A NEW best practice programme targeting fleets will be introduced in November as part of a renewed Government bid to encourage firms to reduce their transport emissions.

The drive includes a new name for the Energy Saving Trust's TransportAction programme, the umbrella brand for transport programmes including grant schemes for fleets taking on alternative fuel vehicles.

It will now be called TransportEnergy.

The name change reflects a wider remit for the programme, to concentrate on new ways for fleets to cut emissions, including alternative transport.

Programmes will include helping firms introduce travel plans, offering advice on green fleet management and showing how companies can reduce their impact on the environment.

Jonathan Murray, director of TransportEnergy, said: 'The emphasis on energy underlines our expanding remit to look not just at vehicle emissions and their impact on air quality but also on development and exploration of new technologies.'

Murray said that companies were still slow to realise the massive financial benefits available from using alternative fuels, as a significant price differential has been building up since 1994.

Liquefied petroleum gas, the most popular alternative fuel, is currently half the price of petrol or diesel.

However, Murray said that the advent of congestion charging could bring an increase in demand for alternative fuels, as some clean fuel vehicles will receive a 100% discount on the £5 charge when it is introduced in February.