Sweden introduces 'cashback' on purchase of greener cars
Fri 20 April 2007
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Sweden has announced a €27m Government-funded 'cashback' scheme to encourage private car buyers to buy more fuel efficient vehicles. Until December 2009, Swedish buyers will receive a subsidy worth around €1070 from the Government if they buy a car emitting less than the EU's 2012 car emissions target of 120g/km CO2. Meanwhile, Sweden's Scandinavian neighbour, Norway, has announced plans for the country to go 'carbon neutral' by 2050.
A qualifying 'green' car is defined under the Swedish scheme as:
* A conventional car; a petrol or diesel car with carbon dioxide emissions that do not exceed 120 grams/km.
* An alternative fuel car running on a fuel other than petrol or diesel and with fuel consumption that does not exceed 0.92 litre petrol/10 km, 0.84 litre diesel/10 km or 0.97 cubic metre gas/10 km.
* An electric car meeting environmental class Mk EL standards and with electric energy consumption that does not exceed 3.7 kilowatt hours/10 km.
The new policy is expected to boost sales of flex-fuel E85 cars in Sweden, where Saab are market leaders in sales of vehicles which can run on a mix of up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol.
The Environment Minister, Andreas Carlgren, said the move could raise sales of greener cars in Sweden by up to 15 percent a year.
Meanwhile, Norway's prime minister Jens Stoltenberg has said that he will make Norway "carbon neutral" by 2050. This is the first time any country has set out to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero. Norway proposes to reach the goal through a combination of expanding carbon capture and storage and buying emission credits internationally.
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