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EU consults on car emissions reduction |
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The European Commission is seeking input on tools limiting vehicle emissions, including energy-efficient Mobile Air Conditioning. Common test procedures that reflect the actual fuel use of the car cooling system could be a key measure.
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2007-05-03
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Following its strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from passenger cars, published last February, the European Commission (EC) asks for public comments until 30 June on concrete measures to foster energy efficiency and sustainability in the automotive sector. The Commission’s Directorates General for Environment and Enterprise & Industry have joined forces to initiate this consultation process. This will lead to the formulation of legislation later this year on how to achieve the EU-wide objective of 120 g/km CO2 emissions from new cars by 2012.
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MAC strategy
In its Communication from February 2007, the EC announced to pursue an integrated approach that would target a minimum reduction of 10 g/km CO2 emissions by technological improvements, such as the use of fuel-efficient Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC). The present EU strategy to measure and limit the environmental impact of MAC rests on the following pillars:
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- MAC Directive: The legislation adopted in May 2006 bans the current refrigerant HFC-134a and other fluids with a Global Warming Potential of more than 150 for new cars by 2011 and for all models by 2017.
- Energy Efficiency Action Plan: A catalogue of 75 measures proposed in October 2006 lists minimum efficiency requirements for MAC as a key tool to achieve a EU-wide 20% energy saving by 2020. Concrete legislative proposals are expected this year, or by 2008 at the latest.
- Impact Assessment: A review published in February 2007 seeks to assess the cost differences of applying fuel-efficient R744 (CO2) MAC systems and conventional ones using HFC-134a. However, an accurate assessment of costs and environmental impact would require a common test procedure currently unavailable in the EU.
Common tests needed to reflect MAC use
A key issue in the consultation will be the establishment of a common test procedure. While the EC has found standard tests measuring the additional fuel use due to MAC to be difficult to implement, stakeholders argue that such tests are already applied successfully in other parts of the world. They refer, more specifically, to new test standards implemented recently in the U.S. to reflect more realistic driving conditions. Concretely, the SC03 test applied by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assesses the performance of MAC while driving to help quantifying the fuel use and thereby the increasing impact of MAC on the real-world energy use of road traffic.
This is an example of the sort of input the EC will be receiving as part of this consultation.
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More information:
› European Commission - Public Consultation on reducing CO2 emissions from cars
 Community Strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from cars (MAC: page 8) (21 KB)
Impact Assessment (MAC: pages 16, 24) (318 KB)
› See our news about the EU Impact Assessment and EPA's new test methods
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