Schriftenreihe .;technologiekompetenz Verkehr in

HYBRID AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union (EU) is
committed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 8%
within the 2008 to 2012 period, compared to the 1990 level. In
March 2007 the EU committed itself to a 20-30% reduction of
GHG emissions overall by 2020. Transport-related CO 2 emissions
grew by 35% in the EU between 1990 and 2006. Other sectors
reduced their emissions by 3% on average over the same
period. The transport sector is therefore performing far behind
Kyoto targets, seriously hindering the achievement of these
targets within the EU.
The share of transport in CO 2 emissions was 21% in 1990 and
grew to 28% by 2006. The European Environment Agency
estimates that cars are responsible for half of this amount, so
14% of the total CO 2 emissions. The high share of CO 2
emissions reflects the fact that the transport sector is strongly
dependent on fossil energy sources. In the EU, oil imports for
cars now amount to €140 billion a year, which is about the same
value as the entire European car industry generates each year.
GHG emissions are expected to rise by 35% by 2010 unless the
necessary countermeasures are implemented. According to the
European Environment Agency's official inventory report on
emissions in 2006, released in June 2008, the transport sector
continues to be Europe's worst emitter of GHG.
Against the background of steadily rising GHG emissions,
imminent and visible climate change and increasing dependence
on energy resources from politically unstable regions,
policymakers set ambitious goals to secure energy supply and to
reduce GHG emissions, including those from the transport
sector. The biofuel directive (COM 2003/30/EC) approved by the
10 Austrian Technological Expertise in Transport
EU in 2003 and the proposed 2008 directive (COM(2008) 30
final) on the use of renewable energy both have the aim of
reducing the use of fossil energy in order to bring down GHG
emissions and at the same time lower the European
dependence on oil imports.
Besides substituting fossil fuels with biofuels, a noteworthy
increase in the energy efficiency of vehicles is necessary to
achieve these goals. From a wide range of technical options,
Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) both
offer improved energy efficiency together with added value in
terms of emissions and noise. In order to optimise the
ecological balance sheet, electricity obtained from renewable
sources is promoted as possible alternative fuel for powering
vehicles.
Back in 1995, a common strategy to reduce CO 2 emissions from
passenger cars (COM (2005) 261) was presented by the EU
Commission, with the target of reducing average CO 2 emissions
from new passenger cars to a level of 120 grams CO 2 per
kilometre (g CO 2/km) by 2012, which corresponds to a
consumption of about 5 litres gasoline or 4.5 litres diesel per
100 kilometres. The strategy was based on 3 major approaches:
> Self restriction from automobile manufactures (1998)
> Providing consumer information related to CO 2 emissions
from passenger vehicles
> Promoting lower fuel consumption through fiscal measures
The evaluation of the approach revealed that the voluntary
agreement has so far not met the designated targets, as
figure 1 illustrates.
Figure 1: Trend in average CO2 emissions from new passenger cars in Austria and
the EU from 2000 to 2006