Demand for only emission-free city buses
Several European cities and a number of environmental organizations in 11 countries have asked in a letter to the European Commission that zero-emission city buses should only be sold in the EU from 2027. But Norway is probably ahead of the curve.
In the letter to the EU, the cities and organizations ask that the requirement for emission-free city buses be included in the upcoming proposal on CO2-standards for new, heavy vehicles. It is considered necessary to have zero emissions from the city buses to make the air in the cities cleaner and to contribute to achieving the EU’s climate goals. With zero emissions, we mean electric and hydrogen-powered buses.
The cities behind the letter to the European Commission are Copenhagen, Hamburg, Paris, Rotterdam, Seville, Barcelona, Milan, Malaga, Valencia and Palma.
Well, Norway is not part of the EU, but if things go as the authorities want, 100 percent of new city buses in this country must be electric during 2025. It is a little unclear what the Norwegian authorities think (heard that before?), but that looks like you define city buses with all buses that have standing places. And by electric you probably also mean hydrogen-powered fuel cell buses.
Well, it is also a number of large European cities that have committed themselves to acquiring emission-free buses from 2025. Among these are Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Roma and Warsaw. In addition, there are a number of services that are already available today where there are no emission-free buses. This applies, among other things, to all cities in the Netherlands, Denmark’s six largest municipalities, Hamburg and London.