By Richard Morton, Project Director, Haven Gateway

The Haven Gateway’s success in obtaining funds from Europe to benefit the local economy continues!

As Communities and Local Government Minister Bob Neill announced at our annual reception, the Haven Gateway has secured nearly £3 million of European funding towards a £7.5 million project designed to shift about 30,000 containers off the roads and on to rail transport.

The money – £2,998,931, to be exact – comes from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a €308 billion programme of European Structural Funds across European Union member states for the period 2007-13.

It will go directly to our three-year Low Carbon Freight Dividend project, to support more than 300 SMEs in making important, carbon-friendly changes in the way they transport freight.

In essence, this new project will support SMEs that are looking to the future. The cost of fuel continues to increase and there is every reason to expect the imposition of carbon taxes in the future; we will be supporting SMEs in looking at alternatives as they plan the movement of their freight.

SMEs in the Haven Gateway sub-region will be offered a Low Carbon Freight Dividend of up to 30%, for moving their freight from truck to train (or often this will be a combination of road and rail), where traditionally they have used only road transport.

The project is expected to remove at least 11.7 million kgs of carbon dioxide from the logistics supply chain – 7.3 million kgs in the East of England, and 4.4 million kgs in the rest of the UK. The associated environmental benefits, using Defra calculations, would be nearly £3.5 million.

A key part of the project is our own Containerised Cargo Carbon Calculator, developed by the Haven Gateway as members of Dryport, an EU Interreg IVB North Sea Region project.

The Carbon Calculator (www.ccccalculator.co.uk) is an online tool enabling logistics operators to compare cargo movement methods (road, rail and water) and the carbon emissions for each method, or combination of methods, as they plan their transport to and from the East of England ports. The tool also measures the cost implications of each mode, such as congestion, and puts a financial value against it.

The Low Carbon Freight Dividend project will feature six ‘Optimisation of Freight Movements’ workshops, to be held across the East of England. This series of seminars will provide advice, guidance and practical examples of how to reduce carbon emissions in the movement of freight, including areas such as loading techniques, better driving techniques, and fuel efficiency.

In addition, the project will include a Low Carbon Transport Marketing Package for SMEs; enabling SMEs to market their services as carbon friendly and thus attract new customers.

This is a unique and exciting project designed to make a real impact!