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Tel Aviv [Israel], December 25 (ANI/TPS): In a move towards offering "green transportation" for school children, Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection is supporting the regional councils of Meta Asher, the Jordan Valley and Nahal Sorek in the purchase of electric buses in the amount of approximately 1.6 million Shekels (USD 450,000).
These regional councils chose to purchase electric buses free of air pollution and noise instead of diesel-powered buses, for the benefit of public health, quality of life and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. These authorities will make use of the budget allocated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection for the purchase of electric buses for transporting students. The Ministry of Environmental Protection works in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the local governments to "electrify the students' transportation system." The Ministry is leading a transition to clean transportation in Israel. Diesel-powered vehicles, such as buses, trucks, vans and taxis, are responsible for about 80 per cent of air pollution from transportation that affects air quality in cities. Today, all the buses operated by the regional councils are powered by diesel, which leads to air pollution that is felt mainly in the centers of the settlements and population concentrations. Switching to an electric bus, said the ministry, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by about 60 per cent compared to a diesel-engine bus, reduces air pollution and reduces the noise hazards caused by transportation. Today, the number of electric buses in Israel that have replaced polluting diesel buses stands at 831 - thanks to the support and other actions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. (ANI/TPS)
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