Group of European Companies Call for Deeper CO2 Cuts of 30% by 2020

30 European companies recently called on the European Union to increase its ambition to cut EU emissions to 30% by 2020 from 1990 levels in the interests of strengthening Europe’s economic future, boosting jobs and providing greater certainty and predictability for investors. It is the first time such a large and diverse group of EU businesses has called for Europe to increase its policy ambition to cut emissions to 30%. The current European target is for the EU to cut emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020.

Companies supporting the joint business declaration include Acciona, Alstom, Asda, Atkins, Barilla, BNP Paribas, BSkyB, Capgemini, Centrica plc, Climate Change Capital, Crédit Agricole, DHV Group, Elopak, Eneco, F&C Asset Management, GE Energy, Johnson Controls Inc, Kingfisher, Google, Marks and Spencer, Nike, Philips Lighting, SKAI Group of Companies, Sony Europe, Standard Life, Swiss Re, Tryg, Thames Water, Unilever and Vodafone.

The joint business declaration has been led by The Climate Group, The Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, and WWF Climate Savers Programme.

The joint declaration states “There is no high-carbon low-cost future for Europe” and calls on the EU to consider increasing its greenhouse gas reduction target to drive low carbon investment, saying:

• Climate action will boost economic growth and create new jobs.
• The EU needs the right policies to maintain its leadership and competitiveness in the global low carbon economy.
• The EU must invest in its energy security through greater low carbon energy investments.
• The EU needs to invest now for tomorrow’s technology and infrastructure to avoid high carbon ‘lock-in’ and the financial risk of needing to engineer a rapid shift away from such stranded assets.
• The recession has made emissions cuts easier and cheaper but market incentives are required to spur action.
• ‘Carbon leakage’ should be evaluated and concerns addressed based on real facts and data about competitiveness.

The move by European businesses supports recent calls from Ministers from Denmark, France, Germany and the UK who believe Europe will gain jobs and competitiveness from the move and see significant economic benefits from strengthening its own climate policy even without a global deal. Three European climate change ministers—the UK’s Chris Huhne, France’s Jean-Louis Borloo, Germany’s Dr Norbert Röttgen—recently stated that a policy for moving to 30% would not act as a brake on the EU economy but would boost jobs and help Europe stay competitive as India, China, Japan and the US challenge its market share of 22%of the global low carbon goods and services sector.

Green Car Congress

=> Group of European Companies Call for Deeper CO2 Cuts of 30% by 2020.

Reduced CO2 Emissions Should Start With Electric Cars

A comprehensive study has concluded the best way to reduce U.S. oil demand and carbon emissions would be an aggressive push towards electric vehicles.

The study from the Baker Institute Energy Forum was comprised of several academic papers on a variety of topics pertaining to reduction of carbon emissions. Among them were carbon pricing, the wind industry, global U.S. carbon and energy strategies, and renewable energy research and development. The results of the study are being presented at the Baker Institute Energy Forum Sept. 27-28.

Among the studies there were none that addressed electric cars specifically; what the researchers did was look at the greatest carbon reductions and try different methods of getting there.  Electric cars were found to be the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions in the shortest time. The study found if there were a mandate requiring 30 percent of all vehicles to be electric by 2050, it would reduce U.S. oil use by 2.5 million barrels a day.

This would be in addition to the three million barrels-per-day savings already expected from new corporate standards for average fuel efficiency. The switch to using that many electric cars would cut emissions seven percent, while the proposed renewable portfolio standard for other kinds of energy use would only cut it by four percent.

“Eight percent isn’t a dramatic CO2 reduction, but in comparison with the other methods, it better achieves those goals,” said James Coan, research associate at The Baker Institute.

Coan said researchers from The Baker Institute are eager to see whether the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf, two newer electric cars on the market, sell well. There are two factors holding back widespread adoption of electric cars: cost of ownserhip and infrastructure.

“In both the Volt and the Leaf, the battery costs are quite high. We’re interested to see how low they can get. Infrastructure is another constraint especially if you have to plug it in. It might not be that dramatic, but if they are significantly more expensive to operate than an internal combustion engine, that will inhibit market penetration alone.”

Coan said if manufacturers can figure out a way to design the electric car with lower costs then it should become more attractive to consumers. He said regulatory policies that favor electric vehicles from the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will also help. “If they have a standard of about 50-60 miles a gallon, plug in hybrids will be attractive,” he said.

Frost & Sullivan: Europe Shifting to a CO2-based Vehicle Taxation Regime

London, United Kingdom, 01/18/2010 - Europe shifts steadily toward a carbon dioxide (CO2)-based vehicle taxation regime and vehicle manufacturers (VMs) hasten to comply with stringent EU CO2 norms (average fleet emissions less than 130g/km by 2015).
	As Europe shifts steadily toward a carbon dioxide (CO2)-based vehicle taxation regime and vehicle manufacturers hasten to comply with stringent EU CO2 norms (average fleet emissions less than 130g/km by 2015), demand for low-CO2 cars is skyrocketing. As a result, every European VM is racing towards capturing a share of this opportunity. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (automotive.frost.com), Implementation Roadmap of CO2 Tax Banding in European Countries and Impact Analysis on Powertrain and Green Technology Adoption, finds that about 80 per cent of the European vehicle sales is expected to be in the less than 150g/km CO2 emission band by 2015. The countries covered in this research service are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. “By 2015, the average car in Europe will be 5 per cent lighter, with 30 per cent lower CO2 emissions,” says Frost & Sullivan Programme Manager Vigneshwaran Chandran. “Downsizing, gasoline direct injection (GDI), and start-stop will be the key technologies helping original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) achieve emission targets by 2015.” About 8-10 million cars are expected to be in the less than 120g/km CO2 emission band in Europe by 2015 – a significantly attractive market opportunity for both volume and premium manufacturers. While VMs invest heavily in the development of new low-CO2 models and engine variants, it is challenging to pass on these costs on to the customer, risking the OEMs’ profitability. “Offsetting the high development costs for green technologies and time for returns-on-investment on certain expensive developments such as gasoline direct injection and hybridisation will be a key commercial challenge for automakers,” explains fellow analyst Hariher Balasubramanian. Subsequently, automakers will likely employ different strategies for emission reduction, with mass manufacturers adopting moderate downsizing and technologies like variable valve train (VVT) and GDI. On the other hand, premium automakers will invest significantly on aggressive engine downsizing by more than 20 per cent, combined with full hybridization. “Premium manufacturers such as Daimler and BMW are likely to use a combination of electric vehicles, hybridization, and downsizing to achieve their 2015 CO2 emission target of 130g/km, while volume manufacturers will use a mix of green technologies such as GDI, VVT and start-stop systems,” concludes Balasubramanian. About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company’s Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO’s Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. via http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/63432/