More electric school buses are coming to Maine

A guide for Mount Desert Island Excessive College has discovered that the state’s first electrical faculty bus has served the district effectively. And extra of the autos might be coming to Maine, to switch typical diesel-burning busses.

MDI Excessive College was the primary within the state to place an electrical faculty bus via its paces, in cooperation with a coalition of nonprofits, and utilizing funding from the Volkswagen emissions settlement. Over the past faculty yr, the bus traveled 80 miles a day with out charging, and an extended route with a cost at noon.

Alex Pine, a guide with VEIC, analyzed the info from the primary yr, and says the bus drastically decreased particulate air pollution, and greenhouse gasses.

“Over the course of this previous faculty yr, operating the college bus saved over 30,000 kilos of greenhouse fuel emissions,” Pine says. “In order that’s simply over 15 tons.”

Electrical buses at the moment are additionally in operation in Vinalhaven and Camden, and shortly coming to Falmouth. MDI faculties are ordering 6 extra for subsequent yr, and 60 Maine faculties have utilized to the Environmental Safety Company for funds to purchase electrical buses. And the EPA introduced on Thursday that it’s doubling its Clear College Bus Program funding for this yr, to almost $1 billion.