By Jeremy Torr

Just a dozen of the 50, 000 city rental bikes in Hangzhou, China.

If you thought Paris had a lot of city rental bikes at 20,000, think again. The city of  Hangzhou in China beats that hands down with 50,000 – and that makes it the biggest city bike hire system in the world.  But typically of Chinese vision, that’s just the start. The plan is to expand to 175,000 bikes by 2020.

Hangzhou’s riders make an average of 240,000 trips every day, which is pretty impressive. According to Bike-Sharing blog, Lu Zhihong, Deputy General Manager, Hangzhou Public Transport Corporation says that public bicycle outlets will become as popular as public telephone booths along city streets. “In the future, residents will largely ride bicycles to go shopping in food markets and supermarkets, or to go to the office,” he says.

The city elders decided to implement the system – and make it easy and attractive – after realising that the national move to car ownership and usage was clogging up the roads, destroying the purity of the air and even more importantly to the world’s manufacturing engine, making people late for work.

There are more than 2,000 bike-share stations in Hangzhou

The Hangzhou Public Bicycle Service (HPBS) system’s popularity and success have set a new standard for bike-sharing in Asia. There are more than 2,000 bike-share stations that are dotted about the city, and the scheme that started in May 2008 has around 30,000 individual rentals on a typical day and is underwritten by the local government to keep costs low and locals pedaling. To rent a bike, people simple swipe their ID card and pay 200 Yuan as a deposit. After that, the service is free for the first hour, and then riders pay one yuan ($.30) for up to two hours. They can keep the bike out for up to 24 hours, but that costs three yuan per hour so the accent is on short trips.

And it’s working. Earlier this year, HPBS claimed each bike was used an average of 5 times each day by different riders. Additionally, in contrast with many European bike-share systems, HPBS has embedded a paypoint directly into the bikes. This makes it easier for a user to end a rental by slotting a bike into a bike rack, swiping their local transport card over the bike itself, and walking away.

This, says HPBS, reduces time to check the bike in from about five minutes to just one minute, something riders in London, Barcelona and Paris will appreciate. The system is currently not turning a profit, but the local government hopes to turn that round with the provision of advertisements on the bikes and at bike return spots.

To rent a bike, people simple swipe their ID card and pay 200 Yuan as a deposit.

And what about “losses”? According to HPBS, not a single bike was stolen in the service’s first year of operation, and very few have been damaged or vandalised. In contrast, London’s Boris Bikes suffered from six docking stations being hit by motor vehicles and six more vandalised in the first six months with up to third of the fleet needing some kind of refurbishment or repair. Likewise Paris’s Velib bike-share program has reported that almost half of the original Velibs were stolen, or damaged. So much for the French being bicycle lovers!

For a great video of the system see:


Video link here

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About our Guest Writer:
Jeremy Torr, the managing editor of Gaia Discovery, is a lifelong cyclist, traveller, and keen greenie now residing in Singapore. He has written for and edited international publications like PC Magazine, SilverKris and Discovery Channel Magazine.The independent publication Gaia Discovery promotes responsible travel, eco-living, and heritage. It is a platform for subject experts to voluntarily contribute articles to for greater awareness of important social and environmental issues in Asia. Follow Gaia Discovery on Facebook and  Twitter.

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Further links you may be interested in:

EWTT: Making Singapore Bicycle Friendly

EWTT: Bike the Talk: The green solution to urban transport 

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Video 1 Snippets from this video were featured in Chris Payne’s movie, “Who killed the Electric Car.”  Tom  Hanks discusses his electric car.

Video 2 : This is a voice over in part of Frank Capra’s 1946 movie “It’s a wonderful life” Mr. Potter is the main antagonist of the movie and one of the 50 greatest villains in American film history. He’s a hardcore business man, and puts paid to George Bailey’s plea for the electric car.

And finally Video 3: a song promoting the Electric Car !

Let’s see what the future beholds for the electric vehicle? Will it be the new clean, green car or will it also fade away like it did twice before?

You may be interested in the following links:

Part One : Can Electric Vehicles change the world Part 1/3 A Third Comeback

Part Two: Can Electric Vehicles change the world Part 2/3 EVs in Singapore

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Zeco Systems Pte Ltd, a Singapore born and bred clean technology company, is paving the way for a quiet revolution in the way we move around.  The firm launched a global rollout of its EV charging solutions last week on Feb 11, 2010 called ‘Greenlots’.

