London Fire Brigade is investing in the development of an electric-hybrid fire engine, as part of its commitment to significantly reduce carbon emissions, supporting the Mayor of London’s ambition for London to be net zero carbon by 2030 and build a greener and safer city for everyone.
The Brigade is currently working with Emergency One, the UK’s leading manufacturer of specialist fire and rescue service appliances, to build a Zero Emission Capable Pumping Appliance (ZEPA1). The Brigade will be the first fire and rescue service to use an electric-hybrid fire engine when it is due to start being trialed later this year.
The London Fire Brigade is a leading voice in calls for innovation to help fire and rescue services, and other organizations decarbonize their heavy fleets and it is hoped, the project will help grow the market for zero emission specialist vehicles in the UK’s emergency services.
zero emission solutions for fire engines
Developing zero emission solutions for fire engines is particularly challenging
Developing zero emission solutions for fire engines is particularly challenging, as they have demanding performance requirements – not only do these heavy vehicles have to attend incidents as soon as possible, but they also have to be able to pump water for long periods of time, and transport equipment and machinery to deal with fires, flooding and other incidents.
This announcement comes during London Climate Action Week, where there is a huge focus on finding new ways to create a sustainable Net Zero London. It follows years of work to reduce the emissions from the Brigade’s fleet and support electric and hybrid vehicles. A total of 96% of all the Brigade’s buildings have electric vehicle charge points, with 242 charging sockets. A further three fire stations have publicly accessible rapid charging.
Reducing emissions from the Brigade’s vehicle fleet
There are more projects to further reduce emissions from the London Fire Brigade’s vehicle fleet. A project is underway to assess the use of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil in existing fire engines that are fuelled from the Brigade’s bulk fuel tanks.
It is expected that this could contribute a carbon emission saving of 24% from fleet fuel consumption. This work is also being supported by a project on-going to replace the fleet of electric-hybrid cars with 50 fully electric vehicles.
Moving to a zero emission fleet
London Fire Commissioner, Andy Roe, said “Our first priority is always to ensure the Brigade provides a first-class prevention, protection and emergency response service for London. But, for some time, we have been looking towards a more sustainable future and working to identify the challenges and solutions, to ensure that we as a fire service can move to a zero emission fleet.”
ZEPA1 is a very big and exciting step for us and the whole of the UK fire service"
Andy Roe adds, “ZEPA1 is a very big and exciting step for us and the whole of the UK fire service, and we are incredibly proud to be part of the innovation that will lead to the UK’s first electric-hybrid fire engines, at one of our fire stations. It is hoped that in leading the way on developing an electric-hybrid fire engine, the project will help drive and grow the market for zero emission specialist vehicles in the UK’s emergency services and particularly, in the fire service.”
Support for the UK’s first electric-hybrid fire engine
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said “It’s fantastic to see London Fire Brigade driving innovation among fire services across the country by supporting the UK’s first electric-hybrid fire engine. I am passionate about tackling the climate crisis, which is why London is leading the world in taking bold action to reduce carbon emissions, with a commitment to make our capital zero-carbon by 2030. I am determined to build a greener and safer city for everyone.”
Sadiq Khan adds, “Our emergency services are a key part of our clean air goals and this high-performance green fire engine will help to ensure Londoners breathe cleaner air whilst working to tackle blazes across the city - proving once again that sustainability can and must be at the heart of the modernization of our public services.”
ZEPA1
ZEPA1 is planned to be trialed as a frontline fire engine later in 2022 and is capable of meeting all of the London Fire Brigade’s demanding operations – ensuring it will carry out the work of a standard diesel appliance in travelling to a fire, pumping the water required to put it out and traveling back to the station.
ZEPA1 has minimal differences to the London Fire Brigade’s existing 143 fire engines. It has a range of over 200 miles, can pump water continuously for four hours, features air conditioning and heating, and the same control systems as the Brigade’s existing fleet of fire engines.