United Nations and GEF Team up With Beijing to Promote Clean Energy Public Transport to Reduce Emissions and Improve Air Quality
BEIJING, July 31 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- With the Beijing Olympics one week away, UNDP, the Beijing Olympic Committee and the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau today launch a new programme on to help achieve China’s goal of a Green Olympics.
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Through the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNDP is providing four electric buses for use during the Olympic Games. The clean energy buses will be used as the official transport fleet within the official Olympics venue for transporting Olympic athletes between the Olympic Village and the Olympic Sports Venues, and form part of an overall fleet of 50 electric buses being used by the Beijing Government.
“Apart from helping to achieve low-carbon approaches to Olympic venue operation, we seek to use the Olympics as a platform for raising awareness of the general public on the options for sustainable public transport in China. UNDP is pleased to be leading this initiative together with our partner UN agencies in China,” said Subinay Nandy, Country Director of UNDP China.
The transport sector, which relies almost entirely on oil, is projected to account for a large part of China’s new demand for oil over the next 20 years, and the source of much of China’s future emissions. According to official statistics, it is predicted that by 2010 the percentage of emissions from large cities will represent 64% of all total emissions in China. Therefore, the application of low-carbon approaches to urban transport stands as a key challenge for both domestic energy security and global climate change.
These electric buses are the first in Beijing to use an advanced lithium ion electric battery, which enjoy a higher energy density, comparatively smaller cubage and longer span for repetitive use. Each bus can carry 80 persons per trip and reach 80 kilometers per hour. With batteries fully charged, it can run 130 kilometers without recharging.
During the Games, a 5,000-square-meter station northwest of the Xiongmaohuandao temporary bus terminal will offer 24-hour parking, transfer, maintenance and battery charging services for the electric buses. Following the two weeks of the Olympic Games in August, the four clean energy buses will be utilized within the general public transport system of Beijing for years to come.
“The issue of climate change has hit a tipping point over the past years, receiving wide attention in the world’s media and rising to the top of the political and economic agenda in China itself,” said Nandy.
Through broader awareness raising and policy dialogue activities under the programme, UNDP expects that “the demonstration of clean energy buses in Beijing can lead to the further development and deployment by the local government and its partners of low-carbon vehicle technologies,” he added.
UNDP and the entire UN system in China aims to help China achieve a “Green, Scientific, and Humanistic Olympic Games” while also achieving the UN’s goal of combating global climate change through low-emission public transport options. Through the support of GEF and other funding sources, UNDP has provided over US$3 billion over the past decade globally in the areas of environmental protection, climate change and sustainable energy.
About UNDP
UNDP fosters human development to empower women and men to build better lives in China. As the UN’s development network, UNDP draws on a world of experience to assist China in developing its own solutions to the country’s development challenges. Through partnerships and innovation, UNDP works to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and an equitable Xiao Kang society by reducing poverty, strengthening the rule of law, promoting environmental sustainability, and fighting HIV/AIDS.
http://www.undp.org.cn
