I saw this on the BBC and thought you should see it: Cars buck falling CO2 emissions trend - Cars buck falling CO2 emissions trend - BBC News
The ad when I read the article was from a car dealership touting big discounts on a Stupid Utility Vehicle, the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Sounds like UK CO2 is really low if at 1890's levels. The purists are asking for (divide and conquer approach) CO2 decreases every year for every sub-category for every state and every Country. But the overall trend is way down, and there may be some bumps. Recently saw criticism of USA because *projected* CO2 might go up 1% in 2018. But first of all, the "increase" did not even happen yet, we are already way down from what might have been expected just a few years ago.
This bit.... The motor industry blamed the public backlash against diesel vehicles driven by concerns about local air pollution. But environmentalists said it was also caused by a manufacturing trend towards SUVs. Tax incentives Alex Buttle, from the website Motorway.co.uk, said: "Clearly, the government hasn't thought through the environmental impact of their anti-diesel campaign.” He called for new tax breaks for electric and hydrogen cars. But Paul Morozzo, from Greenpeace, told BBC News: "SUV sales have had more of an impact on average CO₂ emissions than the shift away from diesel. I think they both have a point. But the increase in emissions has happened only this year. SUVs have been gaining popularity for ages, whereas the diesel backlash is very recent. So I'd think the diesel backlash is the bigger factor here. Diesel particulate emissions are a problem, but diesel CO2 emissions are far better than petrol ones. What the backlash against diesel is doing is slightly improving air quality in cities while making global climate change worse. Shifting from diesel to petrol is like chucking your dog's poo over the fence to your neighbour's house: it means you don't have a local problem, but it doesn't mean the problem has gone away. That said, with the extreme dearth of hybrids or EVs that I want in Australia*, I may have to shift from diesel to petrol for my next car. After last week's court case in Germany (German court rules cities can ban diesel cars to tackle pollution | World news | The Guardian), I reckon diesel cars' days are numbered, and I don't want to be stuck with a worthless car. It means my CO2 emissions will increase, but I'm not prepared to take the risk of Sydney following Stuttgart and Düsseldorf and my car being impossible to sell here. *The VW Passat GTE wagon, the Volvo V90 T8, the 5-series PHEV wagon and the hybrid E-class wagon are all not available here. Grrr.
Long term, banning diesels might be cutting off your nose to spite your face. BEVs aren't going to be a 100% solution in all sectors. At some point you will have to switch from fossil fuels to renewables for those vehicles that aren't 100% grid electric powered. Outside of Brazil, renewable diesel has the lead.
With your contacts in China, could you identify and start importing a reasonable, Chinese, plugin hybrid? Bob Wilson
Yes. We have very strict regulations on grey imports, and this is where the problem lies: if you're not a licensed Australian importer, you can't import cars (unless you're an expat who's owned a car overseas for more than a year and now you're bringing it home, but that's pretty much the only exception, except for vintage cars). It applies both to new cars and used cars. It's apparently there to protect Australia's car industry. This has been a massive success, as can be seen by the fact that our four car manufacturers (the great Australian names of General Motors, Ford, Mitsubishi and Toyota, all of whom repatriated their products) have now shut down and we now build no cars at all. The laws are still in place though. Yay. This is why, for example, a 2014 E-Class would cost US$20,000 in Britain costs US$40,000 in Australia. And why new luxury cars here cost up to twice as much as they do overseas. If I could, I'd buy a used car in Britain and bring it over. It's not a tax thing: the price differences are all in the importers' and manufacturers' margins. Many former Australian politicians go on to become directors of Australian car-importing companies. I am sure there is no connection there.
If I could import them, safety standards wouldn't be such a concern now that Great Wall has stopped using asbestos (!) in its brakes. The issue would be that they're technically fine, and reasonably safe, but just not very nice. Nasty plastics, squeaky components... just not a nice place to be. And the steering wheel is on the wrong side.
