FINANCIAL TIMES: UN URGES RETHINK ON BIOFUEL
The Financial Times reported recently that the world risks deeper poverty and greater environmental damage unless it fundamentally changes its bioenergy strategy, according to the United Nations’ top food and agriculture official Jacques Diouf.
EATON BEGINS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF HYBRID SYSTEMS
Eaton Corporation announced that the company’s medium-duty hybrid power systems are now commercially available and will be ready for customer deliveries in 2008 on the chassis of several major North American commercial vehicle manufacturers, including bus chassis. The announcement follows more than four years of development and two million miles of successful field-testing in North America, Europe and Asia.
EPA TO PROVIDE $1.3M FOR SCHOOL BUS PROJECTS
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making more than $1.3 million available for clean diesel school bus projects as part of the West Coast Collaborative and Clean School Bus USA programs.
EMERGENCY/BUS LANE TRIAL UNDERWAY IN GRENOBLE
Technology from the French firm Egis is forming the backbone for a new smart lane trial now operating in the city of Grenoble. The system allows buses to use the emergency lane at peak periods in the morning, when congestion is heavy and frequently brings traffic to a halt on the busy A48 highway into Grenoble.
ESP, ACTIVELY PREVENTING ACCIDENTS, BECOMES MANDATORY
New research has found that vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as it is usually called on cars, or ESP as it is named on heavier vehicles like buses are 25% less likely to be involved in a fatal accident than those without it. If every vehicle on the road were fitted with ESC, this would equate to approximately 380 fewer fatal accidents each year in the UK alone.
