The UK’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry is calling upon Government to adopt a series of measures that could help improve air quality in the UK and avoid further EU fines.

It has launched a report - A low carbon alternative fuel for today - which identifies a number of key actions it believes the Government should adopt.

These include the adoption of a more integrated road fuels strategy designed to restore confidence to the sector and encourage a genuine partnership between the industry, vehicle manufacturers and policy makers, which results in improved air quality and lower carbon emissions.

“A proper integrated fuels strategy, which includes LPG, is essential to help the UK tackle its growing air quality and carbon emissions problems,” said Linda Gomersall, general manager, Autogas.

“This new document is a result of extensive consultation and sets out some very clear, yet incredibly simple ways in which Government could help the industry address these critical environmental and health issues.”

Measures recommended in the industry’s vision include replacing individual fuel strategies with an integrated fuels strategy for all fuels; introducing incentive schemes to remove the most polluting cars from the road (potentially through conversion to LPG autogas); providing wider support for local authorities to convert their fleets to less polluting fuel types; reviewing wider incentives for road fuels through working with local authorities and the Mayor of London; ensuring greater consultation with government departments; and giving air pollution the same level of priority as tackling climate change.

Widely available for use in vehicles in the UK since 2000, currently around 150,000 drivers use LPG auotgas which is available at more than 1,400 refuelling sites across the UK.

Vehicles powered by LPG autogas are much less harmful to the environment, emitting significantly fewer harmful pollutants such as CO2, NOx and particulate matter than petrol or diesel models.

And, thanks to its better environmental performance, LPG autogas attracts a lower fuel duty than petrol or diesel meaning that it currently retails for around 61.6 pence per litre compared with 107.6 per litre for unleaded petrol.

“LPG autogas is an established and proven solution in helping address environmental and health issues and we look forward to working even more closely with Government to encourage its greater take-up by UK motorists,” concluded Gomersall.

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