Low Carbon Champions Awards 2016 Call for Nominations to Open Shortly

The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) will formally open its call for nominations to the 2016 Low Carbon Champions Awards in the week beginning 11 April. The Champions Awards celebrate organisations that have made a real difference in the area of low carbon road transport. There are seven Award categories, ranging from cars to innovation, from fuels to publications, and the winners will be announced at a gala dinner that will take place alongside Cenex’s Low Carbon Vehicle Event (Cenex-LCV) on Wednesday, 14 September 2016.

Building on the success of the last two events which have been growing in scale and impact, the LowCVP Champions Awards will be presented at a gala dinner to be held at a leading venue in Milton Keynes, beginning in the early evening of 14 September. Over the past couple of years, the Award’s Dinner, a collaboration between the LowCVP and Cenex-LCV, has become a must-attend networking event for the low carbon transport community.

Cenex’s LCV2016 Event (Millbrook, 14–15 September) has established its unique positioning for the Low Carbon Vehicle community as the UK’s premier technology showcasing and networking event.

The LowCVP Champions Awards celebrate examples of outstanding and innovative practice in accelerating the shift to lower carbon vehicles and fuels and reducing road transport emissions. There are seven categories of Awards, reflecting the diversity of those engaged in encouraging the shift to lower carbon vehicles and fuels. There are also two special Awards. The Award categories are:

• Low Carbon Car/Van Manufacturer of the Year
• Low Carbon Heavy Duty Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year
• Low Carbon Vehicle Operator of the Year
• Low Carbon Fuel Initiative of the Year
• Award for Low Carbon Innovation by an SME
• Low Carbon Road Transport Initiative of the Year
• Outstanding Low Carbon Publication or Report

Special Awards include:

• Outstanding Individual in Promoting Lower Carbon Transport
• Grand Prix Award (“winner-of-winners”): Outstanding Achievement in Low Carbon Transport 2015–16

(Any organisation or initiative that has made a contribution to the low carbon vehicle or fuels agenda in road transport is eligible to enter the Champions Awards. Entrants that are uncertain about which category they can enter should contact the LowCVP Secretariat.)

The LowCVP Awards winners will be assessed by a panel of expert judges drawn from the LowCVP’s wide range of stakeholder organisations. Awards are for contribution to the low carbon road transport agenda with significant activity taking place from January 2015 to date. Shortlisted nominees will receive a complimentary place for a representative at the Cenex-LCV2016 dinner, courtesy of the LowCVP.

Andy Eastlake, the LowCVP’s Managing Director, said: “I agree with Oliver Letwin (Head of Government Policy in the Cabinet Office) that low emission vehicles and fuels represent a colossal opportunity for British industry. Last December’s Paris agreement has helped to confirm that we’re in the early stages of a new industrial revolution as some extraordinary technological developments begin to be incorporated into mainstream products.

“The LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards celebrate organisations that are in the vanguard of this revolutionary change.”

Robert Evans, CEO of Cenex, said, “We are pleased to be hosting another Networking Dinner at Cenex-LCV2016, and that the dinner will feature the LowCVP Champions Awards for the third consecutive year. The Cenex-LCV Dinner attracts a large audience of exhibitors and visitors, including many senior industry and government figures. The LowCVP Champions Awards has proven to be a popular feature within the dinner format, and we are excited to be collaborating with the LowCVP once again.”

Winners of the last (2015) LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards included: Optare; Scania; Mitsubishi Motors; Dundee City Council; Convert2Green; United Biscuits; Wirth Research; Avid Technology; GENeco and Urban Foresight. Dr Doug Parr, Chief Scientist at Greenpeace, and Prof Neville Jackson of Ricardo were joint winners of the Outstanding Individual Award, while Optare was the Grand Prix winner.

The deadline for Award nominations will be Friday, 13 May.

The LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards are accredited by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), which means the winners are eligible to enter the prestigious biannual European Awards for Business and the Environment (EBAE). One of the winners of the LowCVP Low Carbon Champions Awards 2015 has been nominated by the RSA to compete in the 2016 EBAE Awards.

Some of the Awards categories already have confirmed sponsors – including Millbrook (‘Grand Prix’ sponsor) the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and BAE Systems HybriDrive. The LowCVP is interested in hearing from potential sponsors for other 2016 Awards categories. All sponsors will receive a guaranteed table (seating eight people) at the event, which was a sell-out in 2014 and 2015.