A reduction of more than 25,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year

With its new fleet of 350 CNG buses, Estonia’s capital is massively cutting CO₂ emissions. For the same reason, Paris has also opted for additional CNG buses for use in public transport.

Source: Solaris

Located on the Baltic Sea, the historic city of Tallinn is home to many start-ups and high-tech companies and is considered a pioneer when it comes to sustainability. This is reflected in its use of 350 Solaris Urbino buses with CNG drive. Since 76% of Tallinn’s residents use public transport, these CNG buses have a crucial role to play in the Estonian capital in terms of both mobility and climate change.

“We will be able to reduce CO₂ emissions by 25,000 tonnes per year – comparable to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 7,000 passenger cars fitted with internal combustion engines. This is particularly important given that Tallinn will be Europe’s green capital in 2023,” said Andrey Novikov, Deputy Mayor of Tallinn, not without a sense of pride.

Deniss Boroditš, CEO of Aktsiaselts Tallinna Linnatransport, and Petros Spinaris, member of the Solaris board, signing the contracts. Source: Solaris

The vehicles in operation are the low-floor, 12-metre-long Solaris Urbino buses which can carry up to 80 passengers, and also the 18-metre articulated version, which can accommodate up to 150 passengers. In addition, bus operator Aktsiaselts Tallinna Linnatransport has set up special new CNG filling stations at the two main bus stations. They are supplied with biogas from newly built biogas plants, thereby helping to close local cycles.

Each of the 350 Solaris buses is powered by a 320 hp L9N-CNG engine made by engine specialist Cummins and offering impressive running smoothness. “We are pleased to see that the Cummins CNG drive is helping to make Tallinn the green capital of the Baltic States, at the same time demonstrating how our engine technology is able to deliver immediate results in reducing the CO₂ footprint of fleets,” says Dariusz Kosek, Territory Manager at Cummins Europe.

More Scania CNG buses are ready for use by RATP in the greater Paris area. Source: Scania

It is not only the Estonians who have recognised the benefits of CNG buses in public transport, with their ability to virtually achieve carbon neutrality thanks to the biogas in their fuel tank. The greater Paris region has also opted for this more climate-friendly drive technology for several years. Here, Scania has just delivered the last of a total of 101 Scania Citywide CNG buses to the regional bus operator RATP. These are 18-metre buses in the typical RATP colours of grey and blue with a particularly smooth-running CNG engine. (jas, 8 March 2022)