Improve fuel economy and higher emission standards for all vehicles
Vehicle use in the UK account for about 25% of GHG emissions and are rising due to the continuing emphasis in government spending on road developments rather than public transport. Many car journeys in the UK are of less than five miles and for this distance the car could readily be replaced by the use of public transport or walking and cycling. What is lacking at the moment in the UK, compared to much of Northern Europe, is investment on safe cycle lanes to encourage such a modal shift.
Where car use is required due to poor or absent public transport links, for example in some rural areas, the aim should be to move to more efficient vehicles with reduced emissions. In the short term much can be achieved by switching to smaller more fuel efficient vehicles or to hybrids, which are widely available from several manufacturers. The UK Government needs to encourage this by a combination of fiscal measures that reduce the price disadvantage of such vehicles compared with the average.
Battery powered cars are becoming more widely available from several manufacturers although the cost is high at the moment and the range limited to about 100 miles by current battery capacity. They are however ideal vehicles for local journeys. Hydrogen powered vehicles are also being developed by several manufacturers but the lack of infrastructure in terms of fuelling locations will minimise their use for several years.
Both of these technologies suffer from a major disadvantage at the moment in that the electricity to recharge batteries or the hydrogen for the fuel cell is mainly produced from fossil fuel generation. Wind power could provide an ideal source of electricity for the generation of hydrogen and storage of this hydrogen would address the problem of the intermittent nature of wind, often a target of criticism by climate sceptics. The aim must be to decarbonise the energy supply so that the use of vehicles with zero emissions become the norm.