Beijing plans to purchase 1,000 diesel-electric hybrid buses this year, which are intended to save 20 percent in energy consumption and reduce pollutant discharges by 15-20 percent, according to the 2nd Session of the 13th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

A hybrid bus in Beijing

As the city's 15th step in air pollution control measures, Beijing will accelerate the scrapping of high-emission vehicles, and the purchase of low-emission or zero-emission motor vehicles such as electric vehicles, hybrid buses, natural gas vehicles and trolleybuses.

The energy-saving & environment-friendly buses are all diesel-electric hybrid vehicles which meet the Euro IV emission standard. Diesel provides 80-90 percent of the power while the remainder is by electrical storage devices, said Li Kunsheng, director of the Management Office for Motor Vehicle Exhaust Emission of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

So far, 10 energy-saving & environment-friendly buses have been purchased from five motor companies – Dongfeng, Beike, King Long, Zhongtong and Yutong – including 6 series hybrid vehicles and 4 parallel hybrid ones. They have been driven on five bus lines, covering a distance of 300,000 kilometers. "Test runs have indicated that their fuel consumption is somewhere between 9 and 17 percent lower than that of ordinary diesel vehicles. All pollutant discharges levels improve on China's Phase III standards."

In accordance with the latest developing trend of international energy-saving vehicles, the municipal government will also invite public tendering for supply of the 1,000 environment-friendly buses, and will not exclude the option of buying them from abroad, Li Kunsheng said.

Additionally, Beijing will add to or update a fleet of 2,600 eco-friendly vehicles to meet the Euro III emission standard. Among them, 500 heavy-duty gasoline vehicles will be updated, 100 eco-friendly buses will be added, and 2,000 Euro II diesel vehicles will be retrofitted with the help of purification devices.