Bristol’s New Diesel Council Vans
By Paul Homewood
h/t Dave Ward
Three weeks ago, Bristol City Council decided to ban all private diesel cars from the city centre during daytime, with effect from 2021:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50292596
Today we learn that Bristol City Council is busily buying new diesel vans for its staff!!
Bristol City Council has acquired dozens of new diesel vehicles – and could still acquire more.
The revelation comes at the same time the authority is planning to become the first in the UK to introduce a diesel car ban.
Bristol Live understands the council is in the process of rolling out a new fleet of vehicles, which includes new diesel models.
All privately-owned diesel vehicles would be banned from the inner city under the council’s clean air proposals, which were submitted to the government three weeks ago.
But the authority is upgrading its vehicle fleet while it waits for the government to give it the go-ahead to finalise its outline proposals for reducing air pollution in the city.
Within the past two years, the council has acquired 135 new vehicles – 64 of which are diesel powered. The rollout of these vehicles is underway and the council is planning to acquire 207 more.
Of the remaining 207, some are likely to be diesel while others will be electric, a council spokesman said.
Bristol Live understands from a source many of the new diesel vehicles which have been rolled out are vans for council tradespeople.
Council workers were asked about the specifications for the new vans last year.
It is understood the new council vans, which are white as opposed to the old silver colour, were being rolled out as recently as spring of this year.
The council launched a consultation on its clean air plans – including an option to ban diesel cars in the city centre – on July 1.
It is not yet known whether the new vehicles were purchased or leased or how much they cost.
The council was asked these and other questions about the new fleet 12 days ago but has still not provided answers to Bristol Live.
One of those questions was how the council can justify acquiring new diesel vehicles – which emit nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution – when it was ordered by the government in 2017 to reduce the city’s toxic NO2 levels as soon as possible.
The council proposed a diesel car ban specifically to tackle NO2 levels in some of the city’s most polluted streets.
The 1.26 square mile ban would take in City Hall and the council’s Temple Street offices.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-city-council-diesel-ban-3578994
One rule for them……………….
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Reblogged this on Climate- Science.press.
Hypocrisy and stupidity rule, of course diesel vehicles are the most economic by a long way.
The biggest polluters are large vehicles, but the softest target is small cars: virtue signalling rather than effective action.
Jack, at the moment EVs are just about the most economic, but not by much and that is courtesy of paying 5% tax as against 70% tax on Deisel.
But when you factor in the purchase price you would have to run an EV on 5% tax for many years just to pay off that difference.
LPGs may also be cheaper for the same reason, low taxation.
Could I convert my diesel vehicle to LPG? Would tax-gouging councils recognise the change?
AC, can you still get LPG easily? I had a feeling that the Greenies have also targeted that in their sights, along with petrol and diesel, as it has that now evil word – gas – in its name.
If you change the fuel of your vehicle you will have to change the fuel type on your registration document V5C. Appendix J of the registration information sets out the choices which appear as P.3 on the V5C.
It’s easier to convert a petrol engine to LPG than a diesel one (think of it this way: butane is C4, octane is C8, and diesel is C12 on average). You need to be doing well above average mileage to make it worthwhile, and to be prepared to sacrifice space in your boot to accommodate the larger tank needed.
P.S. LPG only delivers about 75% of the mpg of petrol, so you have to factor that in to your sums.
Bristol City Council
Fucqwits par excellence
No choice but to leave the small, economical diesel at home and use the V8 petrol range rover.
Economic and practical reality hits virtue signalling.
Do these include the diesel wheelie bin collection trucks we already knew about from this blog – because electric ones are too expensive??
Sounds like another win for Sir David King – famous for recommending diesel powered vehicles to Gordon Brown because they emit less CO2 per mile than equivalent petrol powered vehicles. This of course demonstrates that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In spite of being a chemist Sir David appears to not know that CO2 poses no threats, but I guess he listened too much to others without getting any proof of deleterious effects.
Bristol’s politicians have previous for expensive virtue-signalling:
They’re full of the proverbial brown stuff, just like all the other virtue signallers.
Interesting for the Peugeot Dealership, as it is in the centre of the city near the station. The car is a 19 plate, 1500cc HDi blue diesel “the Particulate Emission Filter eliminates 99.9% of the particulates by number”. How am I going to take it in for servicing? Idiots.
There’s going to be an opportunity for a Peugeot mechanic with a Peugeot Boxer Van to become a mobile service and maintenance service in the Bristol area.
You’ll be expected to take it to somewhere outside Bristol altogether for that, adding to your carbon footprint in the process. Joined up thinking is always lacking in councils.
The proposed ban is between 0700 and 1500 so you might have to get up early one day 😐
Ignoring the climate arguments, it’s just plain unfair. The government promoted diesels for years but now condemns them. Many folks bought a diesel in good faith on the government’s assurance that they were doing “the right thing”. The government has now reneged. Fairness demands that diesels owned before the restriction goes into effect should be exempt. If not those owners are being unfairly penalized for doing what the government supported only a short time ago and the value of their vehicles has decreased as a result.
The end justifies the means. UK is going down the eco rat hole at an alarming rate and no one is standing up to the insanity.
The most alarming development is from the morons in Scotland who are intending to apply a diesel ban on the motorway. Yes, that it correct – motorway. And rather than using it as a chance to rake in some cash like Saddo is doing in London with the ULEZ, there is no fee it is a ban and a PCN for breaking it.
How do they expect visitors to Scotland to travel? By air?
Partly right I suspect. Maybe the actual answer is by land yacht.
Come on, they haven’t thought that far ahead – this is local government at work. But once the tourists have stopped coming they will give it some thought.
Meanwhile Scotland runs the least electrified rail service in Europe, I’m not aware of any rail lines here being electrified in the last 30 years. Of course this is a method of electric transport that works and doesn’t rely on battery tech, therefore of little interest to our green legislators. And of course in the US Elon Musk would have all road haulage would go by Tesla truck, running alongside diesel locomotives. We truly are in the age of stupid
Do as I say Not as I do