The Obama administration and 13 automakers agreed in July to boost the fuel economy of cars and light-duty trucks sold in the United States to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The new agreement more than doubles the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, Standard of 24.1 miles per gallon. Achieving the fuel efficiency goals is expected to save American drivers US$1.7 trillion dollars in fuel costs, and by 2025 result in an average fuel saving of over US$8,000 per vehicle. The new standards are expected to result in savings of 12 billion barrels of oil in total.
The standards also curb carbon pollution, requiring performance equivalent to 163 grams per mile of CO2. The administration says the standards will cut more than six billion metric tons of greenhouse gas over the life of the programme.
Source: Environmental News Service, 2 August 2011
Web link: http://yosemite.epa.gov/
If all the 20 planned coal-fired power plant projects in Germany are realised, they would together emit more than 140 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from 2050 onwards. This would make it impossible to achieve the climate targets of the German government.
Significant additional emission reductions and accompanying environmental improvements can be achieved in Europe by 2020. Health benefits alone far outweigh the extra costs for emission control.
A proposal for a revision of the EU Energy Tax Directive, launched in April by the European Commission, has triggered strong reactions from some of the EU member states, including giants like the UK and Germany.
The European Commission do not believe that their own proposal for a new Energy Efficiency Directive will be enough to meet the 20 per cent energy savings target by 2020.
The fate of the vast boreal forest belt of the northern hemisphere is crucial for global climate. A new AirClim-report looks into our possibilities to protect and manage these forests for climate mitigation. Reducing paper consumption turns out to be an option.