The leader of Orkney Islands Council has said they must take the lead to promote a carbon neutral economy following plans to spend £40,000 on two new electric vehicles.
Several low carbon and electric cars are already owned by the local authority for company business, and ultimately the authority wants to have make its entire fleet electric.
A £40,000 contract has now gone out for the purchase of two new electric vans.
Council leader James Stockan said it is important for the authority to lead the way towards an energy-efficient society.
He said: “We have a programme to try and become a carbon neutral council and for Orkney to be carbon neutral. Anything we do is a step along the way to that objective. Orkney has the highest percentage of electric vehicles per capita in the country and we are trying to build a systematic network of charging points and opportunities for people. The council should lead where it can where there is no detrimental effect to budget.”
The new vans would be used predominantly by the council’s road teams.
The two existing vehicles are expected to be auctioned off either within the local community or further south.
A council spokeswoman said: “Orkney is already leading the way in exploring, developing and producing low carbon technologies and our own continuing use of electric vehicles supports this. We had previously invested in a small electric car for use by our parking attendants – by seeking to buy a bigger vehicle this opens up opportunities for other services to use this, who might have required a larger vehicle.”