European road transport strategy begins to take shape
Fri 03 July 2015
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The new European Commission's strategy for decarbonising road transport has begun to take shape. The plan is to prioritise efficiency first and electrification second but there remains uncertainty around biofuels. The Commission's latest thinking was introduced at a Conference in Brussels attended by three European Commissioners and by leading stakeholders from business, local government and NGOs (and including the LowCVP's Managing Director).
It's clear that key people in the new Commission are strong believers in vehicle emission standards and do not plan to abandon these after 2020. EU energy and climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete said: “Let me be clear: there will be new standards post-2020.”
Reports on the strategy say, however, that there remain gaps and uncertainties. Trucks, for example, remain unregulated. The Commission appears to have backed away from CO2 emission standards for them, referring only to a monitoring and reporting system.
While the transport sector is barely halfway to its 10% renewables target for 2020 there are few prospects for accelerated progress: the first generation biofuels that made that possible have now been capped due to concerns over indirect land-use change.
The Commission plans to issue an overall strategy for decarbonising road transport in the first half of 2016. It's clear that vehicle emission standards are a key focus for the Commission and it does not plan to abandon these after 2020. Canete said: “These targets will be ambitious but achievable”. He pointed out that a new car today is 22% more efficient than in 2007. He added: “I don’t think personally inclusion in the EU ETS can replace emission standards. It can be a complement but not a substitute.”
The Commission has never promoted the inclusion of road transport in the EU ETS, but others have and some (mainly German) carmakers still do. This arises from a calculation that it costs more to cut emissions in road transport than in other sectors.
It's clear that the Commission sees Europe becoming a leader in the use of electric vehicles. Leading officials have recently made this clear in a variety of communications.
The Director of T&E, a Brussels-based campaign group, Jos Dings said: “For us the future is clear: there is a sustainable electricity revolution going on and transport needs to be a part of it, to accelerate it.”
The car industry itself now says electrification is essential. Dieter Zetsche, Chair of the Management Board at Daimler AG, told the EU Conference that the existing 95gCO2/km emission standard for cars for 2020 cannot be met without some electrification.
In a (later) related development, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and other bodies representing OEM suppliers and the fuel industry have sent an open letter to the European Union arguing that plans to increase restrictions on diesel technology could undermine efforts to reduce CO2 emissions.
The letter says diesel cars are crucial if car makers are to meet EU targets: “Diesel cars, having significantly lower CO2 emissions per kilometre, are essential to manufacturers’ efforts to reach the EU’s 2021 CO2 fleet average targets and thereby help reduce road transport emissions and mitigate climate change. With continuing efficiency improvement, diesel will continue to be essential in meeting post-2021 targets.”
ACEA secretary general, Erik Jonnaert, said; “Policy should be technology-neutral to ensure the uptake of the latest low-emission vehicles. There is no reason to discriminate against clean diesel technologies. This does not make sense from an environmental or health point of view, and could be detrimental to the mobility of cities and businesses.”
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