Page 47 - European Energy Innovation - Autumn 2016 publication
P. 47
Autumn 2016 European Energy Innovation 47
TRANSPORT DECARBONISATION
noise and air pollution, other health further be enhanced if incentives are
impacts and balance of payment reinforced by member state, regional
impacts. and local strategies. This optimisation
will also require that incentives
EMISSIONS STANDARDS WORK are aligned with carbon efficiency,
Transport policies should aim to requiring an end to environmentally
achieve the necessary GHG emissions harmful subsidies. In addition, member
reductions, but should equally be states should reinforce technology
aimed at keeping the EU car industry neutrality by doing away with tax
and its products globally competitive. breaks, for example, for diesel or
The key policy for achieving both is natural gas. Similarly, support for those
the steady tightening of technology biofuels that increase GHG emissions
neutral emissions standards in line should be discontinued while
with the technological frontier and respecting existing legal commitments.
equipped with adequate flexibility
provisions. Passenger cars have been On the EU level, a more proactive
subject to mandatory CO2 emissions infrastructure policy for alternative fuels
standards since 2009. Actual emissions should focus on creating an internal
levels seem to suggest that these market free of barriers for alternative
standards work effectively. The steady fuels. This could include the creation of
tightening of standards will continue to cross-border corridors for charging and
incentivise combustion efficiency and fuelling stations which could later be
in parallel speed up the deployment linked to speed up the development of
of new low-carbon technologies and a pan-European low-carbon network. l
fuels such as vehicles running on low-
carbon electricity, sustainable biofuels, Contact details:
gas or hydrogen. But a precondition
for emissions standards to work is a Dr. Arno Behrens
robust and credible monitoring system Head of Energy & Research Fellow
to assess the gap between emissions CEPS - Centre for European Policy
measured under the test cycle and Studies
real emissions. Otherwise emissions Place du Congrès 1, B-1000 Brussels
reductions will remain statistical, Phone: +32 (0)2 229 39 16
largely unrelated to existing real-life Fax: +32 (0)2 7065626
conditions. www.ceps.eu
The impact of emissions standards can
1) This contribution is based on the CEPS Special Report “Towards an Effective EU Framework for Road Transport and GHG Emissions” (July 2016), available free of
charge at https://www.ceps.eu/publications/towards-effective-eu-framework-road-transport-and-ghg-emissions.
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