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Green bus Transport

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  • 05-09-2008 5:50pm
    #1
    patc777
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10 ✭


    I am a bus/coach operator so I sent an email to the green party asking them what would I have to do to convert one of my vehicles to green energy. I have not received any response?
    Any ideas?


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    #2
    Macha
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 6,376 Mod ✭✭✭✭Macha


    Maybe contact the department of transport directly?
    www.transport.ie

    Although, you should know that the whole biofuel thing is up in the air after severe (and well-founded) criticism of the EU's (and in turn Ireland's) biofuel targets...umm, if you don't know already.

    oh wait. www.sei.ie - probably better..? I assume they don't just do buildings?

    http://www.sei.ie/index.asp?locID=1013&docID=-1

    Meh..slim pickings..


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    #3
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭probe


    patc777 wrote: »
    I am a bus/coach operator so I sent an email to the green party asking them what would I have to do to convert one of my vehicles to green energy. I have not received any response?
    Any ideas?
    You could convert it to hydrogen power – with an electric motor. But Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe without a single hydrogen fuelling station! The EU has a programme for hydrogen buses running in many European cities. Iceland is one country at the forefront of hydrogen for transport (not in the EU of course). Their hydrogen is clean (made from green electricity rather than natural gas). You can get some information and links at http://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/newsanddoc/article_3894_en.htm

    At a smaller investment, you could have the diesel engine converted to run on biodiesel. Virtually all the buses in the area I live in run on one or the other of these fuels.

    Scania makes an ethanol powered bus: http://www.scania.com/products/bus/engines/alternative_fuels/

    Most of the buses in Madrid run on sewer gases from the waste water treatment plants in the city! If you are in the Dublin area, perhaps you could help Dublin City Council in reducing their odor emissions problem in Dublin 4 from their Ringsend plant?!

    In Cannes and a few other French urban areas they have electric buses (battery powered) as shuttles running around the city centre. These are plugged in at night and charge up with off peak electricity from EdF. They are ideal for start/stop inner city services. Energy costs are minimal, because electric motors are so efficient compared with the internal combustion engine.

    To get anywhere with the EU’s programmes for this type of project you would probably need to participate in an Irish government backed plan for modernising public transport. Given that there is no plan of this type in Ireland, you are probably barking up the wrong tree.

    Unless you can find some conversion package and bio fuel supply that is economic in terms of your objectives, you are wasting your time.

    Perhaps you and your competitors should get together and devise a plan to emit heavy black toxic smelling smoke from your bus fleets – to get the lethargic Irish public to start complaining to their politicians. You might then get some action!

    .probe


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    #4
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭probe


    taconnol wrote: »
    Maybe contact the department of transport directly?
    www.transport.ie

    I doubt if there would be much help coming from this direction. The DoT own CIE Group, the largest bus company in Ireland. Why should they help a competitor? They would probably put a competing bus running every 5 mins on the routes this guy operates on, if he attempted to do something green in his business!

    It would show them up, and they have a huge investment in non-renewable energy based, un-user-friendly, expensive, badly designed, polluting, public transport vehicles (buses and rail) to protect. If he got away with this, he'd be offering integrated ticketing next - which would be a real attack on this state cartel...

    He has a snowballs chance in hell of getting any real help from that non-source.

    http://www.cie.ie/about_us/role_of_public_transport.asp

    .probe


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