Greenlots Point is a charging station which enables EV users to simply plug in and charge their vehicles via a simple authentication process.

It can be located at carparks of private homes, office buildings, residential buildings and shopping malls.  Greenlots managing director Oliver Risse said, “The beauty of electric vehicles is that the infrastructure is already in place.”  By plugging into the existing grid, it helps to keep costs low and allows for scalable growth.

Ten charging stations have so far been set up in Singapore such as the INSEAD campus at Buona Vista, Parkway Parade and the Swiss Club.

Zeco Systems also introduced the first electric vehicles in Singapore through the E-Max scooters in early 2009. Come September 2010, Singapore will see the introduction of electric cars such as the i-MiEV model by Mitsubishi.

What makes  Singapore ideal for EVs?

Singapore is perfect for EVs as it is a city of short distances, with limited urban sprawl. On an average, people here drive about 40 kilometres a day mostly for commuting between home and work; something that takes no more than 2 hours a day. About 90 per cent of vehicle users park their vehicles for around 22 hours a day at home, office, shopping and leisure. So it’s easy to use that stationary time for charging.

Environmental pros and cons

I touched upon some of the environmental impacts of EVs in my previous blog. The biggest benefit for cities is that it will clear up the air, as EVs have virtually no exhaust emissions.   Just think about all the smog and soot that has the potential to disappear from cities and towns and the beneficial impact on health.

Battery production and recycling are very important issues, as the inputs of battery making requires mining processes, some of which can be toxic. So it’s critical to ensure good recycling facilities for batteries, and good mining practices at the extraction areas.  It’s also beneficial to have EVs plug into a grid which is powered not by more coal plants, but renewable energy. 

David Tan, Deputy Chief Executive of the Energy Market Authority mentioned at the Singapore International Energy Week in 2009, that this island can reduce up to 4% of the land transport sector’s carbon emissions by 2020 with only a 2% EV penetration rate, and this is despite the dependence on natural gas.

I took the opportunity to test drive the E-Max 90S electric scooter recently. Here is the video :

The E-Max brand of scooters that Zeco systems introduced in the Singapore market in 2009 comes in two models : the E-Max 90S with a driving range of 45-60 kms, and the E-Max 110S with a driving range of 70-90 kms which is enough for a majority of trips. Full charging takes about 3 hours, and each charge canlast upto 60kms. Operational costs amount to about Sing $60 per year based on electricity prices in Singapore.  That means fuel savings of about Sing $1,300 a year. The scooters are priced between Sing $6,999 and Sing $7,399 depending on the COE (Certificate of Entitlement licence required for vehicle ownership in Singapore) and run on lead-acid batteries which need to be changed every 3 years or so at a cost of about $600- $800. 

As you may have seen on the video, I was impressed with the vehicle. It’s sturdy and the drive is exceptionally smooth.  I don’t own a vehicle in Singapore, because I believe that as a city it’s very well geared for public transport. However, an electric scooter would be greatly handy for doing short distance commutes, which are too far to walk or cycle, or for out of the way places, which can’t really be connected well.

Safety on Singapore roads is an issue for two wheelers.  I would really like to see roads becoming user friendly for bicycle and scooter riders.  A class 2 driver’s licence is required for the scooter, and at the moment, it can’t be taken on the highways.

As a city, it must continue to upgrade its public transport system, by increasing the coverage and frequency. Public buses and commercial vehicles can also benefit by moving away from fossil fuels to the electric mode.

For EVs to really take-off, a major push towards infrastructure building needs to take place, for which the right top- down policies have to be created to encourage homes, private estates and shopping malls to install charging stations. The more the demand for EVs, the more the demand for charging stations is likely to be.  Consumers on the other hand are more likely to embrace EVs only if it is convenient for them to recharge. They also have to gain confidence that road conditions are safe for them to use Evs, especially scooters. So it boils down to a chicken and egg situation – does the infrastructure come first or the demand for EVs?

There is momentum building up in the EV industry, both as far as the infrastructure building and the commercial acceptance of EVs are concerned. In Singapore, the seeds are being laid by the likes of Zeco Systems to revolutionise the land transport sector with EVs, but whether they germinate and take off here, and elsewhere in the world, only time will tell.

