Qingdao, PRC
Green Buses Increase Efficiency and Decrease Emissions
3.15M tons of CO₂ emissions REDUCED over 10 years
Inhabitants 9.50 million GDP per capita $17,986 Geographic area 11,293 km²
THE CHALLENGE Qingdao is the largest city in Shandong province with a population of over 9 million. The city has experienced rapid development and is considered to be a major industrial center. The challenge is in matching the quality of the transport system with the pace of growth.
The city of Qingdao in the PRC is increasing the efficiency of its bus system to reduce emissions, ease congestion, and make public transport more attractive for the citizens. The Green Bus System Demonstration Project in Qingdao aims to increase demand for public transport by improving the city’s bus system through a combination of upgrading the fleet and adjusting the planning to prioritize buses. Over 900 new electric buses are being purchased, along with 208 charging stations and two new bus depots. It is estimated that the bus optimization strategies and electric bus upgrades will help the city to reduce around 3.15 million tCO2e emissions over the course of 10 years. The lessons learned from this demonstration project may be rolled out in other large and medium-sized cities in the PRC as they seek to establish climate change adaptation measures and reduce GHG emissions. Optimization and efficiency improvements in the public transport sector that Qingdao aims to make will help the city decouple carbon emissions from economic growth in the future.
Co-benefits Environmental The city intends to recycle the updated battery components from the buses. Social The Qingdao green bus scheme is helping alleviate the current situation of urban road congestion. Economic Related supporting facilities such as charging stations and batteries can provide more employment opportunities for local enterprises, promoting local economic development and technological research.
Green bus system. In the next 10 years, 900 new electric buses will be available in Qingdao, helping to decarbonize the transport sector (photo by Jun Huang).
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