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pv magazine

Post-subsidy PV boom in Western Australia pv magazine New figures from local electricity retailer Synergy have shown that a second residential solar boom is taking place in the state of Western Australia (WA). With 2,500 customers each month installing photovoltaic arrays, the installation rate is many … Solar panel rate in WA quadruplesThe West Australian all 2 news articles »

$A weaker on global factors Sydney Morning Herald Easy Forex senior currency dealer Francisco Solar said the Australian dollar lifted from its lows during Monday's local session after falling to 103.49 US cents but traded in a relatively narrow range. The currency has been moving lower since the Bank … and more »

The Economist (blog)

Difference Engine: Life without nukes The Economist (blog) Making up for the idled nuclear capacity has cost the country $50m a day in imports of additional liquefied natural gas from Qatar and, increasingly, Australia. After running an unbroken series of trade surpluses … For instance, the abundance of … and more »

Green Left Weekly

Unconventional Gas in South Australia — A Road to Nowhere Green Left Weekly … Gemma Weedall from the Climate Emergency Action Network, who advocated for an alternative “Renewable Energy Roadmap” for South Australia which would include replacing Port Augusta's brown coal-fired power stations with solar thermal technology.

University Team Wraps Up Work on Top-Secret Solar Racer Wired U of M is a regular favorite to win the biggest solar car competitions: the North American Solar Challenge (from Tulsa, OK to Naperville, IL) and the World Solar Challenge (from Darwin, Australia, to Adelaide). The Generation is the team's entry into …

Sydney Morning Herald

1000000 Solar PV Systems Installed In Australia! CleanTechnica The number of Australian homes with rooftop solar power systems has passed the magic one million mark, according to figures from the Clean Energy Regulator, confirming that the milestone was reached in March. Screen Shot 2013-04-05 at 10.41.55 AM … Solar passes million milestone in AustraliaBusiness Spectator Solar hits the million mark despite cutsSydney Morning Herald Rooftop solar burns past 1-million markThe Age Ninemsn -Solar Panels UK all 8 news articles »

Daily Mail

Australia Competing With Germany On Low Solar PV Prices CleanTechnica Australia, seldom talked about in the solar industry, is currently going toe to toe with Germany on another solar metric that's equally important to installed capacity: PV system pricing. And remarkably, Australia achieves this distinction with a scant … SunPower Launches X-Series Family of Solar Panels with World-Record …AltEnergyMag (press release) all 47 news articles »

pv magazine

Solar leasing project pushes Australia towards capacity ABC Online The managing director of Sunwiz, Warwick Johnston, says despite the winding back of government subsidies, Australia is on track to see 90 per cent of owner-occupier homes install solar panels within the next five years and with that comes massive … New solar leasing push Down Underpv magazine World's Largest Solar Towers Take to the SunDesignBuild Source all 14 news articles »

HONG KONG–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BYD Company Ltd. announced solutions for electrifying Hong Kong City’s public transport with plans to replace diesel buses and LPG taxis. Experts anticipate that this will reduce Hong Kong’s vehicle emissions nearly 56% 1 (see note). BYD concurrently unveiled its plan to introduce e6 pure electric taxis in the region in May of this year.

 

Chuan-fu Wang, Chairman and President of BYD Company Limited, remarked, “Hong Kong has been dedicated to promoting green transport for quite some time – electrifying public transportation will not only significantly save costs, but it will also dramatically lower the city vehicle emissions and improve air quality, creating a tremendous social impact!”

 

The first fleet of 45, BYD e6 pure electric taxis are scheduled for launch in Hong Kong in May of this year. Meanwhile, BYD and multiple partners have already built and tested three charging stations in Oi Man Estate, Shek Wai Kok Estate and Wong Tai Sin. The second batch of charging stations is expected to be set up before May with the expectation that each taxi will be complemented by a charging appliance. BYD is also collaborating with local industry partners to pursue further developments in electrified public transport for Hong Kong (including BYD 40-foot electric buses).

 

The first fleet of 45, BYD e6 pure electric taxis are scheduled for launch in Hong Kong in May of this year. Meanwhile, BYD and multiple partners have already built and tested three charging stations in Oi Man Estate, Shek Wai Kok Estate and Wong Tai Sin. The second batch of charging stations is expected to be set up before May with the expectation that each taxi will be complemented by a charging appliance. BYD is also collaborating with local industry partners to pursue further developments in electrified public transport for Hong Kong (including BYD 40-foot electric buses).