You may be interested in these links:

Part 1 : Can Electric Vehicles change the world? Part 1/3  A Third Comeback 

Part 3 : Can Electric Vehicles change the world? Part 3/3 The fun stuff

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The electric car, was chugging its way to success especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s; popular because it was quiet, vibration-free and gasoline odour-free. It was easier to drive without the need to change gears. Gasoline fed vehicles didn’t have these advantages. Besides they had to be cranked up, which was a cumbersome process.

Enter three individuals into the scene, and we begin to see the brakes on what could have been a flourishing electric car industry: Henry Ford who mass produced Model T cars with the internal combustion engine (ICE) at an affordable price of $650 versus the electric car which costed on an average about $1,750.  The second was the famous oil explorer, Anthony Lucas who made a fortune discovering and drilling oil in Texas, and making gasoline really cheap for consumers. The third was Charles Kettering who invented the electric starter in 1912, a big relief from those awkward hand cranks.

The next major attempt to revive the electric vehicle (EV) industry was in the 1990s especially with increasing sensitivity to air pollution and smog in cities, plus the growing awareness of global warming.  If you’ve watched the movie, “Who killed the Electric Car?” by Chris Payne, you’d begin to suspect it was not just market forces, but a conspiracy of sorts comprising the automakers, and the oil industry, the environmental regulators which suppressed the EV, along with the lack of consumer confidence.

[ "Who Killed the Electric Car" is in 9 parts on YouTube: Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9]

To cut a long story short, are we now beginning to see in the second decade of the 21st century, a third time revival of the EV industry?

Pike Research in its report on “EVs: 10 Predictions for 2010″ expects a rapid growth in the sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles even though the combined market will represent only 2.5% of the total vehicle market globally.

Some cities have already started preparing for EVs.  The New York Times reported recently that the San Francisco building code will soon be revised requiring that new structures be wired for car chargers. Meanwhile Chinese commuters are turning to electric bicycles in millions.

Here’s a remarkable speech by EV entrepreneur Shai Agassi on TED in 2009, where he excitedly discusses his vision for scaling up EVs throughout the world. His audacious plan is to put 100 million cars on the road between 2016 and 2020.

As with every technology, we need to be aware of the environmental pluses and minuses of EVs too.

Here are the environmental benefits of EVs:

* A big relief to cities air quality, without all the noxious fumes being emitted. This could lead to big health benefits for people who are prone to asthma and cancers.

* Near- Zero carbon emissions, as far as vehicle exhaust are concerned, so it helps with global warming. (The extraction of raw materials and production does have a carbon emissions impact)

* In the era of peak oil,  diversifying away from oil, especially foreign oil is a good idea.

* The vehicle is put to good use when its stationary. On an average 80-90% of vehicles in cities like Singapore are stationery upto 22 hours, with only two hours being used on the vehicles for commuting to work, home and for leisure.

* Consumers benefit from zero noise, zero exhaust and ease of use. Range (or the distance travelled) is generally not an issue for the average city commute though for longer distances, we need a new infrastructure.  New developments  such as battery swap stations and improved battery life cycles, may help overcome issues with range, in the future.

And here are the minuses that merit serious attention:

* The heart of the EV is the battery. Batteries have a life-cycle impact from production to recycling.  Here’s a study that compares the lifecycle impact of 5 batteries.  The metals that go into battery making are a product of mining processes and we do have to bear the toxicity of impact of these extractions, depending on the metal, method of extraction and environmental practices.

*  EVs plug into the power grid. So is the environmental cost of EVs simply being pushed on to the grid?  All depends on how electricity will be derived from the grid. As this TreeHugger article mentions: EVs are better than conventional gas driven vehicles provided the power is not from coal plants.  A similar result was obtained from a more detailed and recent report called “Positive results from Life Cycle Assessment of EVs vs. ICEs”

* If mass scale adoption of EVs occurs, this may have an impact on water consumption especially as a study shows, if the grid is powered by coal, natural gas or nuclear. This again highlights the importance of renewable energy powered grids.

* All cars require a shell, and that continues to consume resources, such as steel, water, polycarbonates and so on. Support for good quality public transport would reduce the need for individual vehicle ownership.  Having said that, the developments in the EV space could spill over to commercial vehicles, public buses, taxis and so on, making them less fuel dependent.

