A summary of Bus Éireann's Climate activity.
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Rating2
Bus Éireann currently has a Carbon Disclosure Project(CDP) rating of (A-). A CDP rating is based on how transparent a company is about its climate impact and the actions a company takes to limit its climate impact. There are headings for which every company receives a grade such as Water Security and Climate Change. There are 9 ratings with A being the best. One of them is F which means the company failed to disclose or did not provide enough information, this does not mean that the company is failing to have a positive climate impact. (A-) is the second highest score. For more information, click here.
ISO Certifications
Bus Éireann aims to earn ISO 40001 and ISO 50001 certifications in all of its sites by 2025. Bus Éireann also aims to earn ISO certification 14040. For more information on these ISO certifications click here.
Waste Management
Bus Éireann aims to achieve a 25 percent waste reduction by 2025 and a 50 percent reduction by 2030. Waste reduction helps to prevent pollution and is crucial to protecting our environment. Bus Éireann has already started taking measures to achieve this. For example,Bus Éireann has purchased waste balers(a machine that compresses waste). Waste balers help reduce waste as they allow companies to recycle more of the waste they produce. Another example of a measure Bus Éireann has taken are waste audits at some of their facilities (waste audits gather information that can be used to find out how to improve waste management).
Carbon Emission Reduction
Bus Éireann aims to achieve a 50 percent reduction in Greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. These are the ways that Bus Éireann intend on achieving this:
- By 2030, they predict that half of their fleet will be made up of emissions free vehicles (for example-electric buses). Bus Éireann has already begun the purchase of emission free vehicles and many are already in use in areas such as Dublin. The diesel vehicles remaining will be be at least Euro VI engine emission standard certified by 2030 meaning that these vehicles only release a certain amount of emissions. In line with this, Bus Éireann aims that its entire urban fleet will be zero emissions by 2034 and its rural fleet by 2036.
- Bus Éireann aims to ensure that all their facilities are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly by 2025. This means that Bus Éireann have identified areas in their company where their environmental impact or energy efficiency could be improved and have a realistic plan to improve these areas. This means their facilities should reduce the amount of emissions they produce.
- Bus Éireann has also created the first Irish all electric bus service in Athlone after deploying 11 electric buses in the area. This will help save an estimated 400 tonnes of emissions every year. Bus Éireann will also gather information that would be helpful when expanding all electric bus services to other areas.
- Bus Éireann has also been researching using high-blends biofuels and hydrogen technology in their buses. These fuel sources release zero emissions and vehicles that use them will have a longer driving range and shorter refuelling times than electric powered vehicles.
Increasing Passenger Numbers
Bus Éireann aims to increase its passenger numbers by at least 30 percent by 2030. This will mean more people will be using public buses instead of their own private cars. While a bus does release more emissions than a car there are far more people on it. This means that more cars will be taken off the road resulting in less emissions and traffic.
Sustainable Procurement Strategy
Bus Éireann aims to introduce a sustainable procurement strategy. This will mean that Bus Éireann will not only think of economic factors when looking at potential suppliers but environmental factors such as, is the company using chemicals harmful to the environment. This will help Bus Éireann promote sustainability to its suppliers and earn ISO 14040 certification.