 

Public transport is one of the major sources of air pollution in cities. Replacing the eighteen-thousand (18,000) LPG taxis and twelve-thousand (12,000) diesel buses with electric taxis and buses would mean a reduction in emissions equivalent to over eight-hundred-thousand (800,000) private cars,1 a leap towards an ultimate target: low-city-noise, zero emissions and zero pollution. Electrified public transport is one of the most important ways to reduce vehicle emissions and improve roadside air pollution. In addition, given the difference in price between fossil fuels and electricity, electric transport can also help the transport industry save costs. For instance, each BYD e6 pure electric taxi is capable of saving approx. one-hundred-ten-thousand HKD (110,000HKD)annually in operating costs [Please refer to Appendix 1].

 

BYD’s pure electric vehicles use an Iron-Phosphate (or Fe) battery , which touts industry-leading safety qualifications and superior life. The battery maintains high-performance capabilities over long periods of use and can stably withstand extreme conditions. Taking the e6 pure electric vehicle as an example, after 4,000 charging cycles, the capacity of the battery remains still remains at above 75% of its original capacity, and the total mileage can reach over one million (1,000,000) km. The BYD e6 can completely fulfill the usage requirements of taxis and private cars. Apart from this, the e6 pure electric vehicle has passed all safety testing to international standards, and the K9 pure electric bus has received the EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA) and US FMVSS safety certification.

 

Since 2010, BYD has conducted its electric vehicle commercial operations on a large scale. As of the end of February this year, BYD had rolled out 800, e6 pure electric taxis in Shenzhen, accumulating close to fifty-five million (55M) km in total mileage. The mileage of a single electric taxi is well over 300,000 km, which is equivalent to the total mileage accumulated in more than 10 years of driving an average private car. 200 K9 pure electric buses have been running in Shenzhen and have exceeded fourteen million (14M) km in total mileage, which means each vehicle has reached over 110,000 km on average. These electric vehicles are operating steadily, without any apparent reduction in performance. Electrified public transport is steadily gaining approval more countries world-wide, thanks to the continuous advancement of electric vehicle technologies and the successful examples of large-scale commercial operations. BYD has engaged in these operations throughout China, and in the Netherlands, the United States, Denmark, Colombia and the United Kingdom. In London, England, for instance, BYD is introducing 50 e6 pure electric taxis and setting up the country’s first fleet of electric vehicles. In Bogota, Colombia, BYD earlier introduced 49 e6 pure electric taxis , with trial operation slated to begin this year. Public e6 electric vehicles will soon be operating on a large scale in Hong Kong as well. As a major force behind the emerging global trend, BYD continues to promote the development of electrified public transport worldwide. For more information, visit BYD at www.facebook.com/bydcompany  and www.byd.com

 

About BYD

BYD is ranked #1 at the top of Bloomberg’s and Business Week’s 2009 Tech 100 List ( http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100520006751/en/BYD-Tops-Bloomberg-Businessweek%E2%80%99s-12th-Annual-Tech） and is the leading manufacturer of advanced, environmentally-friendly battery technologies like the BYD’s Iron Phosphate battery used in BYD electric vehicles and electric buses . BYD’s solar panels and LED Lighting systems have CEC, TUV/CE and UL listings, and the company enjoys rapid growth in consumer electronics space and electrified transportation sector manufacturing under its BYD brand. BYD is the fastest-growing Chinese automotive and green energy technology enterprise. The Company trades on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKE) under the ticker numbers (HK.0285 - BYD Electronics) and (HK.1211 - BYD Company Ltd.), as well as on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the ticker number (002594 - BYD Company Ltd.). For more information, visit www.byd.com , www.facebook.com/bydcompany  or email pr@byd.com

 

Note 1:

BYD estimates that emissions from a taxi are equivalent to the sum of those from 14 private cars, while emissions from a single-deck bus are equivalent to those from 33 private cars and emissions from a double-decker bus are equivalent to those from 57 private cars. The total emissions of the 18,133 taxis, 7,150 single-deck buses and 5,564 double-decker buses in Hong Kong are therefore equivalent to the sum of those from over 800,000 private cars. Of the total emissions from the 650,000 vehicles on Hong Kong’s roads, about 56% comes from single-deck buses, double-decker buses and taxis combined. Hence, eliminating all emissions from these fossil fueled vehicles would represent a corresponding 56% reduction in the total emissions from all vehicles.

 

Appendix 1:

Since there is substantial price differential between LPG and electricity, the operating costs of an LPG-fuelled taxi and an electric taxi are significantly different. On average, a taxi in Hong Kong runs 500 km a day for 353 days a year (taxis take one day for maintenance every month). The calculation shows that a normal LPG taxi consumes 17L of natural gas for every 100km, and that an e6 pure electric taxi consumes 26kWh for every 100km. With reference to the LPG cost of HKD 5/L and the electricity cost of HKD 1.02/kWh, each electric taxi saves HKD 318 per day, or approximately HKD110 thousand a year, on operating costs [See Table 1].

