CARMAKERS WILL have to slash the carbon emissions of new cars sold in Europe by a third by 2020, according to leaked European Commission documents. The commission’s proposals would be legally binding and the document plans for even stricter emissions targets for 2025 and 2030, which could only be met if hybrid or electric vehicles become mainstream.
Greg Archer, of campaign group Transport and Environment, said: “Tighter CO2 standards for cars will be welcomed by drivers across Europe, who will save €500 a year at the petrol pump on average if this proposal is adopted.”
But car manufacturers said the regulation could harm an industry already badly hit by the economic crisis and foreign competition. Car registrations in Europe are forecast to fall by seven per cent this year, and Volkswagen was the only major manufacturer in Europe not to lose money in 2011.
“Regulation, rigid by nature, too often adds undue complexity and costs, or limits flexibility,” said ACEA, the European automobile manufacturers’ association.
The document is due to be published in July and approved by the European Parliament and Council of Europe over the next year.
Transport exhaust fumes contribute about a third of the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions and rose by 26 per cent between 1990 and 2008. Measures to cut carbon dioxide from transport are essential if Europe is to meet its climate change targets.
The commission wants to limit the average emissions of new vehicles sold in 2020 to 95g of CO2 per kilometre travelled. It is currently about 140g CO2/km and there is already a binding limit of 130g CO2/km set for 2015.
Manufacturers failing to comply would face fines of €95 for every gram over target per vehicle. – (Guardian service)