Congratulations! You've done it! Your hard work and effort to reduce your carbon footprint last year has paid off and, we would like to think, Planet Earth is just a little bit happier to hear that the worldwide rise in CO₂ levels slowed by half in 2008. Now, we understand that just slowing the rate means CO₂ levels are still increasing but you have to slow down and stop before you can go in reverse. We are also aware that a large part of the decline has to do with the high price of oil and the global economic slowdown which has had negative effects on lots of people, but if there is a silver lining to those financial storm clouds to be had, this may well be it.

The good news comes to us via a study by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) which points out that the use of biofuels and an increase in the use of renewables has helped achieve the encouraging result. It's also worth noting that America actually reduced emissions by 3 percent and that the continuing increases are mostly occurring in developing countries. One final positive worth underlining is that 2008 was the first year investment in renewables was greater than investments in fossil-fuelled technologies. So, keep it up and hopefully we'll have an even better result to celebrate next year!

[Source: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency via Green Car Congress]

Even though Obama's new national CAFE standards will lean on the stricter California standards for support and there was broad agreement that a national standard of this type is the right way to move forward, the devilish details could still cause a disagreement or two. Problem One is that the new CAFE rules don't start affecting new cars until the 2012 model year. Problem Two is that the whole EPA waiver thing has not yet been decided. While California will back down once the 2012 models are here, that state has announced that it still wants to be able to regulate tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions between now and then. The New York Times' Jim Motavalli explains that California doesn't see its rules for the next few years being all that tough for automakers to comply with using existing technology and, in any case, the real prize is that big CAFE standard and dovetailing California's leadership in the fight with the new reality. The battlelines are still drawn, but they're getting a bit scuffed up.

[Source: NY Times]
Photo by Mel. B. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

A month ago, the EPA officially ruled that greenhouse gases (e.g., CO₂) are harmful to human health because they, among other negative impacts, damage the environment and can raise sea levels and cause more wildfires. Tomorrow, the EPA will hold its first public hearing on the finding. The meeting is scheduled to go for 11 hours in a conference center in Arlington, Va., but will continue as needed" to accommodate all members of the public who wish to comment." It's going to be a full day. Green Car Congress reports that, even with comments limited to four minutes each, all slots from 9am to 8pm are already full. The schedule for a second hearing, coming May 21 in Seattle, are also all booked.

Written comments will be accepted until June 23rd, and you can trust that many of the players we cover on AutoblogGreen will be involved in this discussion. An audio webcast of tomorrow's hearing will be available here tomorrow and you can find more information here and here.

[Source: EPA, Green Car Congress, photo: NASA]

One of France's most prestigious car magazines, l'Automobile, believes that considering CO₂ as the only pollutant to adapt legislation is unfair. Hence the magazine editors came up their own list that includes all pollutants coming from the exhaust pipe. The list is actually pretty harsh on small displacement diesels, which are the ones that benefit from low-CO₂ legislation, because not also have Diesel Particulate Filters installed. This lack is something the new Euro V rules are fixing for introduction starting in September, but will not be fully mandatory until 2011. The magazine raised its hackles on this issue, stating that particulates coming out of diesel engines are the most important source of pollution, far ahead CO₂. Nevertheless, the classification is very interesting and you can find their system and the complete list after the jump (can you spot the obvious missing car?).

[Source: L'Automobile]

Following a directive first created back in 2006, the European Union has passed down a ruling that would force European automakers to find a new refrigerant to use in their vehicle's air conditioners. There's some debate as to the timing of this mandate, as it's no secret that most automakers are in a fight to just remain in business.

Regardless, the EU's latest ruling will ban the current R-134a coolant starting in 2011 for both new vehicles and aftermarket solutions. At present, there isn't a commercially available alternative that's ready to use in our current A/C systems, but there are a number of new chemical formulations currently being tested.

One interesting alternative is carbon dioxide, the same greenhouse gas that internal combustion engines emit when burning fuels. If used in car A/C units, the CO₂ would need to be stored at extremely high pressures to be effective. Although CO₂ does contribute to global warming, conventional hydrofluorocarbons are considerably worse.

[Source: Autocar, Guardian]

Explaining the ups and downs of the price of oil requires either a PhD and/or an ability to craft a good story. The French institute Enerdata has found another factor that anyone who wants to tell the full tale should take note of: CO₂ regulations can affect global oil prices. Perhaps someone should tell the EPA.

