UNECE Joint Task Force on Environmental Indicators

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UNECE Joint Task Force on Environmental Indicators

• Item 3 (f)
• Average Age of Road Motor Vehicle Fleet

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Importance of age of vehicle fleet

• According to the EEA, road transport is
  responsible for 17.5 of overall greenhouse gas
  emissions in Europe and its emissions increased
  by 23 between 1990 and 2009.
• The age of a road motor vehicle has an impact on
  the amounts of the various types of emission.
• According to the EEA, average CO2 emissions for
  new cars registered in 2011 were 3.3 less than
  new cars registered in 2010.
• See http//www.eea.europa.eu/themes/transport

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UK Experience

• Road transport accounts for 19 of UK green house
  gas emissions.
• Estimate of how emissions of different gases per
  km vary depend on vehicle speed for different
  vehicle types/ fuel type/ year of first
  registration (used as a proxy for Euro emissions
  class)/ engine size/ etc
• http//assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/energy-
  and-environment/climatechangefactsheets.pdf

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Regulatory Changes

• To help achieve reductions in transport
  emissions, strict targets have been introduced in
  the European Union and other major economies for
  vehicle fuel efficiency.
• Manufacturers are committed to achieving in a
  definite programme over time specific and
  gradually tighter fuel consumption levels for the
  new vehicles they produce
• The size and importance of these economies has
  implication for all world vehicle manufacturers

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Technical Advances

• Motor manufacturers have responded by improving
  the efficiency of vehicle engines and the
  aerodynamics of the vehicle to reduce fuel
  consumption.

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Implications

• Each generation of vehicles is more fuel
  efficient and emits fewer emissions than earlier
  vehicles.
• The average age of the vehicle fleet in a country
  is therefore a helpful indicator of the level of
  emissions created by that countrys vehicles

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Definitions

• Vehicle fleet
• Age of vehicle

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Vehicle fleet

• All motor vehicles licensed to operate on a
  countrys roads at a given date
• Passenger cars
• Motor coach, bus or trolleybus
• Truck
• Road tractor

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Vehicle RegisterDate of first registration

• Countries maintain registers of vehicles licensed
  to operate on their roads for
• Police
• Taxation
• It is important for this indicator that these
  registers contain the date when the vehicle was
  first licensed for use
• This date of first registration is normally the
  date to be used to calculate the age of the
  vehicle

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Problem

• Used vehicles from abroad
• The date of first registration in the country
  accepting foreign used vehicles will not properly
  reflect the date of manufacture or of first use
• It will therefore underestimate the age of the
  vehicle and its emissions performance

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Date of first registration

• This should be the earliest date of first
  registration of the vehicle in any country in
  which it has been registered.
• The Harmonised Registration Certificate records
  this information for foreign second hand cards
  for all EU countries.

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Example

• A Mercedes was registered in Austria with
  Austrian number plates for the first time in 2008
• In 2012, it was exported to Albania where it was
  reregistered and given Albanian number plates.
• Two dates of first registration
• 2008 Austria First country registration
• 2012 Albania Second country registration
• Chose the earliest i.e. 2008 if known or, if this
  is available, from the harmonised registration
  certificate

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First country registration not known

• Adjust the date of first registration by some
  factor

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Provision of statistics

• For every years data to be provided, a copy of
  the vehicle register is needed as it stood on a
  specific fixed date within the year e.g.
• 1 January
• 31 December
• 30 June
• Which of these is appropriate depends on the
  arrangements with the keeper of the register.

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Age distribution (1)

• For each vehicle on the vehicle register
• Determine its age from the date of first
  registration
• Allocate each vehicle among the age groups
• Age lt 2 years
• 2 yearslt age lt 5 years
• 5 yearslt age lt 10 years
• Age gt 10 years

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Age distribution (2)

• Compile the totals for each age group and
  calculate the percentage each group represents of
  the total
• This allows the calculation of an average age for
  the vehicle fleet

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Thank you