Nigel Grainger brings together a related set of skills that all fleets require, to greater or lesser
degrees, but which may not have the staffing or the skills to fulfil those needs.
Bringing his wealth of experience in all areas of fleet management he offers a bespoke service through his company Fleet Risk Consultants, providing you with a cost effective fleet that complies fully with your 'duty of care' requirements.Are you turning your fleet Green?
I keep getting asked by clients and colleagues about the direction I see the future of road transport heading, will it be electric, hybrid, hydrogen or Bio-fuels?
Well I am not a fuel technologist, but some things seem pretty obvious to me. I don’t see the world getting away from Petrol and Diesel anytime soon. There are just too many vehicles out there using those fuels to get rid of them very quickly.
This leaves an opening for Bio-fuels, in this area I think the future is in Bio-mass rather than growing the plants to turn into fuel. It is my understanding that Bio-mass fuels are made by processing waste matter into a gas and then into a liquid fuel. That seems like a smart idea especially if we can reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill. However I am unsure as to the energy needed to process the waste into a usable fuel.
Hybrid vehicles are around now and are very usable. They are not ideal for all fleet operations as there are more economical vehicles around for motorway journeys, but if you always operate in an urban environment these may be the vehicle for you. Be warned that they are generally more expensive than an equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle. Another option for urban vehicles may be an all electric vehicle, this will need charging to be used and they typically have a range of only 100 miles, so their use can be limited. The fuel is gained from the national grid and that is produced in the main from fossil fuels, so there are issues around that if being green is your only motive. They are expensive to buy upfront, but the running costs are quite low.
The industry is pinning its hopes on Hydrogen Fuel Cells, but these are in their infancy and they need an infrastructure to fuel them, but they do have advantages in the power generation field as you could use the fuel cell when you get home to power your house. If you install a fuel point at home you could fill your vehicle and power your house from your car at the same time.
I think that the future will be Hydrogen Fuel cells, but when I am not sure. One thing I can predict is that it will be a really interesting journey over the next 20 years.
Nigel Grainger
Senior Consultant