On September 27, four major bus manufacturers announced their commitment to offering soot-free engine technology. Starting in 2018, BYD, Cummins, Scania and Volvo Buses will offer these low-emission buses for sale in 20 megacities around the world. The bus manufacturers will also begin tracking and reporting their annual soot-free bus sales.
Currently, less than 20 percent of buses sold around the world are soot-free. Most are diesel-powered, which creates high amounts of health-harmful pollution, including dangerous black carbon emissions. Soot-free low-emission buses can reduce that pollution by 99 percent.
The first cities to participate are Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Lagos, Lima, Manila, Mexico City, Nairobi, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Sydney.