The rising demand for large SUV and cars are not helping with emission reduction
A report from the International Energy (IEA) team back in February 2023 report states that global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from vehicles on the road have not helped to reduce the targeted carbon dioxide (CO2) emission figures as there was a rise in demand globally for large petrol powered SUV and sedans.
Even with a rise in electric vehicle sales, did not assist to cancel out the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from large, powerful hybrid and PHEV SUV and sedans that have been bought by 1st world car buyers.
Meanwhile, the world’s five largest automakers which is Toyota, Volkswagen, Stellantis, General Motors and Hyundai-Kia each increased their sales of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) by more than 150 percent over the last decade.
Yes, electric car sales increased in all markets, boosted by an increasing number of models, higher oil prices and targeted policy support.
Did you know that every SUV is extremely steel-intensive in production and require more energy to operate than smaller vehicles?
Interestingly, REUTERS just shared this report.
Real CO2 emissions from most passenger cars on European Union roads are the same as 12 years ago despite reduction targets set in 2010 for newly registered vehicles, putting in jeopardy Europe’s green agenda, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said on Wednesday this week.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF CARS OUTWEIGHED BY MASS
While the EU has managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in many areas over the last 30 years, CO2 from the transport sector has continued to grow. In 2021, it accounted for 23 percent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions, with passenger cars responsible for more than half of this figure.
In detail, over the last 10 years, emissions have remained constant for diesel cars while they have marginally decreased (-4.6 percent) for petrol cars, the ECA said, noting that progress in engine efficiency has been outweighed both by increased vehicle mass – due to the SUV trend of these last years – and by more powerful engines.
Hybrid cars’ real emissions also tend to be much higher than those recorded in the laboratory, the ECA said, adding there will be an adjustment to correct this but only from 2025.
“Until then, plug-in hybrids will continue to be treated as low-emission vehicles, to the benefit of car manufacturers,” the EU auditors said.
In their view, only electric vehicles, whose sales jumped from one in every 100 new car registrations in 2018 to almost one in seven in 2022, have driven the reduction in average real CO2 emissions seen recently.
But the auditors point out the hurdles facing any further acceleration in the uptake of electric vehicles, whether it be sufficient access to raw materials to build enough batteries or affordability of the cars, which may lead consumers to hold on to their old polluting vehicles for longer.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), passenger cars in the European Union are on average 12 years old, with Greece and Estonia having the region’s oldest car fleets, with vehicles almost 17 years old, and Luxemburg the newest (7.6 years).
