Carbon footprint gets closer to ZERO

We’re thrilled to have added a brand new full electric BMW i3 vehicle to our fleet as part of our commitment to further reducing our carbon footprint – and when on site, it is charged with electricity generated by our own photovoltaic array, enabling zero driving emission use!

The vehicle, which will be used by our account managers when they visit customers, falls under category 1 for electric vehicles, which produce emissions of less than 50g/km and can travel at least 112 kilometres (70 miles) without producing any C02 emissions.

Therefore, as it produces zero driving emissions, it contributes towards reducing overall air pollution caused by car travel. Also, the carbon fibre used for the BMW i3 is manufactured using half the energy normally required and using electricity generated entirely by hydroelectric power.

In addition, the vehicle is up to 85% recyclable and the manufacturing process of every BMW i3 uses approximately 27 used plastic bottles per car to form parts of the seats and doors. The battery modules can be reused as solar energy accumulators and the excess carbon fibre is partially recycled for use in the production process.

The use of natural materials through various stages of the manufacturing process of the BMW i3 makes it even more environmentally friendly. The use of kenaf – harvested from malva plants and up to 30% lighter than conventional materials – replaces petroleum-based plastics in the BMW i3.

In 2012, we installed a cutting-edge solar PV array to our headquarters in Sunderland, which has since put more than 51,000KWH back into the grid. In addition, we have electric vehicle charging points at our premises which we use to charge the two Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles already in use in our fleet, as well as the BMW i3.

All three vehicles play a key role in helping us to minimise our carbon footprint.

Our commitment to the environment includes other practices such as the implementation of our travel plan in collaboration with Sunderland City Council, through which we encourage car sharing, cycling to work and the use of public transport links for our employees.

Mike Bowers, Managing Director of Cellular Solutions, said: “For many years, we have worked on increasing our emphasis on implementing environmentally-friendly practices, from our PV array, energy efficient lighting and heating, auto off lights and water along with more use of cloud technologies to enable less travel. It’s great to have added another asset to our fleet of electric vehicles which will further reduce our carbon footprint and support that objective.

“The new BMW i3 is a remarkable vehicle which we are proud to have acquired. Not only does it produce zero driving emissions, but it is also powered by electricity which we produce though our own solar panels. We’re looking forward to seeing it on the road.”

Find out more about our commitment to the environment here.