The 2008 Budget and the King review into the impact of road transport on carbon emissions should represent the start of a "cohesive environmental strategy", according to GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services.

The government has set an emissions figure of 130g per kilometre as its target for fleets and moved to encourage this with its 2009-10 first year vehicle excise duty rates and the 2010-11 company car benefits-in-kind tax rates.

"The 2008 vehicle excise duty increases will have an ongoing small but noticeable effect in encouraging fleet adoption of greener vehicles in the short-term, as will the revised emissions-based capital allowances system for company cars," said Gary Killeen, commercial leader at GE Capital Solutions, Fleet Services.

But the company warned that more research was needed into the environmental impact of biofuel technology before such fuels see wider adoption and criticised the government's decision to put more funding into the idea of a national road-pricing plan.