Europe tightens CO2 standards
The European Commission has proposed two directives to combat CO2 emissions from cars.
Transport is the only sector in Europe that has shown dramatic increases in CO2 emissions over the past 15 years. The European Commission (EC) has responded with two new proposals to tackle the problem.
The first proposal will force carmakers to cut CO2 emissions from new cars by 18% by 2012. Carmakers would be responsible for getting emissions down to 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer (g/km) through technology improvements. Ultimately, the EC wants to bring emissions down to 120 g/km by 2012—25% below the 2005 level. It says the additional reduction is possible through increased use of biofuels, better tires, and measures to ensure drivers change gears at the right time.
The second proposal, which updates a fuel-quality directive from 1998, outlines new fuel-quality standards that aim to achieve, by 2020, a 10% reduction in CO2 emissions throughout the whole product life cycle. Overall, this should prevent emission of about 500 million metric tons of CO2. The proposal also contains two additional measures due to take effect in 2009: cuts by one-third in sulfur emissions and PAHs from diesel. The proposed standards would allow increased blending with biofuels, including up to 10% ethanol.
Both measures await approval by member states and the European Parliament. Legislation based on these proposals is unlikely to be drafted until 2008.
Meanwhile, California has already taken action on fuels. Transportation fuels sold in the state will have to contain 10% less carbon by 2020, under an executive order signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in late January.
