EU Parliament sets future LCV CO2 targets

Monday, 21 February 2011 07:56 |

Written by Keith Fields

The European Parliament has voted to officially adopt a 175g/km CO2 short-term and 147g/km CO2 long-term target for light commercial vehicles. They’ve been set to continue the process of ongoing CO2 emission reductions made by vehicle manufacturers.

“Industry is pleased that the European Parliament has come to a decision on CO2 emission targets for LCVs as vehicle manufacturers are committed to lowering emissions as part of ongoing introductions of low, lower and ultra-low carbon vehicles,” said Paul Everitt, chief executive of the Society of Manufacturers & Traders.

“The UK is well placed to capitalise on low carbon technologies and manufacturers now need government to demonstrate its support for sustained investment in skills, R&D and capital equipment.”

As we have come to expect from the EU expenses-troughers, however, the new legislation is unnecessarily overcomplicated. An in-brief overview follows, but if this is insufficient Click Here for the full EU documentation, which really should carry some sort of health warning.

LCV CO2 emission targets
The LCV legislation mirrors the New Car CO2 Regulation with each manufacturer having its own overall European fleet average CO2 target. Each manufacturer’s target is based on the weight of each new LCV it registers in the EU in a given year.

Initial 2014 to 2017 target and phase-in — 175g/km CO2 (phased in with 70 per cent, 75 per cent and 80 per cent of each manufacturers’ fleet complying in 2014-16 respectively and 100 per cent from 2017 onwards).

Long-term 2020 target — 147g/km, to be confirmed in a review in 2013.

Derogation — Independent manufacturers registering less than 22,000 vehicles per year (in the EU) can apply to the Commission for an individual target that is consistent with its economic and technological potential for CO2 reduction and the characteristics of the vehicles’ market segment. Mirroring the cars regulation.

Super credits — As an incentive for selling low carbon LCVs (<50g/km), manufacturers can count each qualifying LCV several times when calculating their fleet average CO2. They can be counted 3.5 times in 2014 and 2015, then 2.5 (2016), 1.5 (2017) and 1.0 in 2018. There will be a cap on super credits at 25,000 vehicles per manufacturer over the super credits period to 2018.

Eco-innovations — Certain innovative technologies deliver a real-world CO2 benefit, but this is not reflected in the CO2 result from the type approval test. Manufacturers can be granted a credit if they equip vehicles with innovative technologies. The credit will be based on independently verified data and depends on how many vehicles the technologies are applied to. The credit is limited to a maximum of 7g/km on average for each manufacturer’s fleet.

Multi-stage vehicles — Manufacturers of incomplete vehicles will take responsibility for meeting the CO2 target for the base vehicle. The Commission will make a proposal by the end of 2011.

These people really should get a life!