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Small businesses unite for action against gas-guzzling vans

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Published 04 February 2013, updated 11 February 2013
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CO2 emissions, vans

A coalition of three small business associations has issued a call for tougher fuel economy standards to be imposed on Europe’s fume-chugging light commercial vehicles.

EU plans to set a CO2 emission limit for vans of 147 grams per km (g/km) from 2020 are “insufficient,” says a letter to the European Parliament’s rapporteur for CO2 legislation, Holger Krahmer, signed by the European Small Business Alliance, Athlon car lease, and EuroCommerce.

The standard in the EU’s proposed legislation was adopted on the basis of assumptions in 2010 that average CO2 emissions for vans were 200 g/km – and that reducing them would be highly expensive, costing €2,000-€3,000 per van.

But a study by the Dutch TNO consultancy last year for the European Commission, estimated compliance costs much lower – at around €500 per van – and that the 2010 emissions figures was overestimated by almost 20 g/km.

“The vans target could have been slightly more ambitious,” one Irish presidency source told EurActiv. 

The three business associations go further. “On the basis of the latest scientific evidence, and given the potential benefits for both economy and environment, we therefore call on the European Parliament to set a more ambitious 2020 target of 118 g/km,” their letter says.

Road transport, which is not included within the EU’s Emissions Trading System, makes up 12% of Europe’s CO2 output, and is the only source of carbon emissions that is growing, and doing so substantially.

Greenhouse gas emissions from vans surged by 26% between 1995 and 2010 and are expected to continue spiraling upwards, according to a report by another Dutch consultancy CE Delft, commissioned by the green think tank Transport and Environment.

For delivery firms and car leasing companies, concerns about increasing fuel costs from energy inefficient vans – typically around €2,400 a year in diesel alone – are thus augmented by fears of potential emissions-limiting measures that may lurk some way down the line, such as road pricing. 

On the upstream side of the automobile sector, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) opposes any tightening of the proposed EU legislation, citing the costs of technological change, market-uptake uncertainties, and industry “cost absorption”

A parliamentary vote on the legislation is expected on 7 May.

Positions: 

Responding to the letter by small business groups, Holger Krahmer MEP, who is in charge of steering the legislation through the European Parliament, said "a stricter target has never been intended by the legislator".

"Article 13(1) of the regulation says that the Commission shall confirm the feasibility of the long term target," said Krahmer, a German from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) group. Therefore, he concludes that "the debate on a stricter long term target is from my point of view neither intended, nor necessary".

What's more, Krahmer argued that small businesses would not necessarily save money with a stricter CO2 target. "Running a retail business myself I know from my own experience what an important role acquisition costs and operating costs are playing. It is certainly very important for businesses to keep fuel consumption low, but it is not possible to automatically conclude from this fact how strict the ambition level in a CO2regulation for new light commercial vehicles should be."

"I am more than interested to hear from EuroCommerce or one of its members, especially small retailers, for which reasons they would agree on a stricter target, taking into account the higher initial costs when buying such a vehicle", Krahmer said.

“The 147g/km target (LCV) is achievable with available technologies by 2020. We firmly believe that the 2020 targets, 95 g/km for cars and 147 g/km for vans, are the best compromise between costs and CO2 emission reductions and that they will help keep the competitive advantage that the European automotive industry has in terms of CO2 emission reduction” said Jean Marc Gales, the CEO of the European Association of Automobile Suppliers (CLEPA).

A spokeswoman for the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) referred EurActiv to their official position on the vans legislation, which says: "The Commission's proposal to reach a fleet-average target of 147g CO2/km for vans by 2020 is extremely challenging due to the complexity of the LCV market. There is a huge diversity between the Class I, II and III vehicles. This means that there is no 'one size fits all' technological solution. It be would difficult, for instance, to use the same solution for a small pizza delivery van and a long-haul multi-axle heavy goods vehicle."

Next steps: 
  • 24 April 2013: European Parliament’s environment committee to vote on CO2 in cars proposals
  • 7 May 2013: European Parliament committee vote on CO2 in Vans
  • 2014: Proposed deadline for EU decision on 2025/2030 targets
  • 2015: 130 grams of CO2 per km target to be enforced across Europe
  • 2020: Proposed deadline for 95g/km target for cars
  • 2025: European Commission could impose another milestone on the road to decarbonsiation by 2050
  • 2030: European Commission could impose another milestone on the road to decarbonsiation by 2050
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COMMENTS

  • The call by the SMEs is good. However, there is an elephant in the room which nobody sees. Let me explain. Many large organisations have large fleets of vehicles, usually vans e.g. Telenet, Belgacom etc. These vehicles are driven by employees.

    During winter you will often see these vans, parked on the side of the road with their engines running. In one case, a Telenet van sat outside my office with its engine running for 45 minutes. Ditto a van from a water company (Viva? – forgot the name). You can see the same happening across all member states – people sitting in vans with the engine running – for anything between 10 minutes and 1 hour.

    This happens because the doorknobs sitting in the vans a) don’t have to pay for diesel b) probably don’t make the connection between the engine running and GHG emissions. I’d hazard a guess that the self-employed and SMEs may suffer from this problem less (since the connection between revenue and costs (or waste) is more apparent).

    So next time you are out and about, take a look at vans. If they are stationary and have people in them notice that almost inevitably they have the engine running. & yes – the chaps are only trying to stay warm – but there are better ways of keeping warm than pumping diesel into a 1.5 tonne lump of metal – this also reflects badly on the van producers – better insulated vehicles? in vehicle heaters (that do not need the engine to be run) etc

    By :
    Mike Parr
    - Posted on :
    04/02/2013

  • Most city vans do not need to be run on Diesel. They could equally be electric.
    If they need liquid fuels then why not make them run on Butanol.

    By :
    Carol
    - Posted on :
    04/02/2013

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Background: 

In 2007, the EU proposed legislation setting emission performance standards for new cars, which was adopted in 2009 by the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers. Under the current cars regulation, fleet averages to be achieved by all new cars are 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre (g/km) by 2015 – with the target phased in from 2012 - and 95g/km by 2020. 

The regulation is currently undergoing amendment in order to implement the 2020 target. A White Paper on Transport, presented by the Commission in February 2011, flagged measures to raise the €1.8 trillion which the EU says is needed for infrastructure investment in the next 20 years.

Proposals published in 2012 have set a further target of 95g for new passenger cars by 2020, and 147 g/km for vans. By the end of 2014, new targets could be announced for 2025 and 2030.

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Parliament backs new CO2 limits for vansEU gets draft deal to curb gas-guzzling vansEU faces uphill battle in CO2 law for vansCommission waters down CO2 proposal for vansCommission asked to weaken planned CO2 cuts for vans
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