Enerdata calculated that the 2012 European CO₂ standards will drop global consumption by 0.9 percent. In turn, this will result in a 1.2 percent drop in oil prices, Enerdata says. The trick is going to be whether this downturn will, in turn, increase demand. That's what we're taught, right, that lower prices can stimulate demand? If fuel is cheaper, people might drive more, even if they're doing so in cleaner cars. Therefore, the question becomes: what impact will the increasingly strict European carbon dioxide regulations have? Get more details over at Green Car Congress.

[Source: Green Car Congress]
Photo by [JP] Corrêa Carvalho. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Today's EPA's decision to put CO₂ on the list of greenhouse gases that endanger human health sets up a totally predictable confrontation with the Auto Alliance. The reason is that if CO₂ can be regulated, then there is the potential for individual states (i.e., California) to enact their own greenhouse gas regulations. This, of course, could result in the Alliance's dreaded "patchwork" situation. So, it's no surprise that the Alliance would want to chime in on the decision, and we just got a statement from Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Most of the statement is Allliance boilerplate, but I did notice that there wasn't the same amount of anti-patchwork rhetoric in today's statement as we've heard in the past. McCurdy simply touched on the issue by saying:

We are hopeful that the Obama Administration can find ways to bridge state and federal concerns, and move all stakeholders towards an aggressive, national, fuel economy/greenhouse gas emissions program administered by the federal government.

The Auto Alliance represents the views of BMW Group, Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. You can read McCurdy's full statement after the jump. The EPA will have a 60-day comment period on their decision, so you can bet there will be more statements to come.

[Source: Auto Alliance]

2008 saw the biggest drop ever in CO₂ emissions from new vehicles sold in the UK, with a year over year reduction of 4.2 percent. Wtih a fleetwide average of just 158 g/km, cars amount to just 11.5 percent of total UK carbon dioxide emissions. The combination of rapid escalation in fuel prices in 2008 and congestion charges in cities like London undoubtedly pushed many car buyers to some of the low emissions specials like the VW Polo BlueMotion, Smart ForTwo CDi and Ford Fiesta ecoNetic. Automakers will have to continue driving down the fleet average by 2.5 percent annually to meet the EU mandated 130 g/km average required in 2015. That will likely require the deployment of significant numbers of zero emissions vehicles as well as hybridized versions of larger cars.


[Source: Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders]

More potential changes in the way the EPA does business. Following the decision to re-open the states' rights question on limiting carbon emissions and the California waiver issue, President Obama said yesterday that the EPA could soon take on CO₂ more broadly. The EPA could decide by early April whether or not carbon dioxide is a pollutant and a danger to the public, CNN says. If the EPA does so, then greenhouse gas emission regulations would kick in and would, in the words of the New York Times, "set off one of the most extensive regulatory rule makings in history."

The EPA is currently looking into how regulations might prevent endangerment to public health, and automobile manufacturers would obviously fall under any new CO₂ regulations. From the hints available in the media, it looks like the administration would prefer Congress to put together a cap-and-trade system that would affect pretty much all economic sectors, not just the dirty few.

Buried at the end of the CNN piece is this: "the administration had directed the EPA and the Department of Transportation to develop a national policy for auto emissions." Details are hazy, but it looks like the California standards (or a slightly changed version) could be the basis for a national standard. Carol Browner , President Obama's special adviser on climate change and energy (the "climate czar"), said yesterday that, "We need a unified national policy when it comes to clean vehicles." Well, that's news.

[Source: New York Times via Treehugger, CNN]
Photo by Clinton Steeds. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Despite the best of green efforts, it seems poor Prince Charles can not catch a break. He's been labeled a hypocrite by the Daily Mail for using a private jet to accomplish a South American tour to discuss deforestation and climate change. Back at home, the next-inline-to-the-throne has put his Jaguars and Range Rover (and even his Mum's Bentleys) on a bio-diesel diet, his Aston Martin sips wine-derived ethanol, and he's made his humongous household entirely carbon-neutral. Even the trip, which could generate 322 tons of CO₂, will be entirely offset.

Since his itinerary has him making almost 40 appearances over 10 days, it would be impossible for the prince and his entourage of 14 to fly the friendly skies on commercial flights. So, to further avoid his being made to look like Rodney Dangerfield in a tiara, we here at AutoblogGreen suggest the following solution. Take the sailboat dude. Yeah, it may take a little longer but at least you wouldn't have to read about yourself in the tabloids.

[Source: The Daily Green]