Getting Ahead

The Issue

Globally, outdoor air pollution has become the leading cause of public health risk. The health effects of air pollution are serious – one third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease are due to air pollution. This is having an equivalent effect to that of smoking tobacco.

In Hong Kong, the public is exposed to dangerously high level of roadside air pollution, which is far from meeting World Health Organization’s recommended safe level. It represents a strong health risk in relations to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and especially to vulnerable groups, such as the children, elderly, chronic patients and the underprivileged.

Commercial vehicles, including our public road transport, contribute to over 90% of the roadside air pollution. One of the more successful solutions to address roadside air pollution, as demonstrated in other cities, is the transformation of bus fleet to Zero Exhaust Emission technology such as electric/hydrogen.

There were challenges, such as on technology adaptation to local landscape, the operation and financial model, etc, encountered by other cities during the process to adopt more clean buses. However, with adequate political will, these challenges should not be insurmountable.

In Hong Kong, there have been trials for electric buses for some years. The progress is disappointing – there are only less than 40 franchised buses powered by electric in comparison to the total 6,000 bus fleet.

The goal of the Getting Ahead campaign is to work with the community and experts to identify latest overseas bus technology, and the potential of deploying cleaner buses in Hong Kong. Together we will advocate the Government and key stakeholders to shoulder responsibility to clean up Hong Kong’s bus fleet.

The Campaign

Getting Ahead is a campaign that equips Hong Kong with the knowledge, on mobility, local opportunities and overseas experiences, to enable full transformation to Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) fleet tomorrow.

Together with the community and experts, Clean Air Network urge the Government to shoulder the responsibility to equip Hong Kong with policy and infrastructure to lead such transformation. Let’s get ahead to a better alternative future with better air quality, public health and living standard.

The Benefits

Transforming to cleaner bus will benefit not only individual health but also public healthcare system. The HKU’s Hedley Environmental Index estimated in 2019 one year alone, air pollution caused over 1,700 premature deaths, HK$20 billion direct economic loss, over 2.2 million doctor visits and over 127 thousand hospital bed days in Hong Kong. This is a preventable cost.

The Strategy

To safeguard public health, Hong Kong needs a cleaner and healthier mobility system. To start with, To start with, Hong Kong’s first EV Roadmap, as announced by the Government in Budget 2020/21 should articulate how our franchised bus fleet and other vehicles should be transformed to respond to growing environmental health concerns among the public. The Steering Committee on the Promotion of Electric Vehicles, under the leadership of Financial Secretary, should take full responsibility to formulate this roadmap. The Roadmap should outline Hong Kong’s plan to invest on infrastructure and subsidise the transition of vehicle, maintenance and support technology.

HOW

Obstacles

There are three major obstacles of slow development of EV bus in HK:

Steep terrain
According to the Environment Bureau, the technology of double-deck electric buses is still developing and there are very few models available. Also their operational efficiency cannot meet the operational needs in Hong Kong, including the need to tackle hilly terrains.
Charging area options
There are limited land and space in Hong Kong for charging infrastructure that is required for battery electric buses. Bus operators might need to extend the bus depots to install the charging infrastructure and extra parking areas.
Government’s inaction
The Pilot Green Transport Fund (PGTF), established by the Environmental Protection Department, has been ineffective in driving research, development and deployment of Zero Emission Bus technology in Hong Kong. By the end of 2019, only 36 electric buses were operating in service, accounting for only 0.5% of public buses in Hong Kong.

How can we deal with the obstacles?

The EV Roadmap unveiled by the Secretary for Environment in March 2021 lacks new thinking to address to existing challenges, especially on the aspect of electrifying commercial vehicles (CV) and public transport (PT). The government will only set a timetable for electrifying CV and PT around 2025.

Electrification of the vehicular fleet must proceed in well-planned steps, and thus the HKSAR Government needs to set ambitious goals to accelerate the transformation of road transport to ultimately reach zero emissions.

