New passenger car registered in the European Union (EU) last year emitted 3.7 per cent less CO2 per kilometre, than cars registered in the previous year.
The preliminary data published by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that emissions from the transport sector are falling after an increase of 23 per cent between 1990 and 2009.
By 2010, the average CO2 emissions of a new passenger car registered in the EU27 were 140.3g/km -5.4 gCO2/km less than in 2009 when average emissions were 145.7 gCO2/km.
Interestingly, while diesel cars are often reputed for their low CO2 emissions and high fuel efficiency, the data shows that the difference between average CO2 emissions of new diesel and new gasoline vehicles is just 3.3 gCO2/km. This gap is considerably lower than a decade ago, when the difference was 17 gCO2/km. This, of course is likely to have a lot to do with the size of the majority of petrol cars. Smaller models are often petrol cars while diesel engines are often fitted to bigger models.
The fall in CO2 emissions for new cars can be attributed to both an improvement in fuel efficiency and a fall in vehicle registrations brought on by an economic recession. Vehicle registrations decreased by 2.3 million in 2010 compared to 2007, considered to be the last year before the economic recession.
The new report from the EEA also reveals a growing interest in alternative fuels within the transport sector. In 2010, approximately 13,000 flex fuel vehicles (vehicles working with several types of fuel such as ethanol and gasoline) and 700 electric vehicles were registered in the EU.
