Over 1,000 environmentally friendly buses and cars will be used to transport visitors in and around the Expo zone during the 2010 World Expo. The vehicles will be used to help the Expo zone stay emission-free and keep the area around the zone a low-emission site.

Among the vehicles will be super-capacitor buses and others that run on hybrid gasoline-electric engines. Super-capacitor vehicles are electric but they can be charged much faster than those using batteries.

After the Expo, these vehicles will be incorporated into the local public transport system.

Hydrogen-fuel-cell cars will also be used at the Expo site and after the world fair they will be used by the city to test the technology's reliability.

Local science officials yesterday asked the city government to speed up the planning and construction of hydrogen refueling stations and electric recharging stations for green vehicles. Such stations will be used during the Expo and for the future promotion of green vehicles in Shanghai.

"It usually takes 13 to 15 months to build a hydrogen refueling station," said Shou Ziqi, director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission. "The location of these recharging stations should be made in light of the future use of green vehicles in the city, and the development of the eco-car industry."

Yesterday, officials from the city government and the country's Ministry of Science and Technology discussed the adoption of new technology in the preparation and running of the Expo and said green technology such as low-emission vehicles, light-emitting diode lighting, solar energy, environmental protection, food safety and emergency management are top concerns.

There are 140 Expo-related science and technology projects, which have a total investment of 544 million yuan (US$79.65 million).

More than 54 percent of the projects have been finished and 30 percent have been used in the construction and management of the Expo zone.

Projects on weather forecasting, the city transport system, food safety, disease prevention and the management and response to emergency situations are still being researched.

Officials said visitors will be able to reach the Expo zone within one hour from anywhere in the city and gain entry to the site within 20 seconds using an advanced entry system at the Expo gates.

(Shanghai Daily February 17, 2009)