UK government offers grants to improve air quality

The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded £30 million in funding to local authorities and bus companies to buy new low-carbon buses as part of a nationwide strategy to improve the UK's air quality.

Winners of the Green Bus Fund will now be able to purchase public transport vehicles that emit almost one-third less carbon than conventional buses.

Local councils and bus operators are also expected to see savings in running costs as these low-carbon buses use 30 per cent less fuel than their predecessors.

Under the DfT scheme, most of the UK's main cities and some rural areas will see the 349 vehicles in use by March 2012.

Transport minister Sadiq Khan said: "Let's be clear: doing nothing is not an option. Tackling vehicle carbon emissions is a question of when not if and it's initiatives like this which will deliver the change we need."

Cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Ipswich will see the vehicles introduced over the next two years, while Cumbria is one of the rural areas to benefit under the plans.

The announcement comes as Gordon Brown is preparing to meet with other world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next week. Ambitious targets on CO2 reduction are expected to be laid out during the course of the summit.

Posted by Joseph Hutton