The European car fleet is getting heavier again, partly because the EU’s carbon dioxide standards are more lenient for heavy cars than for light cars. That is one of the conclusions from new data published by the EU last month. Average CO2 emissions from new cars fell by 3.7% in 2010, but without the rise in overall weight, the reduction would have been around 5%.
Fears that electric and hybrid cars are no better environmentally than oil-fuelled cars have led to a study which shows that electrics and hybrids are better over the whole of their life, but not by as much as was originally thought.
Spain is to abandon its temporary 110 km/h motorway speed limit.
Officials in the Indian province of Rajasthan are so worried about population growth that they are offering couples a free car if they allow themselves to be sterilised.
Environmental groups are calling on the European Commission to block a planned German car CO2 label that gives gas guzzling SUVs such as the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 the same ‘green’ rating as some of Europe’s most fuel efficient car models.
The EU has published new data showing a decline in the average CO2 emissions of new cars in 2010 of 3.7% (1). But the data also shows that the average weight of cars has risen by 28kg or 2% as carmakers increasingly market SUVs and so-called crossover vehicles (2). Had weight not increased, the CO2 reduction would have been 5%, or one third better say Transport & Environment (T&E), the EU sustainable transport campaigners.
A study ordered by the Commission has recommended the EU’s approach to regulating car and van emissions should be changed, as it is not helping to keep the environmental impact of road vehicles to a minimum.
This report summarises the latest evidence of the effect of traffic noise on the health and wellbeing of Europeans, and gives policy recommendations on how to reduce noise.
A study by the University of Cologne has said Germany’s company car tax rules are economically wrong, rob the state of income, and lead to environmental damage.
This briefing aims to provide a short overview of the history and present status of EU energy tax policy, and summarises the Commission's proposal for a revised Energy Tax Directive (ETD), launched in April 2011.