Amsterdam - In the European capital estimated to have more bicycles than people, Amsterdam’s zero-emission push is finding a 21st Century foothold: electric taxis.

Last November, private company TAXI-E began service of a green fleet of 10 Nissan LEAFs in the city called “The Venice of the North”.

Each one of Amsterdam’s 3,000 taxis normally emits up to 35 times more carbon dioxide than a regular car.

And that, to TAXI-E founders Ruud Zandvliet and Edvard Hendriksen, signaled a green-field opportunity.

“Funny enough, we saw the Nissan LEAF entering the market and that was, for us, the moment we thought it’s probably possible to start a successful taxi business using electric cars powered on green energy, and we can greenify a traditionally polluting market,” said Zandvliet.

The news today (Sept 22) that the city of Amsterdam has become the latest zero-emission partner of the Renault-Nissan Alliance is indeed welcome and further evidence that the Alliance’s holistic approach to a zero-emission future is one that has broad appeal.

We now have worldwide partnership agreements in more than 20 countries and more than 30 cities where the administration is determined to do everything they can to ensure a cleaner, greener future for their citizens without having to sacrifice mobility. The countries include Portugal, Ireland, the US, China and many more.

Amsterdam is being particularly ambitious and has agreed with the Alliance that it wants to register at least 1,000 EV sales by the end of 2011. This will start with the Nissan LEAF from February for fleet customers followed by individual customers from June while Renault Fluence and Kangoo deliveries will start soon after.