The United States and the People’s Republic of China recently launched a new Climate Change Working Group project: the U.S.-China Race to Zero Emissions (R2ZE) challenge.
The R2ZE challenge is a collaborative and friendly competition that encourages cities and metropolitan transit districts to incorporate new generations of advanced, non-polluting transit buses onto streets in the United States and China.
Race Significance
The U.S.-China Race to Zero Emissions call to action – a friendly race between cities in the two countries to deploy Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) – not only aims to reduce greenhouse gas and criteria emissions, but also spurs demand and innovation for zero emission heavy-duty vehicle technology. Doing so showcases the growing number of United States and Chinese manufacturers who are working to improve the economics of ZEBs to make them cost-competitive with conventional buses. ZEB technologies include hydrogen fuel cells, batteries, and various plug-in hybrid combinations.
By leading the charge, the United States and China will help the ZEB market – and subsequently, the heavy-duty trucking industry – obtain an economy of scale, providing economic opportunities for both the U.S. and China.
Official Support
The R2ZE project was established in direct support of the historic November 2014 U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change where President Obama and President Xi reaffirmed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation on climate change. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi also included R2ZE during the 2015 U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue as a way to demonstrate bilateral cooperation over climate change and clean energy.
The U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group began efforts to encourage cities/metropolitan transit districts to take ambitious actions to add a new generation of advanced, non-polluting transit buses in the fall of 2015, coordinated by the U.S. Department of State and China’s National Development and Reform Commission and implemented by multiple government institutions on both sides.