Bus firm in £250k drive for greener vehicle fleet

Published on Friday 13 May 2011 15:35

LOTHIAN Buses is to invest £250,000 to make a further 35 vehicles environmentally friendly before the end of the year.

The council-owned bus firm will fit a specialist exhaust system known as SCRT to some of its older buses in order to ensure they are kinder to the environment. A total of ten buses across the Capital have already been fitted with the new exhaust, leading to more than a 1.7 tonne reduction in harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the last year.

Eight of the low-carbon buses, which have been painted green, operate between Ocean Terminal and Holyrood - service 36 - with the others being a vintage 1960 double-decker tour bus and a general service bus. Replacing the exhaust brings older engines in line with today's European Union standards.

Lothian Buses environmental manager Steve Johnson said: "Our biggest environmental impact is running the buses themselves.

"Buses, and all other road vehicles, are graded according to how polluting their exhausts are on the Euro scale. The higher the Euro number, the cleaner the emissions are.

"At the moment, brand new vehicles have to meet a standard which is Euro 5. We are now at a point where 25 per cent of our fleet meet the most stringent Euro standard, and 91 per cent of our fleet are at Euro 3 or higher, which, for a UK bus operator of our size, is very good."

Dr Johnson said there was a "significant number" of buses which still didn't meet the 2011 emissions standard of Euro 5 or above. It costs around 15,000 to fit each bus with the new exhaust. He added: "Last year we converted ten buses in total. We put in 100,000 and the Scottish Government put in 50,000. This year we're putting in 250,000 and the Scottish Government is putting in around the same. The City of Edinburgh Council will hopefully put in a contribution too.

"Together we will convert a further 35 vehicles in the coming year, all underlining our commitment to reducing our emissions as much as physically possible."

The city council was recently awarded 243,000 in funding, which will be given to Lothian Buses, from the Scottish Government's Bus Retro-fitting Fund.