The article “Go-Ahead Singapore carries out 6-month trial of public buses with solar panels,” (Kok, 2021) is about the bus operator, Go-Ahead Singapore, experimenting with solar panels on the backs of 2 A22 buses to use solar energy to power the battery as opposed to fuel to combat carbon emissions.
The trial was reported to last 6 months, from March to September, in Pasir Ris with solar panels of 1.6mm thickness which were also malleable and toughened to be shatter-resistant.
The panels are stated to be capable of supplying 1000 watts of energy to the battery while being as light as 20kg. The battery is used for ignition and to supply power when the engine is turned off and was previously dependent on the bus' alternator. The presence of panels was cited to reduce the load on the bus engines, and based on data from Southampton in the UK, save 4000 litres of diesel and reduce 3.7 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
GAS managing director Thompson was stated being hopeful that the panels could potentially be fitted on more gas and electric buses based on the calculated savings. He was quoted thanking LTA for their collaborative efforts and their support in loaning the buses for this experiment.
In summary, this trial is expected to be successful and expand, given how the cost of the trial itself could be recuperated within just four years.
In my opinion, the trial with solar panels should prove to be successful, as it is financially beneficial, sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to fuel. Regardless of it being more harmful to the environment to phase out buses running on fuel for solar panels.
The article "Go-Ahead Buses on track to save over 25,000 litres of diesel this year with our solar technology" (Trailer, 2020) address on the reduction of fuel consumption and the improvement on vehicle maintenance with the implementation of solar panels. The article predicts to obtain annual saving of 1,507 litres of diesel and 90 litres of AdBlue. This is equivalent to saving SGD 63,631.20 per bus annually based on local diesel and AdBlue prices. This savings is how the cost of trail in Singapore could be recuperated within just four years. The article also mentions how based on the detailed telematic data obtained, accurate fuel benefit figures were produced, as well as other deep insights into battery health and degradation process, which prolongs the battery life.
According to "When will fossil fuels run out?" (MET Group, 2020), with increase in energy consumption by 1% yearly, the use of fossil fuels have also increased drastically. The article also addresses how even with continual discovery of new reserves the world is still on track to run out of fossil fuel. Based on the article, as of 2015 the reserves are predicted to be emptied for oil within 51 years and natural gases within 53 years, while other sources estimate that we will run out much earlier, for example, the oil deposits will be gone by 2052. Former Saudi oil minister is quoted in this article saying "The Stone Age came to an end, not for lack of stones, and the oil age will end, but not for lack of oil." Based on the article it is abundantly clear that reduction of fossil fuel is no longer a solution but just just prolonging the inevitable, and that switching to renewable sources is one of the only ways to not completely drain our supplies.
As mentioned by various article, the panels are detriment in reducing the fuel usage. According the Kok, the panels have helped reduce 3.7 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. It is generally agreed upon that panels are significantly more eco-friendly as compared to fuel. The article "How environmentally friendly is solar power?" (Orlando, 2019), addresses the environmental impacts of implementing solar energy. The author argues that, admittedly solar energy isn't perfect, but strongly believes that it has the power to transform the energy industry. The author states that researchers are continually looking to improve on panel manufacturing process, with regulations set to recycle at lease 98.5% of silicon tetrachloride waste. The author argues that even though it requires certain amount of energy to make the panels, the energy they produce far exceeds what what it takes to manufacture them. Orlando addressed the water usage in maintaining the panels versus the amount used to process fossil fuels, where she notes that approximately 20 gallons water per megawatt-hour (MWh) is used for cleaning the panes which is considerably lesser than what a family uses in a year, which is around 20,000 gallons of water. For coals she approximated about 70 to 260 million gallons per day.
There are admittedly, some drawbacks to completely phasing out fuels for solar power. This is addressed in "What's the carbon footprint of a new car?" (Berners-Lee & Clark, 2010). The authors admit that calculating the carbon footprint of making a car is immensely complex, but have estimated them to be 6 to 35 tonnes. They state that producing a medium-sized new car generates as much as three years' worth of gas and electricity in the typical UK home. Hence, they advised that unless the current vehicles have a very high mileage, it is more beneficial to the environment to keep it going as long as it is reliable and carefully extending its life as possible. Based, on this article, it is indeed not wise to phase out vehicles running on fuel for electric vehicles.
In conclusion, the benefits immensely outweigh the drawback. Moreover, the buses are not completely scraped in favour of electric or solar powered vehicles, but they are being modified to rely on solar power for battery. Kok also claims that this also reduces the load on the bus engines prolonging their life.
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