New York City's black taxis going green

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City unveiled new fuel emissions standards for the city's 10,000 black taxis on Wednesday that will compel the town car owners to switch to hybrid technology within five years.

The move -- part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to decrease the city's carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030 -- comes less than a year after Bloomberg announced the city's 13,000 yellow taxi cabs will go hybrid by 2012.

Black town cars service mostly corporate clients and are responsible for two percent of the city's transportation related emissions, Bloomberg said. He said the change will cut their emissions by half.

Hybrid cars are powered by a gasoline engine combined with an electric motor with batteries that recharge when the car is in motion.

(Reporting by Edith Honan, editing by Daniel Trotta and Vicki Allen)