European Parliament sets CO2 targets for vans
Tue 15 February 2011
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The European Parliament has voted to adopt a target for CO2 emissions from vans of 175 grams per kilometre from 2017 and 147g/km from 2020. The 2020 target is subject to a 2013 review.
The light commercial vehicle (LCV) legislation mirrors the New Car CO2 Regulation with each manufacturer having its own overall European fleet average CO2 target.
Each manufacturer’s target is based on the weight of each new LCV it registers in the EU in a given year. The initial target will be phased-in from 2014 to 2017 with 70%, 75% and 80% of each manufacturers’ fleet complying in 2014-16 respectively and 100% from 2017 onwards.
Paul Everitt, the SMMT Chief Executive said of the legislation: “Industry is pleased that the European Parliament has come to a decision on CO2 emission targets for LCVs as vehicle manufacturers are committed to lowering emissions as part of ongoing introductions of low, lower and ultra-low carbon vehicles,”
He added: “The UK is well placed to capitalise on low carbon technologies and manufacturers now need government to demonstrate its support for sustained investment in skills, R&D and capital equipment.”
Meanwhile, the European motor industry association ACEA said the 2020 target will be extremely challenging and will require market introduction of breakthrough technologies that will not be for economically viable some time.
Green MEPs, however, voted against the limits, saying that they were too weak to stimulate green innovation. The Climate Change Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that the 2020 target was not as ambitious as she would have wanted, but added it was an important step forward, bringing emissions down by a 28% from 2007 levels.
Kerstin Meyer, senior campaigner at T&E said: “The industry used a short dip in sales to justify weakening a 10-year strategy to improve fuel efficiency, that would have saved van operators money for many years to come. When vehicle manufacturers cry wolf yet again, policymakers should take a long term view.“
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