"In the past, there was a black cloud of smoke coming out of the back of buses, but in recent years it is no longer the case, so now inside as well as outside of the buses the odors of exhaust are longer smelled." said Dazhen, an elderly Tibetan women who goes by bus to the neighborhood near the Potala Palace on a daily basis and has been shocked by the changes in buses.

For nearly two years, Lhasa has put into operation of five totally electric buses as well as 147 gas/electric flex powered buses.

The pure electric bus runs at a fast speed, having a lot of power. Furthermore, when the battery is filled, it can run for about 260 kilometers.

Some test data from the Tibet Autonomous Region Energy Demonstration Center indicates that, when running 100 kilometers at high altitudes, the bus consumes about 27 kilowatt hours of electricity, 25 percent the consumption of traditional vehicles, and reduces by 26.8 kg carbon dioxide emissions.

Electric buses are not only reducing consumption of traditional energy along the plateau, for reasons of environmental protection they are also gaining warm welcome from local peoples.

"In the past the smell of emissions from traditionally powered vehicles was very strong, they were noisy, and riding in them was a bit uncomfortable," Dazhen said. She now feels that riding on the bus is smooth and that it’s almost like there is a floating feeling, and with such little noise they are much more comfortable.

In the past few years, Tibet has been taking advantage of renewable energy, and quickly developing buses run on solar power, gas/electric flex vehicles, pure electric taxis and other kinds of new energy vehicles.

Tibet is on a high plateau and in this fragile environment, the cost of traditional energy consumption is rather high. As an important ecological safety barrier, the promotion of new energy vehicles there has not only fulfilled the demands of local market, but also ensured green development.

Besides expanded usage of electric and flex energy vehicles, Tibet has also been "testing the waters" for solar powered buses.

Tibet’s first solar powered bus went into operation at the end of last year. The outer appearance of this bus is no different than any other buses, it is 12 meters long and there are 32 photovoltaic cells on the room covering an area larger than 20 square meters. When the solar energy is insufficient, this bus switches into a electric energy charge mode in order to ensure normal operation.

Jilin Gang, director of Tibet Autonomous Region Energy Demonstration Center said, "we are getting ready to use the abundant solar energy resources, in a bid to construct a low emissions and low energy consumption area. In the future, Tibet will gradually expand areas and industries using new energy."