• by David Cronin (brussels)
• Monday, January 12, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Carbon dioxide emissions from using Europe's road to transport goods will increase by more than 50 percent within the next two decades, a new study has predicted.

With no improvements in the energy efficiency performance of the average truck registered for the past 15 years -- and with the volume of road transport set to grow -- the long-haul sector could imperil the European Union's objectives for tackling climate change, according to the Dutch consultancy firm CE Delft.

In a report published Jan. 12, it stated that unless measures are taken to reduce fuel consumption and boost the energy efficiency of vehicles, the emissions from trucks and lorries will rise by 55 percent by 2030, when compared to 2005 levels.

At present, lorries account for 23 percent of all carbon dioxide (CO2) released as a result of road transport in the EU. Vans comprise an additional 8 percent. Long-haul transport also has an insatiable thirst for fuel, guzzling 500 million barrels of oil annually at a cost of 60 billion euros (80 billion dollars).

Although the EU's governments agreed almost two years ago to ensure that the bloc's emission levels will be one-fifth less in 2020 than they were in 1990, the contribution of road freight to climate change has not been fully factored into their equations.

Another key finding of the report is that although lorries make up just 3 percent of all road vehicles, they are responsible for 20 percent of traffic jams.

An EU law dating from 1999 forbids its governments from levying charges and taxes on vehicles weighing more than 12 tonnes for costs deemed 'external' by policy-makers. Such costs include those linked to pollution, congestion, noise and road accidents, even though trucks are responsible for twice as many fatalities as cars per kilometre driven. During 2006, some 6,500 deaths resulted from road accidents involving lorries in the EU.

In July last year, the EU's executive, the European Commission, put forward proposals to partly lift the ban on charges. The dossier will be discussed by the transport committee in the European Parliament later this month.

Saïd El Khadraoui, a Belgian member of the Parliament (MEP) tasked with preparing the assembly's position on the dossier, is advocating that EU governments should be allowed introduced taxes based on the environmental cost of road freight.

Acknowledging that the circumstances for introducing such charges is far from ideal at a time of global economic downturn, he said that 'the inconvenient truth is that we need to readjust as soon as possible the conditions for a more efficient and sustainable transport policy.'

But he is urging that levies should not be introduced based on road accidents for the time being because insurance schemes for lorries vary considerably between different EU countries. Instead, he has asked the Commission to present a report on the surrounding themes by the end of 2010.

Huib van Essen, co-author of the CE Delft study, said that while it makes sense that the differences in insurance should be analysed, there is a risk that action related to the cost of road accidents could be postponed for several years.

Jos Dings from the European Federation on Transport and Environment, an alliance of green groups, commented: 'Truckers are getting a free ride while causing misery for millions. Congestion, noise and pollution blight the lives of all Europeans. Governments need to keep every option open when tackling massive problems like congestion, so the EU must reverse its absurd ban on including these costs in road tolls for lorries.'

Franziska Achterberg, a transport campaigner with Greenpeace, said she was surprised to learn that there has been no fuel efficiency with lorries. Passenger cars, by contrast, have registered an annual improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.3 percent over the past decade, though, she said, 'that's no way near enough.'

According to van Essen, both law-makers and the car industry have made some steps in boosting efficiency. 'For lorries, there has not been much policy focus on fuel efficiency,' he said.

Carbon dioxide emissions from heavy goods vehicles have increase at a rate of about 2 percent each year since 1995.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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