The European Commission presented last January an ambiguous [?ambitious] action plan to reduce the emission of green house gases (GHG) by at least 20% by 2020. It is said that that the common policy on transport will not be effective enough to reduce CO2 emissions from transport enough to meet the targets. The Dutch government has set a national objective of achieving a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. This paper addresses the question of what can be considered a feasible reduction aim in CO2 emissions. CO2 is by far the most common greenhouse gas produced by transport activities for the road freight transport sector. The instruments the government can implement to achieve this objectiveare reviewed. Proportionately applying the proposed objective to achieve a 30% reduction in emissions by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, to the domestic activities of these sectors (domestic freight transport by road) is expected to necessitate the implementation of very expensive measures whichare not cost-effective. Technical measures alone are not effective enoughto achieve the 30% reduction and should be implemented in combination with other measures such as the large-scale use of second-generation biofuels, the cumulative CO2 impact and costs of which remain largely unknown. A closer look reveals that a reduction of one billion kilograms (approx. 10%)in heavy goods vehicles emissions can be achieved by 2020. A reduction ofone billion kilograms (approx. 20%) in light goods vehicles emissions seems also possible by 2020. The cost estimate does not take into account possible reductions in the amount of excise duties generated. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999
Abstract