Mission LiFE’s Post

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Data shows leaders and laggards for total electric school buses and combined investments driving electric school bus conversion. By Danny Katz, Executive Director, CoPIRG Foundation, U.S. PIRG Education Fund Introduction Each year, more than 490,000 school buses shuttle children back and forth across the United States –to school, field trips, sporting events and more. As most of these buses burn diesel fuel, children and drivers are exposed to harmful pollutants that are linked to asthma, other health issues and cognitive development problems. Conversely, electric school buses have zero tailpipe emissions, and therefore offer a cleaner, healthier alternative to diesel buses. This report finds the number of these zero-emission vehicles are growing in school districts around the country, thanks in part to big investments from Congress and states to transition to electric school buses. Federal Funding As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress authorized up to $5 billion to help school districts transition to electric school buses via the Clean School Bus Program (CSBP). The program provides grant and rebate funding opportunities to school districts, nonprofit school transportation associations and tribal organizations to replace older, diesel buses with newer, electric or low-emission models. The first round of funding applications under the new program solicited applications from May through August 2022, and the EPA received approximately 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for 12,000 buses. Due to the high demand, the agency nearly doubled its initial $500 million rebate pool. The awards for that round of funding are shown below. 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program Awards Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Rebate Awards as of 8/15/24 In 2023, the EPA opened a second funding opportunity through the 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program, which provided grants rather than the previous rebate. Winners were selected based on their applications and prioritizing high need and rural school districts. 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program Awards Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Grant Awards as of 8/15/24 In September 2023 a third round of funding opened in the form of a rebate. On May 29th, the EPA announced awards for the 2023 rebates, shown in the table below. 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program Awards Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Rebate Awards as of 8/15/24 The Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Grant Program The Inflation Reduction Act sets aside $1 billion to fund the transition to zero-emission heavy duty vehicles including zero-emission Class 6 or Class 7 school buses via the Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles (CHDV) Grant Program. This program was open to other heavy duty electric vehicles in addition to Class 6 and 7 school buses, including dump trucks, transit buses, delivery trucks and others.

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Data shows leaders and laggards for total electric school buses and combined investments driving electric school bus conversion. By Danny Katz, Executive Director, CoPIRG Foundation, U.S. PIRG Education Fund Introduction Each year, more than 490,000 school buses shuttle children back and forth across the United States –to school, field trips, sporting events and more. As most of these buses burn diesel fuel, children and drivers are exposed to harmful pollutants that are linked to asthma, other health issues and cognitive development problems. Conversely, electric school buses have zero tailpipe emissions, and therefore offer a cleaner, healthier alternative to diesel buses. This report finds the number of these zero-emission vehicles are growing in school districts around the country, thanks in part to big investments from Congress and states to transition to electric school buses. Federal Funding As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Congress authorized up to $5 billion to help school districts transition to electric school buses via the Clean School Bus Program (CSBP). The program provides grant and rebate funding opportunities to school districts, nonprofit school transportation associations and tribal organizations to replace older, diesel buses with newer, electric or low-emission models. The first round of funding applications under the new program solicited applications from May through August 2022, and the EPA received approximately 2,000 applications requesting nearly $4 billion for 12,000 buses. Due to the high demand, the agency nearly doubled its initial $500 million rebate pool. The awards for that round of funding are shown below. 2022 Clean School Bus Rebate Program Awards Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Rebate Awards as of 8/15/24 In 2023, the EPA opened a second funding opportunity through the 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program, which provided grants rather than the previous rebate. Winners were selected based on their applications and prioritizing high need and rural school districts. 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program Awards Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Grant Awards as of 8/15/24 In September 2023 a third round of funding opened in the form of a rebate. On May 29th, the EPA announced awards for the 2023 rebates, shown in the table below. 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program Awards Source: EPA Clean School Bus Program Rebate Awards as of 8/15/24 The Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Grant Program The Inflation Reduction Act sets aside $1 billion to fund the transition to zero-emission heavy duty vehicles including zero-emission Class 6 or Class 7 school buses via the Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles (CHDV) Grant Program. This program was open to other heavy duty electric vehicles in addition to Class 6 and 7 school buses, including dump trucks, transit buses, delivery trucks and others.

