Belgium: EC revises emissions limit to 130g/km; mandates 5% ethanol blend in gasoline from 2011
Thursday, February 01, 2007, AutomotiveWorld.com
The Brussels-based European Commission has backed down from its proposed legislation to limit carbon dioxide emissions from new cars sold in the 27 member states of the European Union. It is now expected to propose new legislation requiring oil companies to blend biofuels into gasoline, The Financial Times claims.
The London-based newspaper says the Commission's new proposal includes blending 5% ethanol in gasoline from 2011 and increasing it to 10% in 2020. The proposal will also mandate oil companies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during extraction and transportation of fuel. The new legislation is also expected to include a range of other fuel savings measures including equipping cars with indicators to inform drivers when they need to inflate their tyres or change gear.
The petroleum industry, which believes that the Commission gave in to pressure from the German automotive industry, is already opposing the proposal to mandate oil companies to blend biofuels in gasoline.
The Commission's proposal for limiting emissions from new cars to an average of 120g/km by 2012 laid more responsibility on the automotive industry to introduce new technology and cleaner engines to achieve the target.
The EC backed down after the automotive industry and the EU's richest member state protested strongly for being made solely responsible for reducing emissions. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the government would oppose any legislation that did not differentiate between car sizes. Despite no longer having the largest population in the Union, Germany is still the European Union's largest new car market.
According to the report, Stavros Dimas, the EU's environment commissioner, now wants to set a new emissions target of 130g/km for the automotive industry. The report cited senior European Commission officials as saying the final cap can be expected to be close to 130g/km. As an aside to the discussions, it was noted that Japan is targetting a level of 138g/km by 2015.
Published on Thursday, February 01, 2007
Free e-newsletters
Our free E-Newsletter service is an excellent way of staying up to date with news and features from around the global auto industry.
