The world’s first study into the impact of climate change on turbulence says flights will become less smooth, which may in turn lead to increased fuel consumption and more climate-changing emissions. The study says the increase in greenhouse gases will create changes to jet streams that will lead to more ‘clear air turbulence’.
Three quarters of goods in the EU are carried by road. Whilst only 3 percent of vehicles, lorries account for 25 percent of road transport CO2 emissions in Europe. Over the past 20 years the fuel efficiency of lorries has hardly improved1 and lorries are also involved in a disproportionate number (18%) of fatal accidents. One reason for this poor track record is the very blunt, hence unsafe and unstreamlined, front end of Europe’s lorries. This situation is caused by EU law, Directive 96/53, which constrains the maximum length of cabins. The European Commission has proposed to change this law to allow slightly longer lorry cabs, so their safety and aerodynamic performance can be improved. T&E strongly supports this move. This briefing illustrates the urgent need for smarter design and the benefits of such a change.
Pollution from road traffic could have a greater role in harming the health of children than previously thought. A new study based on research in 10 European cities estimates that 14% of chronic childhood asthma is a result of traffic pollution near busy roads.
In 2009, the EU set legally binding targets for new cars to emit on average 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer (g/km) by 2015 and 95g/km in 2020. The way the 2020 target will be met is presently being considered by the European Parliament and Council following a Commission proposal in 2012. The Commission proposed to reintroduce a system of “supercredits”, which proponents say will encourage supply of ultralow carbon vehicles (ULCVs), such as battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars. Supercredits however also allow carmakers to supply less fuel-efficient conventional cars, weakening the emission target. This paper outlines the potential effects of different proposals for supercredits on the 95g target to help inform policymakers. It is based upon the results of an independent analysis of the options by Ricardo-AEA.
The Danish government has changed the rules on the country’s oil industry taxation in a way that will mean the state’s income from fossil fuels will increase, and the additional revenue must be spent on reducing fossil-fuel dependence. Specifically, taxes on smaller oil producers will rise, and the money has to be spent on electrifying the country’s rail network.
An analysis of market forecasts for low-carbon cars suggests the take-up of electric vehicles will have a very slow take-up over the next decade. The analysis, Powering Ahead by the Ricardo-AEA consultancy, says the total number of plug-in hybrid and pure battery-powered cars being sold each year in the UK by 2020 will not exceed 200 000 and may even be as low as 40 000.
Cash-strapped EU Member States spent €10bn in 2011, a sum as big as the Cyprus bailout, in support of the biofuels industry, a new study by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reveals. This public support was necessary to sustain the 4.5% market share biofuels had in 2011 – slightly below the 5% freeze proposed by the European Commission half a year ago.
Europe is reforming its biofuels policy due to concerns raised about its impact on global land use change patterns and global food markets. The negative environmental impacts of the biofuels policy have been well demonstrated, but what is less clear are the economic implications. T&E, the EEB, BirdLife Europe and IISD have therefore funded this report to evaluate the costs and the benefits of the EU’s biofuels policy and its implications for the EU governments and citizens, who are currently facing economic hardship.
The European Parliament today voted to confirm the Commission’s proposal to suspend for one year the inclusion of flights to and from Europe in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). The Parliament’s decision stressed that the EU’s emissions clock will start again if the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) does not manage to agree on a global deal to curb international aviation emissions at its triennial Assembly next September.
This paper is a response from Transport & Environment to the ‘Consultation on the revision of Directive 97/68 on emissions from non-road mobile machinery engines’ by the European Commission.