Finally, I borrow Alex Steffen’s words, ”

“The answer to the problem of cars and automotive emissions, for instance,  isn’t designing a better car, it’s designing a better city. Cities are the tools we need for reinventing prosperity.  We can build zero-impact cities, and we need to. Any answer to the problem of climate change needs to be as focused on reinventing the future as powering it.”

What do you think of this third comeback for EVs?  Is it for real or will it fizzle out like the other two?  What other environmental impacts do you think the EV will have?

Read the other two parts of this blog here:

Part 2: Can Electric Vehicles change the world? Part 2/3 EVs in Singapore

Part 3: Can Electric Vehicles change the world?  Part 3/3 The fun stuff

You may be interested in the following links:

The Oil Drum:  Costs and Environmental Impact of Electric Cars

Alex Steffen on WorldChanging  : My Other Car is a Bright Green City

McKinsey Report : China charges up : The EV opportunity

Life Cycle Analysis of a Li-ion Battery

Tree Hugger: Myths of Electric Vehicles

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According to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers   it is estimated that over 600,000,000 passenger cars travel the streets and roads of the world today. The share of global surface transport (including cars) is about 16% of global carbon emissions.

As this video shows, car production involves a huge amount of resources that can be saved by not owning a personal car.

Saving the planet without a car

1. Use Public Transport such as buses, taxis, trains, tube trains, trams, auto-rickshaws, ferries and boats depending on the town or city in which you live.
The impact on carbon emissions is huge. In Singapore, according to SMRT the public transport company, “You can reduce your carbon footprint by 91% when you travel by train the train, and 67% with the bus. In a year, your carbon footprint is 29kg when you take an SMRT train and 101kg when you take an SMRT bus. If you take a car, your carbon footprint is 308kg.”

2. Walk or Use a bicycle to travel. In some countries, this may be an issue due to lack of proper pavements or cycling lanes. However, if you can at least do it during weekends when the traffic is less it would make a big difference.

3. Car pool for work, travel or for domestic chores. Many cities in the world have professional car pooling services, otherwise you can link up with neighbours, friends and colleagues.

Saving the planet with a better vehicle :

If you do need a personal vehicle:

4. Buy a used car or lease one instead of a going in for a new one as you would be reducing demand for fresh resources.  A car uses about 400,000 litres of water in production, and huge amounts of metals like steel. It is estimated that the embedded carbon in manufacture of small to large cars is between 3000 to 5000 kgs.

5. Buy a motorbike instead of a car, depending on road safety in your area and the number of passengers you wish to co-travel with. It gives greater miles per gallon or MPG and uses less resources in its production.

6. Downsize your vehicle to one that fits your family or usage, instead of going for big gas guzzlers. When you need extra space, consider hiring a big vehicle as and when you need it

7. Cut out on extras when purchasing. Remember that added features like automatic transmissions, 4-wheel drives, power steering, larger engine capacities (CC) add to fuel usage

8. Get a car with a low MPG or Miles per Gallon, and you’d be saving fuel automatically for every mile you drive. Go for one with good emissions standards so it pollutes less.

9. Go for renewable energy technology cars such as hybrid cars, electric cars, cars that run on compressed natural gas, hydrogen powered cars and solar powered cars.

Check how these different technologies work and what the different types of “green cars” are.  You can also check out the Yahoo centre for reviews and rankings of cars.
 
Saving the planet using less fuel 

10. Keep your cruise control on whether you are off or on the motorway, as it automatically controls the speed of your vehicle to maintain a steady speed, and helps reduce fuel consumption.

11. Adopt good and safe driving habits, stay with the speed limit, and avoid sudden braking, jerking, as well as speeding as this leads to higher fuel usage

12. Understand and avoid the “severe conditions” (a term used by Filter Manufacturer’s Council) that lead to higher fuel usage and the requirement to change filters soon: frequent idling in stop and go traffic, sustained driving in extreme weather, towing or carrying heavy items, driving in dusty conditions, or in hilly terrain

13. Plan your trips, so you can complete your tasks in fewer drives, saving on fuel and emissions. Buy in bulk so you need to make fewer trips.  Also plan your routes, so you avoid the congested routes that slow your journey time. Consider driving only part of the way, say to the metro station and then take the underground train. It’s also healthier for you.