 

Table 1: Comparison between the Operating Costs of an LPG Taxi and a BYD e6 Pure Electric Taxi Item LPG Taxi e6 Pure Electric Taxi 

 

Express del Futuro Launches All-electric Bus Fleet with BYD

Bogotá, Colombia– March 19th, 2013: Express del Futuro, a partner-operator of Transmilenio, and BYD, are unveiling plans for an electric bus fleet in one of Colombia’s largest rapid transits at a Press Conference Tuesday 7:00AM Calle 80 # 96-91, Bogotá, Colombia. Express is the first to unveil plans to test zero-emissions, all-electric buses in fleet service in all of South American. The BYD K9’s all-electric bus will be placed into service as of Q2 2013 in the Colombian capital. Express del Futuro has sought to implement innovative and revolutionary technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, noise, and maintenance costs, as well as eliminate fossil fuel consumption over the lifetime of the buses in Bogotá. Among the other benefits of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, the project can lead to the improvement of the environmental conditions of transportation for the passengers and decrease particulate pollution. 

Electric buses will allow cities, municipalities, and their inhabitants to be more socially and environmentally responsible. In China, for example, the technology is already mature, with the operation of more than 1,000 units of EVs for more than two years. Currently, there are ~3,000 additional ordered units, which may be placed into operation by December 2013. Based on the results of these electric bus’ superior reliability and performance, China has increased its commitment to improving the air quality of its major cities. 

According to Andres Jaramillo, Manager of Express del Futuro, “This operator-led initiative is an effort to innovate public transportation in Bogota and make not only the quality of transportation better, but also the city’s pollution problems and contributing to all the citizens’ well-being. As operators, we are pioneers in the inclusion of buses with the highest quality standards, including the Euro 4 and 5 technologies that contribute to the reduction of gas emissions.” 

The first stage of the project will extend over a month, taking into account aspects of operational performance, energy consumption during the driving cycle, battery behavior in terms of discharge and recharge during the cycles, and total energy consumption. Additionally, weight loads will be used to verify the robustness, performance and behavior at different elevations in Bogotá. The results of the tests will be compared with last year’s tests completed by the C40-Clinton Climate Initiative(CCI-C40), and explore the possibility of implementing this technology in new TransMilenio mass transit projects. The objective of this initiative is to implement mass-adoption of electric buses in the city of Bogota and is backed by Transmilenio, the Secretary of Environment, Express del Futuro, BYD Motor Colombia SAS, and Praco Didacol and will use BYD’s 12 meter buses with a carrying capacity of ~80 standing passengers. The BYD vehicle is 100% environmentally friendly. Ms. Stella Li, BYD Senior Vice President commented, “BYD is very impressed with the leadership in Colombia and their vision to be a part of the new clean technology era with electrified public transportation. We hope to triple our growth and presence in Colombia by next year.” 

BYD is the world’s largest electric bus manufacturer – BYD’s fleet vehicles have accumulated over 50 million kilometers (or >30 M fleet miles) as of Dec 2012. BYD’s market differentiator is the long-cycle-life and the environmentally-friendly Iron-Phosphate battery – the key enabler for the BYD electric vehicle. BYD Auto’s, distributed through Praco Didacol, are an excellent option for Colombian citizens because the quality and service are guaranteed by Praco Didacol, which has a strong local reputation for customer satisfaction in Colombia for over 95 years. For more information, visit BYD at www.facebook.com/bydcompany andwww.byd.com , or contact PR@byd.com 

About BYD
BYD is ranked #1 at the top of Bloomberg’s and Business Week’s 2009 Tech 100 List 
(http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100520006751/en/BYD-Tops-Bloomberg-Businessweek’s-12th-Annual-Tech ) and is the leading manufacturer of advanced, environmentally-friendly battery technologies like the BYD’s Iron Phosphate-battery used in BYD electric vehicles and electric buses. BYD’s solar panels and LED Lighting systems have 
CEC, TUV/CE and UL listings, and the company enjoys rapid growth in consumer electronics space and electrified transportation sector manufacturing under its BYD brand. BYD is the fastest-growing Chinese automotive and green energy technology enterprise. The Company trades on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKE) under the ticker numbers (HK.0285 – BYD Electronics) and (HK.1211 – BYD Company Ltd.), as well as on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under the ticker number (002594 – BYD Company Ltd.). 

About Express del Futuro
Express del Futuro, a leader in the Mass Transit System of Bogota TransMilenio, was created in July 1999 by transporters with vision and commitment to provide safe, fast, reliable massive transit service. Express del Futuro pioneered the modern TransMilenio transportation system in Bogota, Colombia. For more information, visit http://www.expressdelfuturo.co/