‘Low-hanging fruit’: States lack ambition in energy transition, bus industry says

Australian bus manufacturers, workers and energy experts have called on state governments to provide the industry with firmer guarantees about how many electric buses they will buy as Australia’s eastern states seek to replace thousands of diesel vehicles before the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

“We’re ready to go now,” said Mitch Peden, general manager at Volvo Buses Australia. “Hopefully, government will give body builders assurance of supply to enable them to invest in renewable energy [and new technology] on their sites.” Volgen Australia chief commercial officer Yuri Tessari says the company can start building electric buses “from tomorrow”, but state government demand and infrastructure remain issues.

“Electrifying Australia’s bus fleets should be easy because most are publicly owned,” she said. “If state governments don’t pick this low-hanging fruit soon, we should question the substance of their net-zero commitments.”Quicke said there was more than enough renewable energy added to the grid each year to satisfy the energy demands of a fully electric bus transport system, but would need to be planned and make the most use of existing land and infrastructure, particularly in urban areas.

The state government will set aside $2 billion to help transition 8000 buses to electric across the state before 2047, NSW Transport Minister David Elliott said, $218.9 million of which will be spent in the next seven years.

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