The government has today earmarked a new £20m fund for the purchase of lower carbon vans for public sector transport fleets that it hopes will help promote the development of greener road freight.

The Department for Transport said it would appoint a partner to run the new fund early next year and pledged to increase the fund to £50m if the initial trial proves successful. The Metropolitan Police, Environment Agency, Transport for London and the Royal Mail are all being lined up to take part in the trial.

Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick said the aim of the fund was to help stimulate the market for more fuel efficient vans, which has been badly served by auto manufacturers in the past.

"Vans account for around 15 per cent of carbon emissions from road transport, but currently there are no mass-market low carbon models on offer to the UK van buyer – although the technology to create them exists," he observed. "By using the public sector's considerable purchasing power, we aim to give investors and manufacturers confidence in the existence of a market for lower carbon vans, to encourage them to bring them to market more quickly than they would do otherwise."