Motorists should face constant petrol price rises to cut Co2, says report

Motorists could face constant petrol price rises if recommendations today from a prominent Government advisory body are adopted.

A "steady increase in fuel price is essential to help control CO2 emissions", the Commission for Integrated Transport (CfIT) said in a report today.

The price of fuel can be a "significant and visible element of overall costs of road transport", added CfIT in its report to the Government on transport and climate change.

The commission said the new climate change committee proposed by the Government should advise the Government on where and by how much fuel duty may need to increase.

CfIT also said:

• There should be greater adherence to the 70mph speed limit on the roads, with effective enforcement of the limit possibly saving around one million tonnes of carbon (MtC) a year;

• Principles of "eco-driving" - such as accelerating smoothly, not braking sharply and not over using air conditioning - might be incorporated into the driving test;

• Road user charging will be "integral to our management of vehicle emissions in the future" but further analysis is needed on the potential to design a scheme to deliver both congestion and CO2 reductions;

• The Government should consider replacing the Air Passenger Duty airport departure tax with an emission charge on aviation fuel when international agreement is reached;

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• Aviation should be included in the EU emissions trading scheme which would run alongside the aviation fuel charge "to send a clear signal to aircraft operators and air travellers about the climate consequences of their decisions to fly";

• There should be a mandatory EU target that new cars not emit more than 100gms of COs per kilometre by 2020.

On the 70mph speed limit, CfIT said enforcing speed limits was "in practice a contentious political issue" but that a sophisticated approach "could win wide public acceptance".

Reducing the maximum limit to 60mph would save 1.88 MtC a year and "the recycling of part of the revenue from speeding fines in some way to the benefit of compliant drivers is a further option to consider".

CfIT said 56 per cent of drivers exceed the 70mph limit on motorways, with 19 per cent of them going at speeds of more than 80mph.

The commission added that a medium-sized diesel car will emit up to 14 per cent more CO2 per kilometre at 80mph than at 70mph.

The commission said that its proposed measures would mean that transport emissions would fall against 1990 levels by 14 per cent by 2020 instead of stabilising broadly at 2005 levels.

CfIT's climate change working group chairman Michael Roberts, who is also director of business environment at the Confederation of British Industry, said: "This report stands out from others by focusing very much on the cost-effectiveness of measures to cut transport carbon emissions."

"Our knowledge in this area needs to improve as it is vital to identifying the best economy-wide approach to meeting the UK's reduction targets."

"It has long been recognised that we need to promote technological and behavioural change to secure reductions in transport emissions."

"This report emphasises the importance of bringing together measures aimed at achieving both."

"The Government's current approach already reflects this but could in our view be developed further to good effect."

"Our aim is to ensure that cost-effectiveness remains a touchstone for policy makers facing the difficult yet necessary choices about how best to reduce the impact of transport on climate change."