New Buses to Reduce Air Pollution in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 28, 2003

New Buses to Reduce Air Pollution in China

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China Thursday launched a project of 32 million US dollars to help reduce the cost of fuel-cell bus (FCB) technology, one of the most promising methods for developingemission-free public transport, reported Friday's China Daily.

Jointly funded by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Program, the project will lead to trials of FCBs, along with theirhydrogen refueling stations, in Beijing and Shanghai.

Over the next five years, the project will help public transit companies in each municipality obtain six FCBs and use them for a total of 1.6 million kilometers, said the paper.

The knowledge and experience gained through the project will enable technology suppliers to identify cost reduction opportunities and the municipal public transit operators to prepare for larger FCB fleets, according to Ma Songde, vice minister of Science and Technology of China.

"We hope many FCBs are on the roads during the 2008 Olympic Games for the sake of better air quality," said Fan Boyuan, vice major of Beijing.

According to Fan, a reduction on exhaust emissions, which can be attributed to the city's stepped up administrative measures to combat the problem, is one of the major reasons behind improved air quality.

China's bus project is part of a global GEF strategy, which supports FCB development in developing countries.

In cooperation with GEF project and other similar proposals in industrialized countries, GEF wants to reduce the expense of FCBs so they can become more cost-competitive.

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