14. Go for regular car servicing and maintenance, to change your engine’s air-filters regularly, engine oil topped up, changing oil filters regularly, and use the right oil viscosity, so the vehicle is in proper shape and gives efficient MPG.

15. Check that your tires are properly inflated. Deflated tires consume more fuel. Go for radial tyres which are more fuel-efficient and last longer.

16. Use less of the air-conditioner as this brings down fuel efficiency. When the weather is fine, pull down the windows.

17. Get the extra load off the boot, if you are not using it, as this adds to fuel consumption.

18. Switch off the engine if you’re idling for more than one minute to conserve fuel.
   

Here’s a video that will help you reduce your fuel consumption with better driving habits:

So DRIVE LESS, DRIVE BETTER AND DRIVE SAFE !  

These are some of the ideas from the new free ebook that will be made available on this website, “A Quicklist of 1001 Steps to Save the Planet”

PS: If you want to find out the carbon footprint of your car, here are some simple instructions from Yahoo

“Try to find the precise CO2 emissions of your car (or motorcycle, or whatever mode of transportation you use). The simplest way to do this is to enter ‘[car make and model] CO2 emissions g/km’ into a search engine. Car emissions are generally measured in grams of pollutant per kilometer, hence the ‘g/km’. For example, the Toyota Prius emits 104 g/km of CO2.”  You can find your annual carbon footprint by multiplying by the number of kms driven in the year.

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 The Checklist list of the 10:10 campaign lists to FLY LESS as Step 1.

Air travel presently accounts for 2% of the global annual carbon emissions and this share is increasing. It is estimated that since 1990, CO2 emissions from international aviation has increased 83%. There are more people travelling by air because of increasing disposable income and affordability, increase in the number of routes and competition among airlines. But all of this comes with a cost – a cost to the environment.

Apart from carbon emissions, planes leave contrails or vapour trails at the upper layers of the atmosphere. This adds up to the greenhouse effect, by not allowing the sun’s heat to escape.

 These are the ways by which can reduce our carbon emissions from air travel :

1. Reduce the number of holidays that you take each year entailing air travel. 

2. Take holidays closer to home, so you can travel by train or bus or ferry. According to a study commissioned by Eurostar, taking a train from London to Paris actually cuts carbon emissions by 90% .

3. Choose a direct flight if possible over a flight with stopovers, especially if the total flying time is less in the former. This translates into less overall fuel consumption.

4. Choose airlines which have a good track record of arriving and departing on time. According to Air Transport World, “If we could save a minute on every flight each year, we would save $3.6 billion on total operating costs, including $700 million on fuel, and 4.2 million tons of CO2 emissions, not to mention other pollutants and greenhouse gases.”

5. If you’re an employer, cut down on air travel for staff by encouraging them to teleconference.  According     to  WWF if all European companies replaced 20% of their business flights with video conferencing, it would save 22 million tons of CO2 every year.

6. Whenever you do have to fly, offset your air travel by purchasing carbon offsets for your flight or for your car travel, for that matter, using a reputed carbon offset company.  As recommended by Tufts University, the top carbon offset companies are Atmosfair ,  Climate Friendly  and Native Energy

Another well known organisation which plants trees as carbon offsets is Plant A Tree Today

Other actions you can take related to air travel are:

7.  Travel light – It is always a good idea, regardless of the mode of travel, as fuel consumption increases with the weight carried by the airline.  Respect the weight restrictions given by airlines, and avoid overloading your baggage.

8. Choose to fly with airlines that recycle waste. Waste generated by an airline is usually in the cabin and food & beverages served to passengers. British Airways has a very strong environmental agenda. Southwest Airlines recycles all cabin waste, and was the first to offer electronic ticketing system wide. Get more information on the airlines trying to be green.

7.  Go vegetarian or vegan on your inflight menu choices. A meat based diet increases your carbon footprint, because industrial meat production is fossil fuel intensive.

8.  Give feedback to the airline on their waste management policy,  fight punctuality, carbon offset schemes or any other aspect that would increase their being environmentally responsible.

The ideas are from the free e-book which will be made available soon on this website called, “A Quicklist of 1001 Steps to Save the Planet”

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