Fundación EDPNews

The Princess of Asturias Foundation will have two electric vehicles and one of natural gas for their movements during awards week. The director of the EDP Foundation, Nicanor Fernández, handed over the vehicles to the director of the Princess of Asturias Foundation, Teresa Sanjurjo, at a ceremony that took place at the Hotel de la Reconquista, in Oviedo.

The three vehicles are part of the current EDP fleet and will be recharged and refuelled at the company's facilities. It is the second year that the Princess of Asturias Foundation has had a natural gas vehicle. This technology, together with the electric vehicle, is one of the current commitments of both EDP and the automotive industry. In fact, EDP is renewing its existing fleet to alternative energy vehicles. The company is in the process of transforming its fleet and already has more than 60 vehicles with these technologies: electric and natural gas vehicles.

Natural gas is the fossil fuel that generates the fewest emissions. Compared to diesel, it reduces the emissions of nitrous oxides by up to 80%, while those of sulphur oxides and particulate matter are practically zero. This environmental benefit can be added to the significant reduction in the cost of fuel, about 30% compared to diesel.

The use of electric vehicles also has multiple environmental and economic benefits associated. On the one hand, their use does not involve CO2 emissions or noise pollution. Moreover, the efficiency of these vehicles is three times higher than that of combustion vehicles and, in terms of the recharge price, savings reach up to 80% in comparison with diesel.

For recharging electric vehicles, EDP has ten points in public spaces, integrated into its distribution network: five in Gijón, four in Siero and one in Candás. The company also has twenty points at its facilities. In this area of sustainable mobility, EDP is implementing a plan to replace its vehicles with others that are more efficient, introducing "car sharing" and extending and modernising public recharging points for electric vehicles. It also has an ongoing plan for developing and implementing vehicular natural gas recharging stations that will serve both the company's fleet and the general public.

Together, the two technologies (electric and natural gas) respond to the needs of consumers who are increasingly more aware about sustainable mobility and respect for the environment.

With the provision of these three vehicles, the Princess of Asturias Foundation remains fully committed to offsetting and reducing the carbon footprint that it produces during awards week. This action is in addition to the collaboration with the Ecology and Development Foundation (ECODES), which, for the fourth consecutive year, has provided the CeroCO2 brand for the awards.