CHINA’S ELECTRIC MOTORING DOESN’T STOP AT CARS

BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin reports on how a push toward electric scooters in one Chinese city could be a bellwether for a global revolution.

The incredible limestone karst pinnacles of Guilin are indeed a wonder of the planet.

I am still shaking my head in disbelief at this freak of nature.

But the world may owe another debt to this remarkable city by helping to popularise the electric scooter.

Battery-powered motor scooters are popping up in cities right across China. But in Guilin, they have been given an extra boost by the decision of the local authority to stop issuing licences for conventional motorbikes, which were sullying the city’s green reputation with their pollution and noise.

As a result, most of the powered two-wheelers in Guilin are now silently electric – sometimes alarmingly so, as I discovered while turning to cross the road.

Air pollution has been reduced at a two-stroke, and there’s also a bonus cut in greenhouse gases.

As the UK government’s chief energy scientist David MacKay shows in his recent book, it’s better to run vehicles on electricity than petrol even if the power is generated by coal.

That’s because electric motors are so much more efficient than internal combustion engines.

A simple change in regulations in just one large city can make a small difference in terms of orders and production for a clean technology like this. As production volumes increase, prices come tumbling down.

Cycle swap

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