Comments on: German Car CO2 Up http://www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk/2007/german-car-co2-up/ Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:56:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Lincolnshire Family http://www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk/2007/german-car-co2-up/#comment-21188 Lincolnshire Family Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:31:27 +0000 http://www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk/2007/german-car-co2-up/#comment-21188 Actually, the EURO IV and EURO V emission standards may also be to blame here. These standards aim to reduce a whole series of pollutants that contribute to poor air quality and danger to public health - it does not target CO2 directly. In fact in many cases to reduce other pollutants means increasing CO2. Germany runs a considerably high percentage of diesels where japan doesn't. You'll notice that most if not all european models have diesel engine options whereas many japanese (especially smaller models) have only petrol options. If I were to replace my current 4 year old 2.5Tdi pickup truck with a new EURO IV compliant one I would see my CO2 emissions rise by 35% despite the vehicle weight being identical, the engine being almost identical and only marginal improvements in fuel economy. This would also mean that once the light commercial sector switches to the same road tax banding system as the cars (A-G) rather than the curent fixed price I would see my new vehicle banded as a G where my current one is the equivalent of an F. Oddly enough though, the government is proposing giving a discount on road tax to those switching to the new EURO V engined vehicles (and already gave discount for EURO IV) despite them producing more CO2 than the vehicles they replaced...... Seems to me that the various Government departments and environmental bodies are not communicating very well with each other, we have mixed or contradictary messages and the result is simply chaos. The general public is left paying ever increasing taxes with no obvious benefits to either environment, traffic congestion or public health. Actually, the EURO IV and EURO V emission standards may also be to blame here. These standards aim to reduce a whole series of pollutants that contribute to poor air quality and danger to public health – it does not target CO2 directly. In fact in many cases to reduce other pollutants means increasing CO2.

Germany runs a considerably high percentage of diesels where japan doesn’t. You’ll notice that most if not all european models have diesel engine options whereas many japanese (especially smaller models) have only petrol options.

If I were to replace my current 4 year old 2.5Tdi pickup truck with a new EURO IV compliant one I would see my CO2 emissions rise by 35% despite the vehicle weight being identical, the engine being almost identical and only marginal improvements in fuel economy.

This would also mean that once the light commercial sector switches to the same road tax banding system as the cars (A-G) rather than the curent fixed price I would see my new vehicle banded as a G where my current one is the equivalent of an F. Oddly enough though, the government is proposing giving a discount on road tax to those switching to the new EURO V engined vehicles (and already gave discount for EURO IV) despite them producing more CO2 than the vehicles they replaced……

Seems to me that the various Government departments and environmental bodies are not communicating very well with each other, we have mixed or contradictary messages and the result is simply chaos. The general public is left paying ever increasing taxes with no obvious benefits to either environment, traffic congestion or public health.

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