On December 12, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a corporate loan agreement with Energy Absolute Public Company Limited of Thailand for a project to introduce new electric buses with low environmental impact to public bus operations in the capital city of Bangkok. The loan will be cofinanced with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Export-Import Bank of Thailand. This project is also eligible for the Facility for Accelerating Climate Change Resilient and Sustainable Society (ACCESS).
Bangkok is heavily dependent on diesel-powered public buses and gasoline-powered automobiles for transportation within the city, and the urban pollution problem, as typified by air pollution, is becoming more serious every year. In particular, many of the approximately 3,500 vehicles currently owned by the Bangkok Rapid Transit Corporation, which operates Bangkok’s bus routes, are older diesel-powered vehicles, which have poor fuel efficiency and high CO2 emissions, contributing to the serious air pollution problems described above.
© Source JICA