Published: 29 Jun 2011
Preliminary data published today by the
European Environment Agency (EEA) show that
new passenger cars registered in the European
Union (EU) in 2010 are emitting 3.7 % less
CO2 per kilometre travelled than new cars
from 2009. A new data viewer with confirmed
data will be available in October allowing
consumers to compare the carbon efficiency
of cars from different manufacturers.
The transport sector is the second largest
source of CO2 emissions in the EU. Road
transport alone accounted for about one
fifth of total EU CO2 emissions in 2009
and its emissions
increased by 23% between 11000 and 2009.
In 2009, the EU adopted targets for average
CO2 emissions of new passenger cars as part
of its strategy to reduce emissions from
transport. The legislation sets target values
of 130 grams CO2 per kilometre [gCO2/km]
to be met by 2015 and of 95 gCO2/km by 2020.
These target values will be phased in gradually.
Detailed data submitted by EU Member States
under this legislation is made available
today in a public EEA database.
An analysis of the data shows that:
The average CO2 emissions
of a new passenger car in the EU27 were
140.3 gCO2/km in 2010. An average new passenger
car emitted 5.4 gCO2/km, or 3.7% less than
in 2009 when average emissions were145.7
gCO2/km.
The difference between
average CO2 emissions of new diesel and
new gasoline vehicles is 3.3 gCO2/km. This
gap is considerably lower than a decade
ago, when the difference was 17 gCO2/km.
Vehicle registrations
decreased by 2.3 million in 2010 compared
to 2007, considered to be the last year
before the economic recession. The majority
(95%) of the registration took place in
the EU-15, where a new passenger car emits
7.9 gCO2/km less than a new car registered
in the EU-12.
Alternative fuel vehicles
(AFV) can be tracked in more detail. In
2010, approximately 13000 flex fuel vehicles
(vehicles working with several types of
fuel such as ethanol and gasoline) and 700
electric vehicles were registered in the
EU.
The dieselisation of
the fleet continued in 2010. The share of
alternative fuel vehicles did not vary significantly
compared to the previous year.
