Volvo Buses
Australia
The prestigious award recognises the Council’s use of Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicles (EEV), including their new Volvo B7RLE’s and the role they play in improving Brisbane’s air quality.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says the 196 buses already ordered from Volvo and local bus bodybuilder Volgren use “clean diesel technology” which enables Volvo’s diesel engines to achieve lower or equivalent emissions to natural gas buses.
Volvo’s seven litre, six cylinder turbo charged diesel engine, the D7E, installed in the B7RLE attains these low emissions by utilising the latest generation engine management and electronically controlled fuel injection systems. These ensure only precisely metered and finely atomised fuel enters the combustion chamber therefore resulting in excellent fuel efficiency and high combustion rates.
Further, this high combustion rate is supplemented with Volvo’s SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) exhaust gas after-treatment to again slash emissions. Volvo’s SCR process converts nitrogen oxides, which contribute to air pollution, smog and global warming, into harmless nitrogen gas and water vapour.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman explains that the new Volvo B7RLE buses ordered under their current three year contract with Volgren and Volvo not only meet the strict emission standards enforced in Australia, but also those in Europe which are even more stringent. The new buses will therefore help ensure Brisbane’s air quality is maintained despite the city’s quick growth.
“With an increasing number of Council buses on our roads carrying a record 72 million passengers last year alone, it is important that our fleet meets the highest air emission standards,” he says.
Australian Lung Foundation CEO William Darbishire says the Brisbane City Council was assessed for the award on current practises as well as its long term plans.
“This is the first award of this nature and we wanted to recognise Brisbane City Council for its endeavours to continually improve the fleet by phasing out old diesel buses and replacing them with new EEV buses.
“The Lung Foundation is painfully aware that ‘when you can’t breathe…nothing else matters’, so please keep up the great work to reduce emissions in our wonderful city,” Mr. Darbishire said.
So far 68 of the 196 new EEV Volvo buses ordered have been delivered to the Council. In keeping with their vision to make Brisbane a sustainable city, the Council plan to place another order with Volvo and Volgren in September for additional buses.
So next time you are in Brisbane keep you eyes peeled for the new environmentally friendly Volvo’s in the Council’s fleet. They will each have the Green leaf Award logo affixed inside next to the bus stop light.
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