Improving greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector

About Carmel

Carmel (UK) Ltd is one of the UK’s top 50 mechanical and electrical companies. It provides a complete package of scalable managed building services for a wide range of clients in the UK, including major retailers, national developers, and commercial chains. The firm approached the DE-Carbonise team at the University of Derby to support reducing carbon emissions from its transport. Within one year, Carmel employees travelled 1,331,617 miles, resulting in an annual carbon footprint of 374 MgCO2e.

Why did they engage with DE-Carbonise?

In July 2021, the government revealed The Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP). This plan sets out how across the UK we will move to transport pathways that deliver the net-zero target for Greenhouse Gas emissions across the UK. The plan recommends a phased reduction in the use of diesel vehicles where possible. However, at the point of implementation, there is a significant financial cost that will be incurred by Carmel.

“We became involved in DE-Carbonise to improve awareness and understanding of options available for meeting the transportation requirements of the business. With a focus upon providing an evidence base so that the company fully understands the impacts of alternative transportation solutions.”

What has been the impact of working with DE-Carbonise?

The collaboration between the University of Derby and Carmel is ongoing. There are plans for Carmel to apply for a grant to help them take forward the recommendations.

The following recommendations were provided from the data and analysis of the report produced:

• Monitor travel emissions and report as a key process indicator (KPI) for the business
• Implement a phased modal shift to rail to offset car emissions
• Consider a phased transition to electric vehicles (EVs) for shorter journeys, both cars and small vans, until they reach cost parity with conventional vehicles
• Outline a vehicle procurement plan for managing the UK government ban on the sale of all new fossil fuel vehicles by 2035
• Install an affordable, efficient, and reliable charging infrastructure for the business
• Encourage employee uptake of the cleanest vehicles through government support schemes
• Use informal rules and organisational culture as routes for implementation as these are often more important, and evident, than formal policies around travel 
• Allow employees to be autonomous in the way that they manage their time; with less focus on ‘time spent’ and more on ’tasks achieved'

Carmel (Group) UK has a continuous improvement culture that runs throughout the company and applies to all aspects of their business.

There is an opportunity to link behavioural change, emissions reductions, and customer focus. Relating emissions to the work carried out for clients could be a differentiator for customers.

About DE-Carbonise

DE-Carbonise is a three year collaboration between the University of Derby, Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council, which started in November 2019. The collaboration is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and follows on from the successful D2 Energy Efficiency/Low Carbon project.

Get in contact with us

To find out about current support available for your business in reducing your environmental impact, or your journey to net-zero. Please get in contact with our business gateway team.

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