Our key recommendations for an effective transition which should be considered are therefore:

Establish a policy vision, targets and measures for all commercial vehicles including public transport.
Formulate an EV Action Plan with stage-wise developments, close engagement of public and private stakeholders, appropriate subsidies, streamlined approval processes and better trial design.
Clarify the institutional roles of involved Government Bureaus and Departments.
Strengthen the membership of the Steering Committee on the Promotion of Electric Vehicles.

WHAT

ZE Buses

Zero emission buses (ZE buses) are buses with no tailpipe emissions.
Types of ZE buses: Battery electric vehicle (BEV), fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).

Battery electric vehicle (BEV)

Battery electric vehicle (BEV) uses electricity stored in rechargeable battery packs, with no secondary source of propulsion. BEVs use electric motors instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion.

Pros

no tailpipe emissions
more energy efficient (77%) than ICE vehicles (13%) and FCEVs (30%)
less noisy than ICE vehicles
fuel cost saving

Cons

higher cost of ownership compared to ICE vehicles
lower driving range than ICE vehicles (100-200 miles depending on the model)
long charging time (3-4 hours for a single decker bus)
life of battery only lasts 3-10 years, cost of replacement and recycling is incurred

Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV)

Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) uses electricity from a fuel cell to power an electric motor, instead of drawing electricity from a battery. The fuel cell is usually powered by hydrogen to generate electricity.

Pros

no tailpipe emissions, the only by-product at point of use is water
higher driving range than BEVs, have a range similar to conventional diesel vehicles achieving 350-400 miles on a single tank of fuel
can be refuelled within 3-5 minutes (similar to ICE vehicles)
less noisy than ICE vehicles
fuel cell has a higher energy density and weighs less than battery

Cons

less energy efficient than BEVs
safety concern as hydrogen is flammable
higher cost of ownership compared to ICE vehicles
higher cost to refuel, average price for hydrogen fuel is about US$16/kg, price of gasoline-per-gallon equivalent between US$5 and $6

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) uses both electric motors and internal combustion engines.

Pros

no tailpipe emissions while using electric motors

Cons

not zero emission while using internal combustion engines

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen London, European Federation for Transport and Environment

ZE buses in HK

What’s up with ZE buses in Hong Kong today?

Why do we need to switch buses to zero-emission?

1. Following the global trend to decarbonize, the Hong Kong government has set the following goals:

Transportation is the second largest emission source in Hong Kong
Reduce total carbon emissions by 50% (compared with 2005) before 2035
Attain carbon neutrality before 2050
Transport is the second largest source of carbon emissions in Hong Kong, making up 18% of total carbon emissions in 2019

2. Roadside air pollution levels in Hong Kong seriously exceed WHO standards:

NO2 concentration exceeded by 620%
In 2021, roadside NO2 concentration exceeded by 620%, PM2.5 by 320%, PM10 by 127%
Hedley Environmental Index by School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong estimated that air pollution in 2021 resulted in 1,329 premature deaths and an economic loss of HKD 15.8 billion
Commercial vehicles, including buses, contributed to over 90% of the total emission of NOx of all vehicles in Hong Kong (2016)

Transition to ZE buses is needed for decarbonization and public health!

How many ZE buses do we have in Hong Kong now?

The government only plans to set out a timeline for the adoption of zero-emission commercial vehicles in 2025 – currently there is no comprehensive plan.
Through subsidies, the government encourages franchised bus companies to test out electric vehicles, but the quantity has been limited:
- $180 million Single-deck E-bus Trial
  Since its launch in 2012, subsizides bus operators to acquire 36 Electric single-deck buses
- $1.1 billion New Energy Transport Fund
  Since its launch in 2011, subsidized bus operators to acquire 4 electric double-deck buses
As of 2020, only 0.6% of the franchised buses are electric, all of which are single deckers.
Although the bus companies have been procuring new energy vehicles for trials, without government leadership and support, a full-scale zero-emission bus fleet is unattainable in near future.
Percentage of EV in franchised bus companies (As of Dec 2020):
KMB/LWB: 0.5%
NWFB/Citybus: 0.7%
New Lantao Bus: 1.3%

Citizens demand ZE buses

Clean Air Network commissioned Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute to conduct a public opinion survey in November 2021, which found that:

72% of the interviewed local citizens supported switching all franchised buses to zero-emission vehicles
49% of them wished to see at least 50% of the franchised buses transforming to zero-emission vehicles by 2030

Roadmap
Infrastructure
Financial aid
Remove regulatory barriers

Source: Environmental Protection Department, Hedley Index, New Energy Transport Fund, Transport Department

Global Progress

Hong Kong is not alone. Let’s take a look of the common challenges and opportunities our global peers have encountered in the progress to Zero Emission mobility.