About 20 million students in the United States ride to school each day on the familiar yellow bus. The vast majority of the nation’s roughly 490,000 school buses — which comprise the nation’s largest public-transportation fleet — are powered by diesel engines. “We’re poisoning our kids on the way to school,” said Jessica Keithan, cofounder and director of the Texas Electric School Bus Project, of the exhaust that inevitably infiltrates bus interiors and children’s lungs. But that’s slowly beginning to change. Thanks to a slate of federal and state incentive programs, school districts all over the country are starting to swap out old diesel buses for new, zero-emissions electric-powered models. This transition is reaching districts of all sizes and demographics, from Martinsville Independent School District in East Texas — which last year became the first in the country to go fully electric with four new buses — to Oakland Unified School District in California — which last month became the first large urban district to fully electrify its fleet, with 74 buses. As the Environmental Protection Agency, through its $5 billion Clean School Bus program, and state initiatives continue to fund electric bus purchases, advocates are identifying challenges to wider adoption and grappling with how to surmount them. Replacing decades-old buses may lead to benefits in educational performance and school attendance rates, said one study. Five years ago, there were fewer than a thousand electric school buses operating nationwide, the majority of them in higher-income suburban districts. But since the EPA launched its Clean School Bus (CSB) program in 2022, authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the number of electric buses on the road has climbed to nearly 5,000. And more than 7,000 additional buses are under contract, awaiting delivery, or have been awarded funding and will soon be ordered. Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign Up. <!-- footnoteBlock --> From a health perspective, there’s urgency to replacing the nation’s diesel buses with cleaner alternatives. Health experts have long known that children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs, brains, and other major organs are still developing. They breathe faster and take in a higher volume of air relative to their body weight. Diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization and contains fine particles and nitrogen oxides, both of which are well-documented asthma triggers. Research shows that children in lower-income areas and communities of color are exposed to higher levels of outdoor air pollution — from major roadways, industries, and ports with diesel truck operations. They also suffer much higher rates of asthma and respiratory illness. And so it’s particularly important, say public health experts and school officials, to get polluting school buses

About 20 million students in the United States ride to school each day on the familiar yellow bus. The vast majority of the nation’s roughly 490,000 school buses — which comprise the nation’s largest public-transportation fleet — are powered by diesel engines. “We’re poisoning our kids on the way to school,” said Jessica Keithan, cofounder and director of the Texas Electric School Bus Project, of the exhaust that inevitably infiltrates bus interiors and children’s lungs. But that’s slowly beginning to change. Thanks to a slate of federal and state incentive programs, school districts all over the country are starting to swap out old diesel buses for new, zero-emissions electric-powered models. This transition is reaching districts of all sizes and demographics, from Martinsville Independent School District in East Texas — which last year became the first in the country to go fully electric with four new buses — to Oakland Unified School District in California — which last month became the first large urban district to fully electrify its fleet, with 74 buses. As the Environmental Protection Agency, through its $5 billion Clean School Bus program, and state initiatives continue to fund electric bus purchases, advocates are identifying challenges to wider adoption and grappling with how to surmount them. Replacing decades-old buses may lead to benefits in educational performance and school attendance rates, said one study. Five years ago, there were fewer than a thousand electric school buses operating nationwide, the majority of them in higher-income suburban districts. But since the EPA launched its Clean School Bus (CSB) program in 2022, authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the number of electric buses on the road has climbed to nearly 5,000. And more than 7,000 additional buses are under contract, awaiting delivery, or have been awarded funding and will soon be ordered. Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign Up. <!-- footnoteBlock --> From a health perspective, there’s urgency to replacing the nation’s diesel buses with cleaner alternatives. Health experts have long known that children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs, brains, and other major organs are still developing. They breathe faster and take in a higher volume of air relative to their body weight. Diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization and contains fine particles and nitrogen oxides, both of which are well-documented asthma triggers. Research shows that children in lower-income areas and communities of color are exposed to higher levels of outdoor air pollution — from major roadways, industries, and ports with diesel truck operations. They also suffer much higher rates of asthma and respiratory illness. And so it’s particularly important, say public health experts and school officials, to get polluting school buses

