The London Mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled the world’s first double-deck hydrogen-fuelled bus, manufactured by Wrightbus, and said it will be trialled on London’s roads next year.
Mr Khan also pledged to stop buying double-decker buses that run purely on diesel from 2018, as part of his drive to clean up the capital’s toxic air.
The zero-emission double-decker debuts a new hydrogen fuel cell driveline from the Northern Irish company Wrightbus which will become available to power both single-deck and double-deck buses when it goes into full production next year.
The mayor is working with officials from other cities around the world to phase out polluting buses and spur the development of zero and low-emission buses by driving down their costs. Eleven other cities, including New York, Amsterdam and Cape Town, have vowed to phase out the procurement of diesel buses by 2020, with Paris, Madrid and Mexico City pledging to end their use by 2025, his office said.
“It’s great that more cities are getting on board to phase out the procurement of pure diesel buses, which sends a clear signal that only the cleanest technologies are wanted in our cities,” Mr Khan said.
He has made cleaning up the capital’s air pollution, blamed for 9,400 early deaths a year, a priority of his tenure. Since becoming mayor in May, he has ended the use of the dirtiest buses on some of London’s most polluted roads, proposed an emissions surcharge for the most polluting vehicles on top of the capital’s existing congestion charge and announced plans to extend London’s “Ultra-Low Emission Zone”.
* Agencies
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What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