■ Singapore

A visionary master plan. Singapore launched its Master Plan 2040 to envision how might a transport system should be designed to support a healthier and cleaner country. The Plan opens up doors for transformation of the bus fleet to clean energy.

Singapore LTA launched its Master Plan 2040 in 2019 which envisions a ‘Transport for All’ future with enhanced WCR (Walk-Cycle-Ride) infrastructure and options. Besides, LTA will transform its transport system to support healthy and clean environment. It pledged to transform its entire bus fleet and taxi fleet to use clean energy.

The city committed to having a 100% cleaner energy public bus fleet by 2040, like electric or hybrid vehicles. At early 2020, among the total 5,800 bus fleet there are 60 electric buses (50 single decker and 10 double decker) deployed.

Factors for development

Public Finance
The Singapore Government has allocated US$804 million (S$1.1Bn) in 2017 to fund the purchase of electric bus over the next 10 years. The publicly funded buses will be operated by private operators.
Infrastructure
The Government continues to invest on infrastructure. A Swiss firm, ABB, is building electric bus chargers in Singapore that can recharge public buses in under 10mins. ABB will also provide 150 kW overnight charging systems that accommodates “sequential” charging of up to two electric buses parked at a depot.
Optimization Process
Vehicle technology optimization is expected for bus deployment under tropical climates in Singapore. Due to the size of the batteries, the e-bus carries about 10 per cent less than the capacity of regular diesel buses. Therefore, optimization over operation model is to be arranged with the operators.
Environmental Impact
In Singapore, diesel commercial vehicles and buses are key local emission sources of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). When these electric buses are deployed, in additional to reduction in air pollution, the CO2 carbon emissions from buses will be reduced as well – by approximately 7,840 tons annually, which is equivalent to the annual CO2 carbon emissions of 1,700 passenger cars.

Ban Fossil Fuel Vehicles

2025
no more new diesel cars and taxis will be allowed to be registered from 2025
2040
all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040

■ Shenzhen

A pioneer on e-bus. China set out a new energy vehicle program at 2009 to invest on vehicle and infrastructure in 10+ pilot cities. Shenzhen’s route to full 100% electric bus fleet yielded valuable insights. Now, the city operates the largest electric bus fleet in the world with more than 16,000 buses.

Under the emergence of megatrends on global climate change, energy security, urban pollution ,and auto industry growth, in 2009, China has established the targets to have 500,000 electric and hybrid electric vehicles by 2015 and 5 million by 2020.

A New Energy Vehicle Program, ‘Ten Cities, Thousands Vehicles’, was launched in 2009 to plan for 10 pilot cities to develop 1,000 electric vehicles each. The list of cities had expanded further. To encourage the transformation, subsidies were offered by the Central and State Governments to purchase the electric vehicles. The progress was varied among the pilot cities.

Shenzhen was the more successful case. The city has gradually transformed its 16,000 bus fleet to entirely electric at 2018.

Factors for Success

Financial Subsidy
Apart from the subsidy from central Government, Shenzhen government injects RMB500 million every year to support the development of e-bus programme covering e-bus vehicle purchasing, operating and installing charging infrastructure.
Subsidy is provided also for the bus operator and electricity price is controlled.
Timely onsite support
Based in Shenzhen, the bus manufacturer (BYD) is in full cooperation with the Shenzhen Government in producing e-bus to meet the need of the bus operators. As BYD also provides the charging infrastructure, the defects of bus or the charging are sorted out at the spot; downtime is reduced to the minimum.
Infrastructure
Shenzhen Government now building 13 multi-storeys bus depots for charging the e-buses. The target is one “charging gun” per e-bus; and a total of 26 such depot buildings have to be built. The Government also plans to develop e-bus charging network along major routes, targeting at one e-bus charging point per 5 square kilometer.

