School of Environmental Sciences Sustainability

The university has an ambitious target to reduce the percentage of its staff travelling in to work by single occupancy car journeys from 41% to 31% by 2013.

That's because these trips make terrible sense environmentally. The average car weighs approximately 1.5 metric tonnes and burns nearly a litre of petrol for every 10km it travels. Each of these burnt litres produces 2.3kg of CO₂ (2.6kg for diesel) which, when you consider the number of people using them every day, easily explains why cars contribute 13% of the UK's total CO₂ emissions (71 Mt annually).

The university has produced a travel plan with details of alternatives to the single use car occupancy journey. This includes details of the Cycle Loan Scheme which allows staff to set aside some of their salary, tax-free, for the purchase of a bike. The travel plan also has details of a car sharing scheme and contains details of bike lockups and shower facilities for cyclists around campus. The organisation Bikeright also offers free cycle training schemes. The University also offers an interest-free loan scheme for the purchase of annual public transport passes. In addition to improving the environment, alternatives to driving can improve your health and might help save you money and time. If you are going to drive, you can find useful tools for comparing the efficiency of different new and used cars here. You can also find tips for how to drive more efficiently here.

Link to the University Travel Plan Page