The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment wants to reduce CO2 emissions from Dutch road transport by 60% from the 1990 level by 2050. This presents a considerable challenge. The market (consumers, industry) will not bring about this reduction ‘by itself’; policy measures will be needed to remove or reduce the existing obstacles. A major obstacle is the fact that emissions have no price in the market. Another obstacle is that new vehicle and fuel concepts with much potential for reducing emissions are not yet full substitutes for current vehicles and fossil fuels. Developing new knowledge and technologies also poses problems. To overcome these difficulties effectively and efficiently, government policies must pursue two strategies. The first focuses on implementing reduction options that are already well developed and almost suitable for introduction into the mass market. These will make it possible to achieve direct emissions reductions. The second strategy focuses on innovation, in which potentially promising reduction options that are not yet suitable for introduction into the mass market are further developed and their price/performance ratio improved. The aim is to develop options for efficient emissions reductions in the future. Various policy options are available for each of these strategies. For example, possible policy options for the first strategy include setting emission standards and establishing an emissions trading scheme for road transport emissions. Policy options for the second strategy include specific R&D subsidies and announcing a tightening of emission standards in the future. Some policy options are within the domain of national government, while others would be within the remit of the EU or regional and local government. (Author/publisher)
Abstract