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As UN climate talks near, host Chile

charges up electric transport

lectric and diesel buses pass in turn smog settle over the city on most cold win- The electric buses are purchased by the
Ealong one of the main avenues in ter days. Chilean state and then leased to local pri-
Chile’s capital Santiago, sweeping past the “Ahead of the COP25, we want to rein- vate operators including MetBus.
national football stadium and up towards force the image of Chile as a country that “There’s been an important commit-
the Andean mountains. has mobilised new public transport tech- ment to electro-mobility in Chile, and (the
The differences are stark. Bright red nologies with a focus on clean solutions,” technology) is here to stay,” Karla Zapata,
electric buses glide serenely by, while Chile’s Transport Minister Gloria Hutt told director of Enel X Chile, the Italian energy
their old diesel-powered, smoke-belching the Thomson Reuters Foundation. subsidiary that provides power for the bus
counterparts grind to a halt with a thunder- “Our aim is to have all public transport in network, said.
ous clatter. Chile electric-powered by the year 2040,” There are already 60 charging points for
“I use the new electric buses a lot. she said. electric cars across the capital, but they
They’re much quieter,” Camilo Miranda, She added that the Government’s focus are not yet widely used due to a lack of
26-year-old university student, said. was on expanding the use of electric en- government incentives and regulation, Za-
“People often overlook noise pollution in ergy in public transport, with no subsidies pata said.
a city where air quality has always been or tax breaks in the pipeline to promote the Social attitudes need to change and
the main concern.” use of electric cars. prices must fall for Chileans to embrace a
Santiago, a city of 5.6 million people, The running cost per kilometre of San- shift to electric-powered cars, she said.
has positioned itself as a global leader in tiago’s Chinese-made electric buses is “What we need to work on is motivating
the use of electric buses, as the South around 70 pesos ($0.10), a 230-peso de- people to change from diesel to electric
American nation pushes forward with crease on the rate for a diesel vehicle. cars,” Zapata said.
ambitious plans to adopt cleaner The company hopes that slow-
energy and cut emissions from er-speed charging units could
public transport. soon be installed in homes, me-
With 386 electric buses, ac- dium-capacity chargers at work-
counting for 6% of the city’s fleet, places, and fast-charging sta-
Santiago has by far the largest tions at motorway services and
fleet outside of global front-run- outside restaurants, she added.
ner China, according to the World The use of electric energy is
Resources Institute, a US-based also picking up speed in Santia-
think-tank. go’s metro network, Latin Amer-
The first 100 electric buses ica’s second largest, which will
bought from China hit the Chilean reach 215km with two new lines
capital’s streets just over a year opening by 2027.
ago, and the Government plans The two newest routes are
to introduce them in other cities, electric-powered and driverless.
although it has not said where. About 60% of the electricity the
Worldwide, cities account for metro consumes is covered by
about three quarters of carbon renewable production from wind
emissions and consume more power and a solar plant north of
than two-thirds of energy, mean- Santiago, El Pelícano, equipped
ing their success or failure in cut- with 250,000 panels.
ting emissions will have a big im- Juan Villalobos, who drove
pact on whether global warming diesel buses for three decades
stays within agreed limits. In June, the Chilean Government unveiled an ambitious climate before switching to the electric
Chile will be keen to highlight action plan that included targets to shut all coal power plants models less than a year ago, said
Santiago’s use of electric buses by 2040 and become a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 residents value and take pride in
when the city hosts this year’s the new buses.
UN climate conference (COP25) “You hear no noise when you’re
in December. But the cost of a journey to the passen- driving - it’s like a ghost sliding through the
In June, the Government unveiled a ger remains the same. streets. People care for them much better
more ambitious climate action plan that in- The electric buses have a range of too. There’s far more respect for the buses
cluded targets to shut all coal power plants around 250km, meaning they can make and fewer problems with the passengers,”
by 2040 and become a carbon-neutral three or four return journeys on city routes Villalobos said.
economy by 2050, in line with the 2015 without needing to recharge at the termi- “People even let the old buses pass by
Paris Agreement to curb global warming. nal. so that they can ride the new ones,” the
In Santiago, it is also hoped the zero- They also have motion chargers which veteran driver noted.
emission buses can help the battle to im- means they can top up while going down-
prove poor air quality, which sees a dense hill. – John Bartlett, Reuters

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