car leasing arrangements, comprising information on GVG ratings, fuel efficient vehicles, benchmarks and relevant government and departmental policies
Promote the use of technological alternatives to air travel and document usage, and compare flight data to previous years- Further encourage staff uptake of more environmentally responsible transport options for business-related travel
- Revive the carpooling system
Performance 2005-06 and trends
Vehicle Fleet
The methodology used to gather vehicle use data has been revised to ensure that all vehicles within scope are being captured. This has resulted in previous years’ data demonstrating a significantly narrower basis of reporting. 2004-05 figures have been recalculated using the new methodology, and will now be used as a base-line for future performance.
Both primary vehicle travel indicators-use of fuel and kilometres travelled-showed decreases for 2005-06, down 7% and 11% respectively. 81 773L of petrol was used to travel 750 976km, giving an average economy of 10.9L per 100km.
DEH Vehicle Fleet - fuel and distance
The Green Vehicle Guide (GVG) is a tool developed by the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) to assist with the identification of environmentally efficient vehicles. The GVG ranks vehicles out of 20. For the current fleet, 70% of the pool fleet rated 10.5 or better in the GVG, while only 11% of Senior Executive Service (SES) lease vehicles achieved this. The overall GVG rating average was 10.3, and 21% met or exceeded a 10.5 rating.
SES officers wishing to lease a hybrid vehicle are encouraged to exceed their normal vehicle entitlements, to reflect the environmental benefit and the cheaper operating costs of fuel-efficient vehicles. The department’s carpooling pilot demonstrated that the initiative was resource-intensive to administer, and DEH lacked the authority to enforce necessary parking restrictions that would support the initiative.
| DEH Vehicle Fleet | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 1 yr change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel (L) | 88 025 | 81 773 | -7% |
| Distance (km) | 845 447 | 750 976 | -11% |
| Total GJ | 3010 | 2797 | -7% |
| Average litres/100km | 10.4 | 10.9 | 5% |
| Total Vehicles | 58 | 51 | -12% |
* this figure can vary greatly based on lease-changeovers within the reporting period-active fleet vehicle numbers differ.
Air Travel
Multimedia video conferencing facilities have now been installed in five locations within the JGB and the Minister’s Office, offering an alternative to air travel. These facilities allow multi-point conferencing with other DEH operations nation-wide, reducing the need for interstate travel. In 2005-06, the use of the Canberra-based facilities totalled 647 ‘site’ hours, or approximately 2.6 hours of use every work day.
DEH uses a number of approaches to attempt to reduce petrol consumption and vehicle use where possible:
- supply and maintenance of an electric bike fleet for use as transport to nearby meetings
- use of hybrid vehicles within the DEH pool vehicle fleet
- extension of lease allowances for SES officers that choose to acquire hybrid vehicles, which are more expensive to lease up-front but are more efficient and economical to operate
- supply and maintenance of bike lockers, showers and other facilities for the convenience of staff that commute to work by walking, riding and other means
- provision of information relating to the public transport network that operates in the vicinity of the building.
Commentary
The use of transport for DEH operations consumes finite fossil fuel resources and generates greenhouse gas emissions. The vehicle fleet includes pool vehicles for general staff use and the vehicles leased under the SES officer entitlements.
Goals 2006-07
- Review the systems for the tracking of vehicle use statistics
- Include fuel efficiency as a vital consideration in sourcing new pool vehicles
- Develop an “environmental driving” sheet to accompany lease information packs
- Establish a system for more robust video-conferencing usage statistics.
Related Indicators
Contents
- Sustainability Report 05-06
- Executive summary
- Vision and strategy
- Our organisation
- Governance
- Policy and influence
- Environmental performance
- Social performance
- Economic performance
- Report assurance statement
- Case studies
- GRI index
Key
Links to another web site
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