Leading the way on emissions-free buses

Denmark leads the way when it comes to putting zero emission urban buses on the streets in Europe, with 78% of new vehicles being electric, according to the latest data from green NGO Transport & Environment (T&E). In Luxembourg and the Netherlands, about two-thirds of new buses were zero emissions. T&E said other EU countries now have a chance to catch up by including emissions-free buses in the COVID recovery plans they must submit to the European Commission by the end of April 2021.

In Sweden, Norway and Finland, respectively 26%, 24%, and 23% of urban buses registered in 2019 were zero emission (electric or hydrogen), according to T&A analysis. Meanwhile, Italy, Poland, Germany, the UK, Spain and France, which buy 70% of the urban buses sold in Europe, lag behind. In 2019, less than 10% of their newly registered urban buses were electric or hydrogen, it says.

However, Germany took a significant step forward in 2020 and is reported to be now financing 80% of the higher purchase cost of e-buses. And Poland has announced that in cities with populations of 100,000 or more, all public transport will be fully electric by 2030, allocating €290mn to support this objective. 

Austria and Ireland registered no zero emission urban buses in 2019, while in Switzerland and Greece less than 4% of new buses were emissions-free.

T&E has also published a report identifying five key steps to get e-buses on the road, starting with political leadership and financial support. For example, the Dutch government specified in 2016 that all newly-procured buses must be zero emission from 2025, and from 2030, all buses in use must be zero emissions. Furthermore, as part of the public procurement process, it called for bus contracts to be awarded only to operators meeting or exceeding these targets. 

Photo:Volvo