Oaks Services always endeavours to keep up to date with any news or changes in legislation that affect the motor industry. It is with this in mind that we bring you news of a proposal put forward by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) to improve road surfaces and increase the use of biofuels as a means to help lower emissions. This proposal was penned as an alternative to the current plan put in place to reduce car emissions by 2021.
The emission reduction incentive
The current programme places an obligation on car manufacturers to reduce their current vehicle emissions to 95 grams of CO2/km. Furthermore, the European commission is also considering setting further benchmarks to be met in 2025 and 2030. This incentive comes off the back of the recent Volkswagen scandal that garnered concerns that vehicle manufacturers weren’t complying with CO2 and emission standards. Not only will this projected plan lower harmful CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases, it will make cars run more efficiently, saving motorists money in fuel costs.
The plan for new roads
Some representatives of the automotive industry have hit back at the plans to limit vehicle emissions, and while the leading manufacturers have declined to comment on the issue, speculation is that there are concerns that lowering emissions will result in less powerful vehicles, which could affect the sales and performance of more high-end vehicles.
The alternative incentive suggested by the ACEA looks to find ways of cutting the automobile industry’s emissions without sacrificing on vehicle performance. The agenda centers on a plan to have roads across Europe completely resurfaced, with studies suggesting that resurfacing roads could “lower rolling resistance within 20 years, resulting in CO2 reductions of up to 5% by 2035.” Clean transport experts have heavily criticised this incentive, with the main line of fire being that the resurfacing of the roads will be a costly investment – weighing in at roughly £500 billion – and will rely on public investment to complete the project.
Other proposals listed in the lobbying document include using biofuels more, which is claimed would reduce emissions by 15%, and “eco-driving” lessons for all motorists, which would involve learning how to avoid congestion, reduce idling speeds and apply proper care to their vehicle, to cut emissions by a further 10%.
The ACEA strongly believes that these measures will be ultimately more effective than implementing stricter regiments on vehicle manufacturers.
Will it work?
While the incentive initially garnered a lot of interest, once the methodology behind the proposal became clear, support began to waiver, with many backers asking for their names to be unassociated with the scheme as it is simply not feasible, criticising the ACEA for inflating the possible outcomes of the incentive to an unrealistic degree. In fact, modeling exercises have predicted that the outcome of such measures, based on technology we currently have available, would probably only result in a reduction of about 1% of CO2 emissions, making the proposal far too expensive to put into place, especially with such underwhelming results.
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