October 2002 - Nr. 10
It’s Easy Being Green
For Berlin Taxi Drivers
TWIG - As part of its commitment to fulfilling emission-reduction objectives of the Kyoto Protocol, Germany is taking a variety of measures to drastically reduce the release of greenhouse gases. Tausend Umwelttaxis in Berlin, or "TUT," an acronym for "one thousand environmental taxis for Berlin," is a government program that may contribute substantially to that effort, DW World reports.
Two years ago, the environment ministry signed the TUT agreement with the city senate and local gas companies to put natural gas-fuelled taxis on the capital’s streets. The federal government is providing 4.1 million euros (US$4.0 million) to fund the project, which aims to increase the number of "green taxis" in the German capital from 100 currently to a thousand within the next few years.
Taxi drivers and driving schools can apply for up to 4,600 euros (US$4,500) in subsidies toward a car and gas. According to Elke Lohmeyer, who owns a natural gas taxi in Berlin, TUT makes it worthwhile to do so: "We get subsidies that we don’t have to repay, and when does somebody give you money that you don’t have to pay back? [The money is] both for the car and for natural gas coupons, so that we can practically drive for free for a while." Although the price of a car run on natural gas is still high, the fuel is nearly 20% cheaper than diesel or gasoline. It also produces far fewer emissions: 25% less carbon dioxide and 50% less carbon monoxide. Moreover, the cars are quieter than diesel- or gasoline-run cars.
Currently, 12 gas stations in Berlin are making natural gas pumps available to TUT participants. Five major car manufacturers produce relatively affordable cars that run either exclusively on natural gas or have a supplementary gasoline tank. So why aren’t more such cars out on the road? A spokeswoman from the Berlin gas works says there are several reasons. "At the moment, the hitches are that natural gas stations haven’t been built in Germany," he said. "They’re planned but not yet there. And that the German producers aren’t taking part as we would like them to. It costs money to do something new, and people have a hard time with that."
TUT isn’t just meant to turn taxi drivers on to more environmentally friendly vehicles though. In the long run, everyday car drivers are the focus. Vehicles funded by TUT function as moving billboards with ads announcing that the vehicles run on natural gas. Elke Lohmeyer says the effect can’t be underestimated. "A lot of people approach me, and, of course, they notice that the car is new and then they see the ad or sometimes I point it out to them and then we start to talk and people are really interested," she said. It seems to be working: Berlin’s gas works have already received 100 applications for private sponsorship of natural gas-run vehicles that are just waiting to be processed.
