Australia

State lacks ambition for energy transition, bus industry says

As the eastern state of Australia looks to replace thousands of diesel vehicles by the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, Australian bus manufacturers, workers and energy experts are urging state governments to increase the number of electric bus purchases. We are asking the industry to provide stronger assurances about

Victoria, Queensland and ACT have pledged to buy only zero-emission buses from 2025, while NSW plans to make all buses in the Greater Sydney region electric by 2035. Bus manufacturers say they can build hundreds of buses a year “starting tomorrow.” , but we need more definitive information from the state governments that purchase and own most of Australia’s public bus fleet.

The first of eight electric buses to be rolled out as part of the Victorian Government’s zero-emission bus trial from November.

Volvo Bus Australia General Manager Mitch Peden said: “Hopefully the government will give bodybuilders a guarantee of supply so they can invest in renewable energy. [and new technology] on their site. ”

Volvo’s all-electric bus chassis will be tested in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs starting next month as part of the Victorian government’s zero-emission bus trial. The Victorian government said the trial will inform about 4,000 diesel buses in the state’s public fleet, including about 2,200 in rural Victoria, to transition to zero emissions.

Yuri Tessari, Chief Commercial Officer of Volgren Australia, has just finished building the first of eight Volvo battery-electric buses that participated in the trial, and plans to replace the 500 buses produced each year with electric buses. He said it would be relatively easy to replace.

Volgen Australia's chief commercial officer, Yuri Tessari, said the company could start building electric buses

Volgen Australia’s chief commercial officer, Yuri Tessari, said the company could start building electric buses “from tomorrow”, but state government demand and infrastructure remain an issue.

“For us, building on an electric or diesel chassis is very similar,” he said. “If governments and customers want to go fully electric tomorrow, let’s say they can start building hundreds of them.”

Australia’s electric buses are just 0.1%, according to a report released on Friday by the Australian Institute. Audrey Quick, principal transport researcher at a Canberra-based think tank, says the bus industry needs policy certainty from state governments and financial support from the federal government to plan for a net-zero future for manufacturing. said it needed more.

“Electrifying bus fleets in Australia should be easy, as most are publicly owned,” she said. “If state governments do not deliver on this easily achievable outcome soon, then we should question the content of their net-zero commitments.”

State lacks ambition for energy transition, bus industry says

Source link State lacks ambition for energy transition, bus industry says

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