TEPR projects: CO₂ emissions from cars

Currently, cars are the most significant source of transport’s CO₂ emissions. In order to deliver the necessary long-term reductions in CO₂ emissions from transport, there is a need to significantly improve the fuel efficiency and reduce the CO₂ emissions of new cars.

An important element of the policy framework is the EU’s passenger car CO₂ regulation, which requires that large manufacturers that sell cars in the EU reduce the CO₂ emissions of the cars that they put on the market. A similar regulation exists for light commercial vehicles (i.e. vans).

TEPR has worked extensively on the passenger car CO₂ regulation, including on the following reports for the European Commission:

• Technical support for the analysis of some elements of the post-2020 CO₂ emission standards for cars and vans. TEPR was part of consortium that undertook this project for the European Commission.
• Assessing the impacts of selected options for regulating CO₂ emissions from new passenger cars and vans after 2020, which involved the development of different policy options and the assessment of their potential impacts.
• Improving understanding of technology and costs for CO₂ reductions from cars and LCVs in the period to 2030, which involved an extensive literature review and stakeholder engagement to identify and assess the costs and CO₂ reduction potential of the various technologies.
• Evaluation of the Passenger Car and Van CO₂ Regulations, which involved a review of literature, engagement with stakeholders and quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Potential for mass reduction and the impact on the potential future Regulations, which was an assessment of the potential CO₂ reductions that were feasible from reducing the mass of cars and vans in order to support the future development of the Regulations. There are also Appendices to this report.
• Impact of mileage on the cost effectiveness of the Car and Van CO₂ Regulations, which gathered and analysed data to identify the extent to which cars and vans of different sizes, and which used different fuels, were used differently in the course of the lifetime.

TEPR’s Ian Skinner has also previously worked on reports for the Commission in support of the development of the initial regulations, including:

• Economic analysis and business impact assessment of CO₂ emissions reduction measures for cars in the EU.
• Assessment of the potential for measuring and regulating CO₂ emissions from vans.
• Review and analysis of the reduction potential and costs of technological and other measures to reduce CO₂ emissions from passenger cars in the EU.

Ian Skinner of TEPR is currently a Member of the ZEMO Partnership’s Passenger Car Working Group.