About 20 million students in the United States ride to school each day on the familiar yellow bus. The vast majority of the nation’s roughly 490,000 school buses — which comprise the nation’s largest public-transportation fleet — are powered by diesel engines. “We’re poisoning our kids on the way to school,” said Jessica Keithan, cofounder and director of the Texas Electric School Bus Project, of the exhaust that inevitably infiltrates bus interiors and children’s lungs. But that’s slowly beginning to change. Thanks to a slate of federal and state incentive programs, school districts all over the country are starting to swap out old diesel buses for new, zero-emissions electric-powered models. This transition is reaching districts of all sizes and demographics, from Martinsville Independent School District in East Texas — which last year became the first in the country to go fully electric with four new buses — to Oakland Unified School District in California — which last month became the first large urban district to fully electrify its fleet, with 74 buses. As the Environmental Protection Agency, through its $5 billion Clean School Bus program, and state initiatives continue to fund electric bus purchases, advocates are identifying challenges to wider adoption and grappling with how to surmount them. Replacing decades-old buses may lead to benefits in educational performance and school attendance rates, said one study. Five years ago, there were fewer than a thousand electric school buses operating nationwide, the majority of them in higher-income suburban districts. But since the EPA launched its Clean School Bus (CSB) program in 2022, authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the number of electric buses on the road has climbed to nearly 5,000. And more than 7,000 additional buses are under contract, awaiting delivery, or have been awarded funding and will soon be ordered. Subscribe to the E360 Newsletter for weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign Up. <!-- footnoteBlock --> From a health perspective, there’s urgency to replacing the nation’s diesel buses with cleaner alternatives. Health experts have long known that children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution because their lungs, brains, and other major organs are still developing. They breathe faster and take in a higher volume of air relative to their body weight. Diesel exhaust is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization and contains fine particles and nitrogen oxides, both of which are well-documented asthma triggers. Research shows that children in lower-income areas and communities of color are exposed to higher levels of outdoor air pollution — from major roadways, industries, and ports with diesel truck operations. They also suffer much higher rates of asthma and respiratory illness. And so it’s particularly important, say public health experts and school officials, to get polluting school buses

New Jersey Schools Going Electric: Is Your Firm Ready to Be Part of the $45M Program? New Jersey's Department of Environment Protection recently opened grants and held training for schools in 18 districts to buy or lease electric buses. As part of the program, schools that lease or buy between 2 and 24 buses can receive $270,000 for a bus and accompanying Level 2 charging station. If the school buys a bi-directional bus, that amount can increase by $50,000. To be eligible, a bi-directional bus must be able to defray some of the costs of electricity at schools. Here's how it works: let's say a bus charges and completes its pickup run; at the end of the run, it still has a 30% charge. The bus would be plugged back into the school and provide that electricity back to the school. So, how can you get involved with the program? You can either attend all local town meetings or utilize Cloverleaf AI to monitor all districts that can attain funding and be ready when anyone begins to discuss the program. Worried about being boxed out by teams already working closely with the town or district? We can monitor for competitive mentions. For instance, check out this video in which the Princeton City Council is discussing options outside of WeDriveU, which seems to have too high a cost according to the council. https://lnkd.in/g5P-fb3w. Want to take a look at what we can do? Check out Cloverleaf AI. https://www.cloverleaf.ai/

🎓🌱🔌 Exploring the use of Electric Vehicle Charging in Schools🔌🌱🎓 Last month, new measures to support electric vehicle drivers were announced, including more grants for schools. These new grants are for state-funded education institutes with dedicated off-street parking and applications can be made online. Installing EV charging points typically costs around £1,500 to £2,500 (excluding groundworks) but with the new Workplace Charging Scheme, schools can get up to 75% off the cost to buy and install charge stations. Before implementing an EV charging programme, there are some important things to consider to ensure it’s the right solution for your school. Below we have provided some advice and guidance to schools considering electric vehicle charging in their car parks, offering insights into how you can contribute to a greener future while addressing the logistics of adopting this type of sustainable and forward-thinking infrastructure. Read our full article now: https://zurl.co/1nYr

🚌⚡️ Curious about the future of school buses in the US? In our latest blog post, "Electrifying the Future: A State-by-State Overview of Electric School Bus Mandates in the United States." We explore how states are leading the charge towards cleaner, greener transportation solutions. 🍃 Don't miss out—click the link below to learn more! Let us know if we missed anything—we'd love to hear about your electrification journey! #ElectricSchoolBuses #Sustainability #CleanTransportation https://lnkd.in/epzfayrN

🚍🔋 Navigating the Transition to Electric School Buses: Key Challenges and Solutions Our latest blog post, the final instalment in our series on the electrification of school buses, explores the crucial challenges school districts face during this transition. From managing high initial costs to creating effective bus schedules and ensuring proper training, the road to electric buses is complex but manageable. Tools like EVE can help address these obstacles and pave the way for a successful transition. 🌍💡 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gr_HJyqx We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic. Share your insights and join the conversation in the comments! #ElectricSchoolBuses #Sustainability #Transportation #GreenEnergy #SchoolDistricts #EVE #Innovation

🌱🚍 Electric school buses are rolling out across districts, marking a significant step toward sustainability in student transportation. These buses offer a cleaner, quieter ride for students and drastically cut down on emissions, contributing to healthier communities and a greener future. As schools invest in electric fleets, they’re not just saving on fuel costs—they’re championing environmental responsibility and setting a sustainable standard for the next generation. A win for students, schools, and the planet! 🌳⚡️ #SustainableFuture #ElectricBuses #EducationInnovation #Sustainability #GreenVehicles #ElectricVehicle https://lnkd.in/gBcbWteF