Tackling the Environmental Impact of Transport

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Clean, low carbon transport the Government
perspective

• Mark Schuck
• Department for Transport
• CATCH conference, Liverpool, June 2005

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Introduction

• Transport central to UK economic success and
  personal freedom, but a major contributor to
  climate change and air pollution.
• The challenge, as set out in the July 2004
  Transport White Paper, is to balance the
  increasing demand for travel against our goal of
  protecting the environment.

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Why does it matter?

• Effects of air pollution on human health and the
  environment. Transport responsible for majority
  of air pollution problems in city centres.
• Reducing impact on climate change. Transport
  currently accounts for 25 or so of total CO2
  emissions - road transport about 20.
• Transport sector needs to contribute to
  Governments Energy White Paper commitment to
  put the UK on the path to a 60 reduction in
  carbon emissions by 2050 .

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Clean, low carbon transport

• Government aims to promote a shift towards clean,
  low carbon road transport
• Clean - ie low emissions of harmful air
  pollutants
• Low carbon - ie using as little fuel as possible

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How do we get there?

• Making better use of our existing transport
  networks
• Improving the environmental performance of
  vehicles
• Promoting the use of clean, low carbon fuels

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Making better use of transport networks

• Strategy set out in July 2004 Transport White
  Paper. Based around 3 themes
• Sustained investment over the long term, with
  real terms increases in public spending every
  year to 2015.
• Improvements in transport management,
  reorganising rail industry and better traffic
  management on roads
• Planning ahead, and recognising that we cannot
  build our way out of the problems we face.

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Environmental performance of vehicles - 1

• Good progress made on emissions of air pollutants
  from road transport.
• Total emissions of NOx and PM10 from road
  transport have fallen by more than 50 since 1990
  despite traffic growth. Likely to reduce by a
  further 20 or so by 2010.
• Further, tighter Euro standards likely,
  especially for diesel vehicles.
• But still air pollution hotspots.

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Environmental performance of vehicles - 2

• Some progress made on average new car CO2
  emissions - largely as a result of the Voluntary
  Agreements between the EU and automotive
  industry.
• Average new car fuel efficiency has improved by
  about 10 since 1995, delivering significant
  carbon savings.
• Progress has slowed somewhat in recent years as a
  result of peoples tendency to choose larger
  vehicles.

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Average new car CO2 emissions, EU and UK, 1995 -
2002
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Promoting use of clean, low carbon fuels

• Fuels are also getting cleaner.
• Huge improvements to petrol and diesel
  specifications low sulphur forms have been
  mainstream fuels in UK for several years, ahead
  of EU deadline.
• Government has also supported clean,
  alternative fuels, as set out in alternative
  fuels framework in 2003 Pre-Budget Report

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Biofuels

• Todays biofuels generally produced from used
  cooking oil or crops such as wheat and rapeseed.
• Main benefit is reduction in carbon - todays
  biofuels offer something like a 50-60 carbon
  saving compared to fossil fuel alternatives.
• Generally used in a blend of up to 5 with
  regular fuels.

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Todays biofuels (cont)

• Government already supporting biofuels through
  fuel duty incentives.
• Currently investigating feasibility of some form
  of Obligation to require fuel suppliers to sell a
  certain percentage of biofuels and/or other
  renewable transport fuels

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Tomorrows biofuels

• Could be produced from a much wider range of
  sources - straw, grass, woody biomass, green bits
  of municipal waste.
• New technologies offer prospect of greater carbon
  savings at lower cost
• Vehicles could be adapted to run on higher blends
• But technologies not proven at commercial scale

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Longer term

• Ultimate goal is a very low carbon transport
  system
• The prospective candidates .
• Fuel cell vehicles running on non-fossil
  hydrogen
• Large-scale use of biofuels - both todays
  biofuels, and tomorrows biomass-based liquid
  fuels
• Or a combination of both

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Longer term - continued

• But many unknowns
• technologies - will they work?
• costs to economy and consumers
• vehicle costs fuel costs infrastructure costs

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Key Government policies - 1

• Supportive vehicle tax regimes - eg, the UKs
  CO2-linked Vehicle Excise Duty and Company Car
  Tax regimes
• Supportive fuel tax regimes - eg, the UKs
  reduced rates for alternative fuels including
  LPG, CNG, biofuels
• Research, development and demonstration
  programmes
• Setting targets to guide long term policy
  direction - low-carbon cars low-carbon buses

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Key Government policies - 2

• Supporting consumer take-up of new low-carbon
  vehicles - the TransportEnergy programmes
• Consumer information - labelling
• Government procurement
• Working with EU and international partners - eg
  the Voluntary Agreements on reducing average new
  car CO2 emissions, the Biofuels Directive

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Challenges

• Further reducing emissions of air pollutants
  through
• further fuel and vehicle standards
• targeted local measures - including congestion
  charging, low emission zones, use of low or zero
  emission vehicles
• And, arguably the far greater challenge, reducing
  emissions of carbon dioxide from road transport

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Challenges (cont)

• Reviews of UK Climate Change Programme and UK Air
  Quality Strategy underway.
• Both are considering the scope for further policy
  measures to reduce emissions from all sectors,
  including the transport sector.

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Conclusions

• Have made a lot of progress in reducing impact of
  transport on the environment, but lots more to
  do.
• Main challenge in future likely to be reducing
  transports impact on climate change - both by
  improving vehicle efficiency and by reducing the
  amount of carbon in the fuel.
• New measures may be included in revised Climate
  Change Programme and Air Quality Strategy later
  this year.

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