Environmental Impact

The estimated impact on environment is significant. Shenzhen’s annual particulate matters have been reduced annual by over 400 ton since 2016. In additional, there are 160,000 tonnes of coal reserved per year and the annual CO2 emissions is reduced by 440,000 tonnes. Shenzhen emissions from mobile sources to account for over 50% of the total emissions in the city, with diesel vehicles contributing to over 85% of the total PM2.5 emissions from motor vehicles. In tackling the pollution, Shenzhen has fully achieved 100% all-electric vehicles buses and taxis in the city by 2018.

■ Tokyo

Possibly a game changer. Japan set out a hydrogen dream as to respond to the emerging threats on energy security and carbon emission restriction. As the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 approaches, the city strives to demonstrate to the world the potential of a hydrogen economy.

Due to the geographic constrains that are ill-suited to large scale production of renewable electricity, and the aftermath of the meltdowns of Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan is left with few options to reduce its carbon emission.

Japan has shown a strong enthusiasm on transforming to a hydrogen economy, one that would produce affordable hydrogen fuel cells to convert the hydrogen to electricity to power the vehicular fleet.

With a current fleet of 1,400 buses serving in Tokyo, the Government plans to deploy 15 hydrogen buses in service during Olympic Games 2020.

Factors for Success

It is yet to judge whether the hydrogen economy will succeed.

Policy drive
Due to energy security and carbon emission restriction, the Japan’s Ministry of economy, trade and industry has launched the Basic Hydrogen Strategy in 2017 outlining the national vision for the future of a hydrogen society. The Strategy covers a plan to develop and commericalize International hydrogen supply chains by 2025 to 2030.
Key challenges
There are obvious key challenges for hydrogen fuel to go economy of scale amidst international fuel market and bring down the cost on hydrogen infrastructure.

Environmental Impact

The estimated impact on environment is significant as hydrogen fuel cell vehicles should produce minimal level of exhaust air pollution and carbon emission.

■ London

Mayor led the change. The London Mayor has stepped up to lead a move to tackle air pollution and public health threat by transforming its buses to zero emission. Now the city operates the largest e-bus fleet in Europe.

London’s air pollution has caused thousands of deaths each year and led to health problems including dementia and stunting the growth of children’s lungs.

To respond to the pressure that a fast-growing population exerts on a cosmopolitan city, the London Mayor came up with a vision to build a ‘City for All Londoners’ in 2016, and including a move to transform the city’s vehicular fleet. The Mayor has committed to upgrade the entire bus fleet within Greater London to zero emission by 2037.

Currently, London is running the largest electric bus fleet including 155 electric buses, and from autumn 2020 all new single deck buses will be zero exhaust emission with a mix of hydrogen buses and electric buses. Two routes (routes 43 and 134) will become UK’s first full routes of electric double deck buses.

Factors for Success

Policy Drive
Implementation of Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) in London requires all single deck buses to be zero emission buses and double deck buses to be Euro VI hybrid.
Financial Subsidy
To accelerate transformation, the Government has provided the Green Bus Fund to subsidise purchase of electric buses.
Business model
A public-private partnership group, Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP), was established in the UK in 2003 to accelerate a sustainable shift to lower carbon vehicles and fuels, and create opportunities for UK business. Nearly 200 organizations are engaged and the Bus Working Group has over 50 active members.
Infrastructure
The Southern Electric Energy, one of the biggest energy supplier in the UK in collaboration with the UK Power, develops the charging infrastructure for e-buses. The e-bus manufacturers and the charging facility service provider are required to be attentive to the trial of the e-buses.

Environmental Impact

The Transport for London has set to reduce bus NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) emissions London-wide by an average of 90 per cent by October 2020.

Ban Fossil Fuel Vehicles

2030
From 2030 end of sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans
The UK government will also consult on a date for phasing out the sale of new diesel heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)