Hong Kong School Trials Low-Carbon Biodiesel in School Buses

The Alliance for Sustainable Schools (TASS) announced that The Harbour School (THS), and their school bus company, Jolly Bus Company (JBC), have begun trialling biodiesel in two school buses.

This development is the fruit of a campaign by TASS to get biodiesel in more school buses. The campaign was launched at a workshop in October which brought together experts from Shell, ASB Biodiesel, Green School Bali, WWF as well as THS and sustainability practitioners from several other international schools.

Subsequent collaboration between THS and TASS culminated in the recent decision by JBC and THS to use biodiesel to reduce the carbon emissions from its bus service. THS is the first school in Hong Kong to use biodiesel, an ultra-low-carbon fuel made from waste.

Transport is responsible for nearly 20% of Hong Kong's greenhouse gas emissions. The Hong Kong Government's strategy to decarbonise the economy by 2050 envisages widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs).

However, the transition to EVs will take several decades because it requires significant investment in new buses, charging infrastructure and low carbon sources of electricity.

Biodiesel can make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions during the transition – it can be used immediately at scale without requirements for new infrastructure.

Pure biodiesel made from waste (B100) reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 85% compared to fossil diesel. It is manufactured in Hong Kong by three local companies which have the capacity to produce more than 100 million liters of biodiesel per year.

This represents about 10% of the fossil diesel consumed annually in the road transport sector in Hong Kong. Biodiesel could therefore cut carbon emissions from road transport by 8.5 percent immediately. No other transport fuel or technology available today can achieve such a significant reduction in carbon emissions on such a short time scale.

Anthony Dixon, Founder and Chairman of TASS said: "We are delighted to be seeing the first results of our campaign to get biodiesel in school buses. We congratulate The Harbour School and Jolly Bus on their leadership in demonstrating the use of biodiesel in school buses. We look forward to seeing many other schools and their bus companies follow this example."

#biodiesel #carbonemissions #hongkong