CSIRO going green with electric cars

CSIRO is rolling out 10 fully electric cars to its national fleet as part of efforts to further reduce its carbon footprint.

The organisation has delivered the first two of these electric cars — as well as two additional electric bikes — to staff at its Discovery Centre at Canberra's Black Mountain.

In the near future, CSIRO also plans to deliver electric cars to CSIRO locations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, Townsville and Newcastle.

CSIRO will add solar panels at its sites that will generate enough renewable energy to charge and run the cars, making them emission-free.

Parts of the interior and bodywork of the cars are also made from recycled water bottles, plastic bags, old car parts and home appliances.

"The cars and electric bikes are the latest in a raft of initiatives to lower emissions, reduce waste and improve the sustainability of operations across CSIRO," CSIRO General Manager for Building and Infrastructure Services Mark Wallis said.

"As our scientists continue to lead the way in many aspects of alternative energy, emissions and waste reduction, and water and energy-efficiency technology, we also want to be an organisation that puts those same things into action across our sites and operations. The money saved or earned can be reinvested into national science priorities."

CSIRO already replaced 36 of its petrol-only vehicles with electric/petrol hybrid cars in 2015 as part of these efforts. The organisation has also reduced carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by a combined thousands of tonnes with various other recent sustainability initiatives.

Image courtesy CSIRO.