The first of the hybrid electric systems that will power 56 clean, green and efficient double-decker buses in Oxford and Manchester, England, have been delivered by BAE Systems to bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL).

Bus operator Stagecoach Group will take delivery of their buses, starting with Oxford, followed by Manchester, in the summer of 2010. They are the first of up to 300 hybrid electric buses that will be supplied to operators across the U.K. with support from the Department of Transport’s $46 million Green Bus Fund, which provides financial incentives to adopt green technologies.

The diesel-electric BAE Systems HybriDrive system being installed in the new ADL Enviro 400h hybrid buses for Oxford and Manchester will deliver fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions that are up to 30 percent lower than conventional buses.

The introduction of these new hybrid buses powered by BAE Systems will help transport authorities across the UK, meet forthcoming U.K. environmental regulations by greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as saving fuel and reducing life-cycle costs.

BAE Systems’ HybriDrive technology currently powers more than 2,500 buses in cities across the UK and North America, transporting more than one million passengers every day. So far, these buses have traveled more than 150 million miles, saved ten million gallons of diesel fuel and prevented more than 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

BAE Systems has partnered with ADL since 2007 to build hybrid electric buses for the U.K., and these latest orders follow Transport for London’s evaluation of 17 BAE Systems-powered hybrid buses.