Taipei City's buses may soon be converting to diesel dual fuel (DDF), as the city government seeks to address air pollution and the increasing cost of energy by adopting alternative fuel sources in public transportation.
Converting city buses to the DDF model, which mixes diesel and natural gas, would be the most cost-efficient option the Taipei City Transportation Department said yesterday.
"We've encountered various problems with six city buses that are now running on natural gas. The vehicles' costs, including initial purchase and maintenance, are too high and there aren't enough gas stations," transportation head Jason Lin (
As part of the city government's "low-pollution city bus program," sponsored by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), the department plans to convert a total of 300 city buses to DDF by the end of this year, and complete the conversion of all city buses in the near future.
According to the department, the DDF conversion system costs about NT$800,000 (US$24,000) per unit, and the city government will subsidize the bus industry. Two types of gas fuel stations -- liquefied petroleum gas and compressed natural gas -- will be installed to provide filling services for the modified buses.
In terms of ecological benefits, Lin said DDF reduces harmful emissions by about 50 percent to 70 percent.
The city has operated six natural gas buses since 1990 under the EPA's natural-gas bus promotion program, which was designed to reduce air pollution emissions caused by public transportation.
However, the department said that the EPA ended its involvement in the program some time ago, which made it difficult for the city government to continue the program alone.
The EPA suggested the city convert its buses to hybrid electric vehicles, but the conversion cost of NT$200,000 per unit plus other fees made it prohibitive the department said.
According to the Taipei City Environmental Protection Department, the percentage of unhealthy air dropped from 3.27 percent in 1999 to 2.63 percent last year. However, vehicle emissions are still the major cause of air pollution.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
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