New car CO2 emissions down 3% in EU in 2011 - EEA report

Mon 25 June 2012 View all news

A new report from the European Environment Agency says that carbon dioxide emissions from new cars in the European Union fell by an average of 3 per cent in 2011 compared with 2010. This followed a drop of 4 per cent in the previous year.

Data from the European Environmental Agency (EEA), a monitoring arm of the EU, showed a decrease in the average amount of CO2 emitted by new cars registered in 2011 to 135.7 grams per kilometer, from 140.3 in 2010.

EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said: "This is a good sign for the capacity of Europe's car industry to innovate and thus maintain global competitiveness while making their products more efficient.," 

The European Union is from this year phasing in new emissions targets. Car makers must reduce the average emissions of their new vehicles to 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer by 2015 or face penalties.


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