New car CO2 emissions register largest ever fall in 2008
Fri 13 March 2009
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Average CO2 emissions from new cars sold in the UK fell by 4.2% to 158.0g/km in 2008 according to new figures published by the SMMT, the motor industry trade body. The rate of reduction was three times the pace recorded in 2007.
The SMMT's report says that average new car CO2 emissions are down 16.8% on the 1997 level and that total CO2 emissions from all cars in use fell 4.8% between 1997 and 2006.
The SMMT said that the fall in emissions is a result of technical innovation and changes in consumer spending habits. It was also stimulated by the fluctuating fuel prices and by the onset of recession in 2008 which squeezed demand for more expensive cars which tend to be higher emitters of CO2.
The SMMT said that the voluntary introduction of the colour-coded new car CO2 labels, now used in 91 per cent of dealerships, had also contributed to an increase in diesel registrations and to a 76 per cent rise in the number of alternative fuelled cars sold each year.
More fuel efficient diesel vehicles accounted for 43.6 per cent of cars sold in 2008, compared with just 18 per cent in 1997. Diesel fuel also accounted for 22.2 per cent of all fuel used in 2007, double the 10.5 per cent consumed in 1997.
The increased demand for more efficient cars means that while more cars are in use and while traveling distances have increased, total emissions from the sector are decreasing. Over 72 million tonnes of CO2 were emitted by cars in 1997, down to 68.7 in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available.
Despite the latest falls in average new car emissions, the industry in Europe as a whole has fallen well short of the 140g/km average emissions target to which the industry voluntarily committed itself in the 1990s.
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