Last year, the European Union bowed once more to pressures from the automotive industry when it proposed a legally binding target to limit the average CO2 emissions from all new passenger cars - up again from the original 120g/km - to 130g/km by 2012. The automotive industry’s long-standing, self-imposed target of 140g/km, which expires at the end of this year already seems dead in the water as the average for all new cars sold in the UK during the first half of this year stood stubbornly at 160g/km.
This dilly-dallying must eventually stop because the EU proposes to get tough. If manufacturers continue to bring the wrong model mix to market by 2012 they face fines for each gram of CO2 a car emits over the new target – and that fine will be levied for every car sold. The plan is to levy the fines on a sliding scale, rising from 20 Euros per g/km over target in 2012 to 95 Euros by 2015.
Last week, industry analyst, Spyder Automotive (www.redspy.co.uk) launched a CO2 analysis tool, which it says will help manufacturers to plan their model mixes for the coming years. According to Spyder’s Jay Nagley, planning a mix of models that misses the target will have enormous cost implications for the industry, with profits from larger models easily being wiped out by punitive fines.
While its emissions reduction trend is not exactly impressive, the performance of the automotive industry is quite patchy, with some marques clearly on track to achieve the EU’s emissions targets and others lagging way behind. According to figures released by Friends of the Earth, BMW performed best out of the 14 car manufacturers researched, with a drop of 7.3% in its average vehicle emissions between 2006 and 2007. Toyota’s emissions fell by 2.4%, General Motors by 0.6%, Nissan by 0.5% and Ford by 0.2%. Honda actually managed a rise in emissions of 1.1%.
New car CO2 emissions is a subject currently being debated in Europe. In July of this year, the UK government published a series of papers explaining the proposed regulations, and setting out the UK’s stall. The ‘stakeholders’ (essentially the carmakers) have until October 3 to make their views known before the EU votes on the legislation – probably before the end of the year.
The UK government has been very supportive of the EU’s efforts to establish a CO2 emissions target for new cars and, indeed, proposed its own longer-term target of 100g/km by 2020 to be added to the legislation, with provisions for niche manufacturers whom it thought might be penalised unfairly.
While the burden of vehicle CO2 emissions reduction is placed squarely on the shoulders of the manufacturers, we all have our part to play. OK, you stick to buying a smaller car – possibly a hybrid (if you can afford it) – use it less frequently and drive it more sensibly. But the prevailing economy, it seems, can also make a difference.
Last week, the RAC Foundation published some fascinating research, which showed that high fuel prices, the credit crunch and the general economic slowdown have given motorists a break from congestion, with traffic jams down a hefty 12% (January to June) compared with the same period in 2007. It’s not rocket science; as motorists and companies start to cut down their motoring expenditure, congestion is reduced and your journey time is just that little bit less. Moreover, motorists cut their average speed from 63.3 to 62.2mph over the same period, in order to conserve fuel, and despite this ‘slowdown’, journey times have shortened by 0.3%.
The clouds may be gathering, but at least there’s a fragment of silver lining.
Les Hunt
Editor
Do you have any comments to make on this or any other subject covered in these newsletters? We are always pleased to receive feedback from readers; simply email les.hunt@imlgroup.co.uk.
We received a response to the leader in our last newsletter Skills crisis or career opportunity? which we reproduce here:
From Mr Rod Dalitz*:
People have been talking about the ‘skills gap’ for more years than I can remember, but that never seemed to translate into pay and job opportunities, from my point of view. I am a graduate with wide experience, but when BAE offered a voluntary redundancy scheme a few years back, I was more than happy to accept.
I started working in electronics in 1974, and I still have a copy of the Intel 4004 data sheet. The National SC/MP was exciting, when I worked in Kent. In 1979 I designed a single-board processor for Scottish & Newcastle Breweries’ brewery automation using the 8085 with a suite of interface boards, including some with the 9749 microcomputer.
I moved to Ferranti in 1984 and produced a digital moving-map video generator. All that time, electronics was fast-moving, sometimes a bit like Tom Peters’ “Ready – Fire – Aim!” But the 21st century has moved on to procedures and documentation, and the excitement moved to software.
Electronics just is not exciting or rewarding these days. In fact, my wife now earns far more than I did, as an administrator. Please remind me why I am supposed to feel valued as an engineer and designer.
*Rod Dalitz is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics
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