Bert Fabian
Bert Fabian
Topic: Electric Vehicles and its Potential to Mitigate Air Pollution and CO2 Emissions from Transport
Bert Fabian coordinates and leads activities of the UNEP Transport Unit in Asia, particularly the activities of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, the Global Fuel Economy Initiative and the...
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Number of questions: [4]
Posted on 29/07/2015 13:03:25
Good Afternoon,

Q1. How can developing countries such as Kenya benefit from electric Vehicles and the potential to mitigate air pollution and CO2 emissions from transport sector.

Q2. How can Kenya be assisted in developing proper and appropriate legislation that can control air pollution in the transport sector.

Jimmy Owiti (from Kenya)

Dear JImmy,

Thank you very much for your questions. Kenya can benefit from electric vehicles, including electric motorcycles and bicycles, and mitigate air pollution and CO2 emissions from vehicles, if the government, private sector, and civil society work hand-in-hand to develop policies and provide incentives for consumers and manufacturers to promote electric vehicles. There can also be pilot projects to explore the potential of electric vehicles as public transport vehicles. If viable, the use of electric public transport vehicles can substantially reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions.

UNEP is supporting the Kenyan government and other sectors in promoting cleaner and more efficient fuels and vehicles. Some of our recent success was the adoption of 50ppm sulfur in fuels Kenya and neighboring countries. For electric vehicles, we can assist in investigating the potential and viability of electric vehicles in the country, convening relevant stakeholders, and developing appropriate policies. Appropriate policies can also be put in place to control air pollution from gross polluters, e.g. old and dilapidated buses, matatus, and old cars by replacing these old vehicles, coming up with maintenance programs and setting emission testing requirements for vehicles, particularly public transport fleets,

Posted on 28/07/2015 17:35:52
Dear Bert,
Could you provide further information or literature for best practices regarding the implementation of the infrastructure needed for electric vehicles. Ecuador is working on an initiative to implement electric vehicles as part of the strategy to enact greener vehicles and transport modes. Thanks for your help.
Andrea Heredia (from Ecuador)
Dear Andrea,

You can find several information on this website . It's good that Ecuador is working on promoting electric vehicles as part of a broader strategy. The benefits of electric vehicles i.e., electric bicycles and motorcycles, cars, and buses, will be maximized when put into a broader sustainable transport strategy at the national and local levels.

Posted on 28/07/2015 15:45:28
Dear Mr. Bert.

There is a large fossil fuel mass transit base in Latinamerica. How we can convert it into a electric base mass transit system. It?s more public or a private enterprise? Or both? Thanks for your responses.
George Conte (from Panama)
Dear George,

Thank you for your question. Latin American countries have relatively high hydroelectricity share in the grid. This provides a good opportunity to use electricity to power your mass transit systems, e.g. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Rail-based systems. For BRT, Electric trolley buses can also be considered, and as well as using electric-hybrid or fully electric buses. In the terminals, you can also explore the use of solar energy in powering these transport modes. The system can both be a public and/or a private enterprise. Government can stimulate the participation of the private sector by providing appropriate regulations and incentives.

Posted on 28/07/2015 07:02:29
Dear Mr. Bert,
Could you provide examples of cities with Electric Vehicles that are largely being powered by electricity generated from non-fossil fuels?
Francis Bagambilana (from Tanzania (United Republic of))
Dear Francis,

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, we don't have specific information on cities where electric vehicles are largely powered by electricity generated from non-fossil fuels. However, there are many countries where the share of non-fossil fuels in the electricity grid are very high, like most Nordic countries, Brazil, and Ethiopia. All have very high share of renewables largely from hydro and geothermal. As such, the benefits of using electric vehicles in the cities in these countries, having substantially lower emissions of air pollutants and CO2, are maximized.