{"id":132165,"date":"2021-07-14T14:22:06","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T14:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=132165"},"modified":"2021-07-14T14:22:06","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T14:22:06","slug":"factbox-five-facts-on-why-electric-buses-are-key-to-bidens-green-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/factbox-five-facts-on-why-electric-buses-are-key-to-bidens-green-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Factbox-Five facts on why electric buses are key to Biden's green agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) – President Joe Biden has vowed to significantly reduce emissions by 2030, while at the same time creating new, well-paid green energy jobs. His administration has identified bus electrification as one of the main ways to achieve that goal.<\/p> While more than half of transport emissions are produced by conventional passenger cars, diesel-powered transit buses are considered among the worst polluters, particularly in America\u2019s cities.<\/p>\n Converting transit buses to battery or fuel-cell power is considered one of the fastest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which at 29% accounts for the largest share of U.S. emissions.<\/p>\n Of the United State\u2019s roughly 70,000 largely diesel transit buses, only around 2% are currently zero emission, according to the Center for Transportation and Environment, which advises transit agencies on clean energy buses.<\/p>\n That puts the United States far behind China, which has converted nearly 60% of its bus fleet, according to Chinese government data for 2020. In Europe, electric buses made up 6% of total new bus registrations in 2020, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers\u2019 Association.<\/p> U.S. transit agencies receive a large part of funding from the Federal Transit Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that has provided nearly $670 million in e-bus grants over the last eight years.<\/p>\n Thanks in part to that funding, the U.S. e-bus market is expected to balloon five-fold to $2.7 billion by 2024, according to analysts at P&S Intelligence.<\/p>\n The U.S. electric bus market is currently led by two players selling purpose-built battery-powered buses: California-based Proterra Inc and BYD North America, a unit of China-based BYD Co Ltd. Each company has sold around 1,000 e-buses in the U.S. over the past ten years.<\/p>\n But electric models of incumbent diesel bus makers, including U.S.-based GILLIG, Canadian NFI Group Inc\u2019s New Flyer unit, and Canada-based Novabus, a Volvo subsidiary, are gaining in popularity among transit officials.<\/p>\n New Flyer, GILLIG, Novabus, BYD and Proterra jointly have capacity to produce around 6,000 electric and conventional buses per year, with BYD making up around a fourth of overall production capacity.<\/p>\n Biden aims to electrify 50,000 diesel buses, or roughly 70% of the U.S. fleet over the next eight years.<\/p>\n Under a bipartisan agreement struck last month, $7.5 billion would flow to bus electrification programs, although that funding also includes electric school buses.<\/p>\n Biden wants to see that pot of money spur creation of well-paying union jobs.<\/p>\nMASS TRANSIT POLLUTION<\/h2>\n
LOSING THE ELECTRIC BUS RACE<\/h2>\n
WHO FUNDS U.S. ELECTRIC BUSES?<\/h2>\n
WHO ARE THE INDUSTRY PLAYERS?<\/h2>\n
WHAT IS BIDEN\u2019S GOAL?<\/h2>\n