Tag: clean cars

EU ministers have called for the rapid development of a European standard for electric vehicles to speed up their uptake, with France and Germany leading requests for EU finance to fund pilot projects.

The European Commission has come under fire from the EU Ombudsman for failing to produce letters it received from carmaker Porsche AG four years ago when it consulted interested parties on EU legislation to cut CO2 emissions from cars.

Germany lawmakers on Wednesday (19 August) approved a plan to put a million electric cars on German roads by 2020, in a bid to become the worlds top market for electric vehicles.

The EU is getting closer to reaching an agreement to reduce CO2 emissions from cars, amid speculation that the bloc's car-making countries have struck a deal to lower fines for manufacturers that fail to meet their CO2 targets.

The European Parliament's Environment Committee yesterday (24 June) voted in favour of earlier implementation of plans making it mandatory for government authorities to ensure public transport fleets and other utility vehicles are clean and energy efficient.

Plug-in hybrids and battery electric cars can offer a sustainable transportation system for Europe but barriers to the development of these "superior technologies", including subsidies to the oil sector, must first come to an end, says the green NGO.

While the EU's 27 environment ministers agree on the need to reduce car emissions in order to tackle climate change, they remain divided on how the burden of these reductions should be spread out among the industry.

The mayor of New York has ordered that the city's entire taxi fleet be converted to fuel-efficient hybrids by 2012 in a sign that energy ideology in the US is undergoing a climate-change shift.

The European Commission is set to impose mandatory curbs on CO2 emissions from cars on Wednesday, bringing an end to a two-week long dispute, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas tells EurActiv in an interview.

The Parliament has approved more cuts on cars' harmful pollutants emissions, but environmentalists maintain that the new standards will still be too weak.

75% of carmakers are failing to meet voluntary CO2 reduction commitments that would also help cut fuel consumption, according to T&E, an environmental pressure group.

The Commission is hoping to contribute simultaneously to the diversification of Europe’s energy sources and to the reduction of pollution by promoting hydrogen powered vehicles.

New EU-funded projects are underway in Europe and beyond to power buses with pollution-free hydrogen engines. The projects were announced after an encouraging pilot programme in European cities.

The EU is promoting the marketing of greener cars via a combination of binding and non-binding measures. 'Clean vehicles' include low emission conventionally fuelled vehicles as well as those powered by alternative fuels. The production of such vehicles, generating less CO2 emissions, requires innovation in fuels, alternative powertrain technology, noise reduction and new materials.

Policy-makers wanting to reduce traffic growth have not properly considered social equity issues, says UK researcher Karen Lucas. She recommends the UK increases accessibility to work, learning and healthcare.

At the UN conference on climate change (COP 9), the EU has signed a research agreement with the United States, Japan and China to address air pollution from transport.