10 January 2022
Kleanbus, a UK-based bus repowering company, has appointed former TfL and GLA air quality specialist Lucy Parkin as its first director of environmental, social and governance (ESG).
Founded early last year, Kleanbus offers a solution to eliminate diesel pollution from the UK’s bus fleet, ‘repowering’ older diesel models by replacing the engine with a zero-emission fully electric powertrain, at a cost said to be a fifth of that, and in a fraction of the time, of buying a new electric bus. Its offering features proprietary technology.
Parkin, a chartered environmentalist, joins Kleanbus following twelve years advising TfL and the GLA on air quality, focusing on policy development, analysis, and assessment. She is to lead the company’s relationships with bus operators, TfL, government and local authorities; and as an active part of the development team working to quantify the impact of the move to a zero-emission bus fleet on the public and organisations, such as the NHS and social care bodies.
Parkin says: “Kleanbus offers a unique solution which could play a vital role in helping authorities and operators meet their clean air targets faster and more cost-effectively than buying new electric models, and I look forward to working with our partners and stakeholders to guide and educate them on the many benefits of our solution. Every diesel bus repowered by Kleanbus is a polluter removed from the road forever, and another step towards a zero-emission bus fleet.”
The UK government has set a target of introducing at least 4,000 British-built zero-emission buses by 2024 through its national Bus Back Better strategy. In London, where 9,300 of the UK’s 35,000-strong bus fleet operates, TfL committed to procuring only zero-emission buses from September 2021 – and achieving a 100% zero-emission bus fleet by 2034 – saving more than four million tonnes of carbon. As of September 2021, TfL had 550 zero-emission buses on the road, with 400 more on order, according to Kleanbus.
Author
Transport Engineer
