Students on Prince Edward Island will soon be travelling on LPG-powered buses. In his address to the Atlantic Committee of the Canadian Propane Association (CPA), Premier Dennis King said the P.E.I. government is looking at adding Autogas buses to the school fleet as early as the fall of 2020.

“There is a lot of work being done by our government to address climate change and its impacts to our province, including identifying new ways of doing things to reduce our impact on the environment,” said King. “We need to be bold as we tackle the challenge of reducing greenhouse gases. Shifting to lower emission fuels, like LPG, is a sensible step in that direction. As an example, in our school system, we are looking at adding LPG-powered buses to our school bus fleet.”

The initiative was welcome by the CPA, which has been lobbying for more use of the buses across the county. Nathalie St. Pierre, president of the Canadian Propane Association, said the buses run “the same, basically, as a normal bus,” but are lower in greenhouse gas emissions.

“The advantage is that you have a lot less —up to 98% less — particulate emissions, which is damaging for the environment and air quality. And it runs really well in the cold weather. And, most importantly, it provides a safe and clean environment for the children,” she explained.

St-Pierre also noted that the Province of New Brunswick will be accepting delivery of 16 Autogas school buses this summer. They will be transporting students beginning in the fall.

“It’s been an important part of our approach because we believe that the expanded use of low-emission propane is critical to Canada’s energy portfolio at a time when searching for cleaner energy options is a high priority for governments and the private sector alike,” she added.

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3 July 2019