Overview
Eco-driving has proven benefits for fleet and commercial operators. There has already been many research projects which have quantified the impact that driving in an efficient manner can have. Returns in fuel efficiency from 5 to 15 percent can be realised if training and correct monitoring is put in place.
The European Commission promotes the benefits of eco-driving in its Green Paper "Towards a new culture for urban mobility" (adopted in 2007), and eco-driving is recognised as a tool of delivering significant savings on fuel consumption and thus reducing emissions and costs in the road transport sector.
ECOeffect aimed to equip training providers with the ability of delivering high quality eco-driving training; to provide knowledge and expertise to market eco-driving to transport operators; and to promote the integration of eco-driving into professional driver qualification and certification.
The ECOeffect project designed and developed a stand-alone one-day eco-driving course that incorporated the best practices from the project partners, building on other European projects and knowledge from industry leaders in eco-driving. ECOeffect also developed and designed a three-day train-the-trainer module that targeted training centres in the three target markets. Training providers offering courses in professional commercial transport were invited into the project to undergo the train-the-trainers programme and be certified to deliver the ECOeffect one-day programme to transport operators.
Results
This project yielded the following results:
It designed and developed a one day eco-driving course that helped drivers of commercial vehicles deliver a consistent 5%-9% reduction in fuel consumption.
It trained 100 trainers in delivering eco-driving courses and trained 2600 professional drivers in eco-driving.
It reduced CO2 emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes and saved EUR 480,000 in fuel.
It had the eco-driving training module certified as part of the initial CPC driver training qualification and as a requirement for the periodic CPC certification in Poland, Romania and Czech Republic.
It provided a sustainable business model that motivates training centres to offer eco-driving training and companies to undertake training.
Strategy targets
Contributed to promoting more sustainable development.
Policy objectives
Contributed towards meeting the goals set by the European Commission in its Green Paper "Towards a new culture for urban mobility" (adopted in 2007).