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IRELAND IS PLANNING to introduce sustainable-energy buses to public transport fleets by next year, in an effort to reduce our carbon emissions to avoid EU fines.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) will tomorrow announce plans to roll out sustainable energy buses to state subsidised fleets such as Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and school buses.
This will be part of a range of announcements including a complete redesign of the network; a cashless payment system; new bus branding and bus stops, according to Minister for Transport Shane Ross.
It’s yet unknown whether the buses will be electric, hybrid, or bio-gas buses, but all solutions are being considered by the NTA.
It’s understood that a ‘quota’ system won’t need to be implemented, and there are no plans to bring in sustainable energy buses to private operators yet.
A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said they are ‘working closely’ with the Department of Transport and the NTA on all future sustainable energy fleet plans.
The NTA reportedly refused a previous application by Dublin Bus to trial hybrid buses in 2016 due to a lack of funding.
But with gigantic fees looming over Ireland if they fail to meet the EU’s sustainable energy targets, the government hasn’t much time to lose.
The Norwegian model
Norway’s capital city, the first with a zero-emissions transport system, is the sustainable-energy model most countries aspire to.
Oslo’s metro, trams and buses run largely on hydro-electricity, and Norway has the highest percentage of electric cars of any nation.
Despite being ahead of the game in relation to climate change measures, further plans are underway to restrict cars to its city centre.
One in four new cars sold in Norway are electric and is likely to achieve its zero-emissions target by 2025.
Ireland, meanwhile, could be given a bill of up to €75 million each year if it doesn’t meet its EU renewable-energy targets by 2020.
Who’s in charge?
Even though the NTA is working on introducing sustainable energy transport fleets by 2018, and falls under the remit of the Department of Transport, the Minister for Climate Change has come under criticism for a lack of responsibility and involvement in this plan.
Denis Naughten is heading up the Department for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, but the Minister says he has ‘no official responsibility to Dáil Éireann’ for introducing sustainable energy buses to local authority transport fleets.
Sinn Féin’s Peadar Toibin says that Ireland is unique in the EU in failing to reduce their carbon stamp, and that Naughton has “failed to make any real effort to decarbonising the economy”.
“It’s logical that at this stage, the government would be developing targets with regards introducing electric, hybrid and bio-gas vehicles in this sector.
“We are not talking about a complete change all at once, but simply that by 2018 the government should direct local authorities to identify which modes of local transport can be de-carbonised and then set out that a percentage of new vehicles in these sectors that should be powered by renewable energy.”
The responsibility for introducing green-carbon buses lies with the Department of Transport – but they didn’t leave Naughten out in their statement to TheJournal.ie.
“Matters relating to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions are primarily the responsibility of Minister Denis Naughten and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
“However, the responsibility for emissions reduction is a national one and the transport sector has an important role to play in identifying measures that can significantly reduce emissions at least cost to the State.”
The department said that a full plan on how to meet emissions targets will be published by the summer.
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Why did they spend a fortune on new buses this year then and then say there losing money. Comical country this
@Christopher Lee: CETA, TiSA Agreement etc… Like selling a house, you do it up first to sell it?
Must be nice to be Norway and still have a stake in their own national resources
@Gareth Stewart: they don’t, speak to Norwegians!
@Gareth Stewart: Norway, the honey trap capital for the CIA lol.
Good man, Shane Ross. Sure why would you include the private operators who service most of Ireland outside of Dublin (or at least your part of it). My children in Cavan travel on a 1997 bus that is by far a lesser shade of green. But I wonder have you ever seen the rest of the country, or do you even care to venture further than where your potential votes lie?
@Kieran W: The whole point of a private operator is that the taxpayer isn’t supposed to have to buy buses for them, at least until they stop cherry-picking the profitable routes.
Ad by 2025 they wil all be privatised asthat isthegoal of the IMF, EU andtheTiSA Agrement.
@Alois Irlmaier: well public ownership hasn’t done use any good…..
@Paul: This will drive down wages and give the profits to the big companies, so driving down e qualiy of the service like British Rail
@Alois Irlmaier: please explain ?
@Alois Irlmaier: sorry Irish Rail and quality in the same sentence…..
What happens the old fleet ? Turning them into homes on the move !
The Bus Eireann 133 from Wicklow regularly saves lots of energy by forgetting to switch on the electric sockets, wifi and AC.
@Neal Ireland Hello.:
Or forgetting to turn up at all! :-)
More waffle from Shane Ross the minister for the Olympic Tickets three card trick and the genius of non intervention and sticking his head in the sand during an Industrial relations dispute involving himself and his so called portfolio. But tells great fairy stories about what will happen when he is drawing his inflation proofed pension in five or ten years time.
If or when battery technology improves, the torque and efficiencies of electric motors will be helpful.
@Tony Daly: have you seen the state of where they get lithium and other battery materials from!
@Tony Daly: The more technological things become then the more likely then that a virus might end it?
https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/
@Brown Boots: Look what mobile phone capacitors did for the Congo conflict?
@Tony Daly: Tesla gave it nailed
Bit like the governments predictions with 1 in 5 cars on Irish roads will be electric by 2020.its all sound-bytes
It will be biogas buses. These biomethane buses which they are know as are being used all over Europe
Ignoring the large elephant in the room again by blaming transport…. deflecting blame from the agriculture sector as usual…
Also, decades of forcing people to move further away from their workplace in order to inflate property prices for their buddies has led to a reliance on personal transport.
If the government seriously want to reduce carbon emmisions in Dublin then they should consider moving Busarus out of the city centre and introduce more rail transport to the city centre from the suburbs.
They should be building more rail to meet the climate change target and electrifying what is there too. However, they should also get s Chinese or Japanese company to do it seeing as it’s taking forever for luas cross city
Typical government short termism, planning new transport by 2018 and don’t even know if they will be electric or some other low emmision fuel.
How much will these yokes cost?
Care???
@Brown Boots:
If you think it necessary to post that comment for this article, well then you probably should care
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