£7 million injection for low carbon public transport

The Clean Bus Technology Fund is being awarded to 18 local authorities across England which will allow 439 buses to be fitted with technology that will reduce emissions and improve air quality in pollution hotspots. Introducing low carbon technology to buses is essential to reduce emissions from UK vehicles. The buses upgraded from this fund alone will complete more than a million journeys this year, and with low carbon technology installed they can save a significant amount of emissions.

GKN received funding from the APC’s first grant funding competition to develop their Gyrodrive technology. The GKN Hybrid Power System project is used to regenerate braking energy on city buses with a high speed flywheel originally developed for Le Mans Prototypes using KERS technology.  The technology delivers a greater fuel efficiency of around 20 percent and results in lower vehicle emissions. This cutting edge technology is able to recycle the energy that would usually be lost as heat into rotational kinetic energy. To find out more about the project, see the video below.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said:

Greener buses mean cleaner town and city centres and a healthier environment for everyone. The upgraded buses that will soon hit the roads in England continue our commitment to better air quality by investing in greener transport. By targeting pollution hotspots and backing the low-emission technology of the future, we are making the right long-term decisions to improve people’s lives.