Electric vehicles: the truth
This paper presents evidence to dispel many of the myths about electric vehicles and explains why they are key to reducing CO2 emissions from personal mobility.
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Does sharing cars really reduce car use?
The average car sits unused for more than 90% of the time, carries on average just one and a half people and costs, on average, €6,500 a year to own and run. Each car occupies 150m2 of urban land and still this is not the full bill – congestion costs the EU economy €100 billion annually. The convenience that made the car a 20th century icon has been eroded by its popularity.
Clean transport NGO names new Executive Director
The Board of sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) has today announced William Todts as its new Executive Director. He succeeds Jos Dings, who this week leaves the position after 13 years.
MEPs want shipping included in 2030 emissions target through ETS ‘climate fund’
A proposal to include emissions from shipping in the EU’s 2030 emissions reduction target through the EU emissions trading system (ETS) has gained cross-party support among MEPs. The amendment calls for shipowners to buy ETS allowances from 2021 onwards or pay an equivalent amount into a new climate fund that minimises administrative burden by buying allowances collectively on their behalf.
Will Ireland be next to close the diesel-petrol tax gap?
Ireland has moved a step closer to becoming the latest European nation to equalise taxation on petrol and diesel. A paper from an interdepartmental committee of the Irish government has proposed a way to wipe out the 22% tax advantage diesel currently enjoys over petrol. The paper justifies the move on air quality and climate change grounds.
Truckmakers fined record €2.93bn for running 14-year cartel on emissions technology
Europe’s largest truckmakers have been fined a record total of €2.93 billion in a settlement with the EU after they admitted to involvement in a 14-year price-fixing cartel. Iveco, DAF, Volvo/Renault, Daimler and MAN fixed prices and jointly agreed the pace of introduction for emission reduction technologies between 1997 and 2011, when the industry was working to comply with Euro air pollution standards III to VI.
Ministers want to ring fence €7bn of EU funding for clean transport
Transport and energy ministers today backed plans to spend €7 billion of the EU’s transport infrastructure budget on more sustainable projects like electric vehicle re-charging points and upgrades to rail signalling. Sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomed the ministers’ earmarking of part of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the period 2021-2027.
EU Parliament and member states must defend funding for clean transport
MEPs of the industry and transport committees voted this morning to reject plans to guarantee 40% of the EU’s transport infrastructure budget (some €12 billion) be spent on more sustainable projects like smart grids and charging stations. European NGO federation, Transport & Environment (T&E) is disappointed with this vote because it locks in considerable funds into fossil fuel powered transport. Thus T&E calls on all MEPs to reject this in December’s plenary vote.
City bans are spreading in Europe
The present briefing provides an overview on the evolution of low-emissions zones for cars and vans in EU cities and analyses their effect on consumer behaviour on the basis of a representative survey commissioned by Transport & Environment. It finds that there is a steadily growing number of cities that introduce or tighten low-emission zones. There are currently more than 260 low-emission zones in 12 EU Member States, among which 250 concern passenger cars. The Dieselgate scandal has provided strong impetus to this movement amongst European cities, and there are now also several cities in Central and Eastern Europe that discuss adopting low-emission zones.
Two-thirds of EU citizens support city bans to tackle air pollution – poll
Two-thirds of Europeans support the introduction of low-emissions zones (LEZ) banning polluting cars from city centres, a survey undertaken by Ipsos for environmental group Transport & Environment shows.