Green fuel 'not enough' to cut transport pollution

Green fuel 'not enough' to cut transport pollution

Andrew Clark, transport correspondent
Friday January 27, 2006
The Guardian


Environmentally friendly vehicles using hydrogen-based fuels and hybrid power sources will have little impact in preventing "dangerous and irreversible pollution" within 15 years, according to a long-delayed government-funded study.
Even if green vehicles become commonplace, Britain's seemingly insatiable appetite for travel will cancel out benefits and critically pollute the air, concluded a group of scientists and academics.

The findings are in a report by the University College London Bartlett school of planning and the consultancy Halcrow, which was commissioned by the transport secretary, Alistair Darling, as part of a long-term project called New Horizons.


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The work advocates radical measures to change behaviour including lower speed limits, road charging, investment in cycling and even a policy of higher oil prices and "rations" for carbon emissions.
It was completed in November but its publication has been delayed by the Department for Transport amid discussions about its content.

David Banister, co-author of the study, said it would be "irresponsible" for the government not to act.

"You need support for behavioural awareness and educational programmes," said Professor Banister. "Technological changes aren't enough - just because you get an eco-friendly car doesn't mean you can drive twice as far."

Prof Banister was asked to consider how Britain could achieve a 60% reduction in carbon emissions from transport by 2030 as part of initiatives to go beyond targets agreed under the Kyoto treaty.

The distance travelled by the public is predicted to increase by 35% over the three-decade timeframe of the study. "The problem really is not so much the travel we're doing today but the expected increase by 2030," said Prof Banister.

The report recommends car clubs and travel "blending", whereby people are encouraged to combine several trips for different purposes into one journey. It also suggests examination of carbon emissions rations which cannot be exceeded without buying somebody else's share.

A Department of Transport spokeswoman said the government was taking steps to tackle emissions through tax incentives for cleaner vehicles.