With the Olympics less than a week away, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Beijing Olympic Committee and the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau launched a new program to help achieve China's goal of a "Green Olympics."

Through the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNDP is providing four electric buses for use during the Olympic Games. The clean energy buses will be used as the official transportation for Olympic athletes between the Olympic Village and the Olympic sports arenas, and are part of an overall fleet of 50 electric buses that will be used by the Beijing Government.

"Apart from helping to achieve low-carbon approaches to Olympic venue operation, we seek to use the Olympics as a platform for raising awareness of the general public on the options for sustainable public transport in China. UNDP is pleased to be leading this initiative together with our partner UN agencies in China," said Subinay Nandy, director of UNDP China.

The transport sector, which relies almost entirely on oil, is projected to account for a large part of China's new demand for oil during the next 20 years, and the source of much of China's future emissions. According to official statistics, it is predicted that by 2010 the percentage of emissions from large cities will make up 64 percent of all emissions in China. Therefore, the application of low-carbon approaches to urban transport stands as a key challenge for both domestic energy security and global climate change.

These electric buses are the first in Beijing to use an advanced lithium ion electric battery, which enjoy a higher energy density, comparatively smaller cubage and a longer life span for repetitive use. Each bus can carry 80 people per trip and reach 80 kilometers per hour. With batteries fully charged, it can run 130 kilometers without recharging.

During the Games, a 5,000-square-meter station northwest of the Xiongmaohuandao temporary bus terminal will offer 24-hour parking, transfer, maintenance and battery charging services for the electric buses. Following the two weeks of the Olympic Games in August, the four clean energy buses will be utilized within the general public transport system ofBeijingfor years to come.

"The issue of climate change has hit a tipping point over the past years, receiving wide attention in the world's media and rising to the top of the political and economic agenda in China itself," said Nandy.

Through raising awareness and discussing policies under the program, UNDP expects that "the demonstration of clean energy buses in Beijing can lead to the further development and deployment by the local government and its partners of low-carbon vehicle technologies," said Nandy.

UNDP and the entire UN system in China aims to help China achieve a "Green, Scientific and Humanistic Olympic Games" while also achieving the UN's goal of combating global climate change through low-emission public transport options. Through the support of GEF and other funding sources, UNDP has provided more than US$3 billion globally during the past decade in the areas of environmental protection, climate change and sustainable energy.

(China Daily August 5, 2008)