CO2 emission limits for LDV, cars, etc

FACT SHEET NO.: Cat-No.5 / Subcat-No.5.3-2

5. Efficiency standards & Flanking measures

5.3 Standards: environment

CO2 emission limits for LDV, cars, etc

As part of the Community’s integrated approach to reducing CO2 emissions from transport activities CO2 emissions can be regulated to set emission performance standards for new vehicles registered in the European Union Community at different point of time. [1]

Regulation (EC) 443/2009 already sets CO2 emissions standards for European car manufacturers in terms of average maximum CO2 emissions of new vehicles registered in the European Union in 2015 and 2020. For passenger cars average CO2 emissions of the new vehicle fleet should be 130 g/km in 2015 and 95 g/km in 2020. The regulation also takes into account the mass of vehicles by an equation calculating the specific CO2 emission target per manufacturer. [1]
Regulation (EC) 510/2011 is setting CO2 emission standards for new light duty vehicles (LDV). The CO2 emission target for 2017 is 175 g/km, for 2020 147 g/km. [2]

- to reduce CO2 emissions and improve fuel efficiency of new registered vehicles
- to create incentives for the vehicle manufacturers to invest in new technologies [1]

Decreasing costs for fuel per km evoke a rebound effect in terms of increasing modal share of the regulated road transport mode. As modal choice depends largely on out-of-pocket costs for fuel, higher investment costs for the vehicles are not relevant for the modal choice. [8]

Reducing CO2 emissions of road vehicles can be achieved by inreasing energy efficiency of fossil fuel cars and by alternative fuel cars with less CO2 emissions [3]

[1] European Commission (2009): Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community’s integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles
[2] European Commission (2011): Regulation (EC) No 510/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2011 setting emission performance standards for new light commercial vehicles as part of the Union's integrated approach to reduce CO 2 emissions from LDV
[3] European Commission (2007): Possible regulatory approaches to reducing CO2 emissions from cars 070402/2006/452236/MAR/C3: Final Report
[4] European Commission (2007): Proposal from the Commission to the European Parliament and Council for a regulation to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger cars - Impact assessment.
[5] Robert M., Johnson D. (2006): Assessment of transport policies toward future emission targets - a back casting approach for Stockholm 2030. In: Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, Vol. 8, No. 4
[6] Schade W. et. al. (2010): The iTREN-2030 Integrated Scenario until 2030. Deliverable 5 of iTREN-2030 project cofounded by European Commission 6th RTD Programme. Fraunhofer-ISI, Karlsruhe, Germany.
[7] Schade W. et. al. (2012): Bottom-up quantifications of selected measures to reduce GHG emissions of transport for the time horizons 2020 and 2050: Cost assessment of GHG mitigation measures of transport. Deliverable D3.1 of GHG-TransPoRD. Project cofounded by European Commission 7th RTD Programme. Fraunhofer-ISI, Karlsruhe, Germany.
[8] Schade W., Rothengatter W. (2011): Economic Aspects of Sustainable Mobility. On behalf of the European Parliament, DG for Internal Policies.
[9] Nieuwenhuis P. (2007): Car CO2 Reduction Feasibility Assessment; is 130g/km Possible? Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society, Cardiff, Wales.
[10] Smokers R. et.al. (2009): Review and analysis of the reduction potential and costs of technological and other measures to reduce CO2-emissions from passenger cars. Delft, The Netherlands.
[11] Fiorello et. al. (2012): Results of the technoeconomic analysis of the R&D and transport policy packages for the time horizons 2020 and 2050. Deliverable D4.1 of GHG-TransPoRD: Project co-funded by European Commission 7th RTD Programme. TRT Trasporti e Territorio SRL, Milan, Italy.
[12] Rothengatter W., Krail M. (2008): Sozialverträglichkeit der Nutzerfinanzierung für die Verkehrsinfrastruktur. Study on behalf of Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, Karlsruhe, Germany.