European CO2 targets 'realistic' - new report
Tue 02 October 2007
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A new report by a Cardiff University group says that meeting the EU's proposed 130g/km target by 2012 is achievable. The conclusion of the report says that the industry has had sufficient preparation time since it has known that a reduction of this order was expected at least since 1998 when the Voluntary Agreements were concluded.
A team led by car industry expert Dr Paul Nieuwenhuis from the Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University maps out a strategy for compliance to the 2012 target, but highlights that the trend towards heavier and higher performance vehicles at the luxury end of the market is a key stumbling block.
Dr Nieuwenhuis says that in order to make these vehicles compliant a great deal of expensive re-design would have to take place. Hybrid technology and alternative fuels alone will not be enough; weight reduction would be needed to reduce CO2 emissions to the required levels.
The impact of weight reduction strategies could split the market between vehicles very similar to those available today emitting below 130 g/km, available at price levels similar to today’s, and a new breed of larger vehicles using lightweight technology, which would be more expensive than their equivalents today.
Dr Nieuwenhuis suggests that some of the motor industry’s concerns could be addressed by means of a gradual roll-out of the 130g/km limit, based on the logic that the climate system is affected by total volumes of CO2, and not by industry averages. He suggests that in the first phase, the limit could apply to vehicles produced in volumes of more than 200,000/year. In the next phases this limit could be reduced to 100,000 a year
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