Opinion by Jos Dings. So now it’s official – the EU’s biofuel policy is not only counterproductive for the environment, it is also a massive economic drag. A new study we put out on 17 April shows that, on a total turnover in the range of €16bn, the sector receives about €10bn in public support per year.
MEPs have sent a signal that car makers will have to meet fuel efficiency targets by both 2020 and 2025. Although the decision still has to be confirmed by the full European Parliament, EU member states and Commission, the move lays down a marker that the average new car should need less than three litres to drive 100km by 2025. Environmental groups have welcomed the vote, but say it does not go far enough to drive zero-emission cars into the market.
The total annual public support for biofuels production in Europe is around €10 billion, equivalent to a bailout of Cyprus every year, according to a new report. T&E says the finding confirms that most biofuels on the market today are not only bad for the environment but do not help Europe’s economy either. The report comes as the leading MEP in the environment committee of the European Parliament has proposed to classify different biofuels according to their environmental impacts by including their emissions from so-called indirect land-use change (ILUC).
The EU has finalised the text of its ‘stop the clock’ concession on the inclusion of emissions from intercontinental flights in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, although the chances of the gesture being wasted by members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) look greater with each day that goes by.
New rules allow for smarter design to improve safety and cut emissions Cross-border use of ‘megatrucks’ allowed between consenting countries
This blogpost by Joao Vieira, T&E's President, also appears as the foreword to our Annual Review Report.The EU is about peace, first and foremost. But as a political battlefield, it has few equals. In that context, we would summarise 2012 as the year that: Europe made it through the year in one piece, green transport policies suffered, were sometimes wounded, but soldiered on, and, last but not least, T&E played its role in the troops - quite often on the frontline.
Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomes the outcome of a key vote today to make passenger cars more fuel-efficient in 2020 and beyond. The Environment Committee of the European Parliament confirmed that new cars sold in 2020 should achieve an average fuel economy of around 3.9 litres/100km.
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.