China: "More funds for green cars"

CHINA WATCH Wu Ping, a section chief at the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the government had spent 800 million yuan ($106 million) on research on the vehicles powered by fuel cells, electricity and fixed power and had already made great progress.

As Greenbang  published two weeks ago: 50 “zero pollution” buses powered by lithium-cell batteries will be used as shuttles at the Olympics in Beijing next year, and the organizers of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo have said all buses used in the expo centre will be pollution free.

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“We have had major breakthroughs in battery, electric and control-system technology,” Wu said.

Although the new vehicles can cut energy consumption and emissions in half, or even be pollution free, people shun them due to price, Shang said.

“A key focus of our research is to cut costs,” he said.

People were also slow to accept new technology, so the government should first adopt them for its own use, he said.

Greenbang China has seen so much news about the government’s effort on improving the environment recently, but nothing really happening around me. Is it all just for the Olympics and World Expo?