Article: BMW leads industry in emissions cuts
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Topic: Article: BMW leads industry in emissions cuts
Posted By: kbannon
Subject: Article: BMW leads industry in emissions cuts
Date Posted: 26-August-2008 at 21:07
BMW leaps ahead on new car CO2 emissions, others still stalling
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BMW
AG improved fuel efficiency last year at four times the average rate of
major manufacturers, new figures show. But the overall performance of
the industry was not enough to meet proposed climate targets for new
cars.
Improved fuel efficiency is directly linked to reductions in the CO2 emissions responsible for climate change.
The average new car sold by BMW in 2007 typically consumed 7.3% less
fuel than in the previous year, leading to a cut in average CO2
emissions from 184g CO2/km in 2006 to 170 g/km in 2007 according to the
report by Transport & Environment (T&E), a sustainable
transport campaign group. The average improvement for all cars sold in
the EU was just 1.7%. This is more than last year’s all-time low of 0.7
per cent, but still not enough to meet climate targets.
Jos Dings, director of T&E said: “With the threat of legislation
looming, BMW has shown that even premium carmakers can seriously reduce
CO2. But the slow response of most carmakers shows that the EU needs to
keep up the pressure with challenging, long-term CO2 targets.”
In December 2007 the European Commission proposed that new cars should
emit, on average, no more than 130g CO2/km by 2012. But according to
the planned law, each company would receive its own target, based on
the average weight of its vehicles in that year; premium carmakers
would therefore get easier targets.
Despite this, German carmakers, including BMW, have been lobbying hard
against the targets, arguing that they should be ‘phased-in’ over
several years. In effect this would mean that the target would
initially only apply to the cleanest segment of the fleet.
Dings said: “German carmakers want CO2 targets to only apply to the
cleanest cars in the early years. It’s the equivalent of demanding that
a smoking ban should only apply to non-smokers.”
The T&E report shows that German carmakers now appear to be closing
the gap on their French and Italian rivals, in contrast to last year
when their emissions actually increased on average.
Other companies that made notable improvements in CO2 reductions
include Hyundai Motor (-3.9%) and Daimler AG (-3.5%). But more than
half of Daimler’s improvement is a result of the sale last year of its
gas-guzzling Chrysler arm, not to enhanced fuel efficiency of Daimler’s
cars.
Industry lobbyists are also arguing for ‘flexfuel’ cars (that can run
on both biofuels and conventional fuel) to be considered as low CO2
models, regardless of their actual emissions. That would be a mistake
according to T&E. The environmental impact (including CO2
emissions) of biofuels are currently very uncertain, and there is no
guarantee that drivers will actually use them. Replacing the fuel is
also no substitute for energy efficiency measures. Given the crucial
role of vehicle efficiency in achieving climate and oil dependence
objectives, such an ‘escape’ would be unacceptable.
The European Parliament’s Environment Committee is scheduled to vote on the car CO2 law on 8-9 September.
T&E is calling for a target of 120g/km by 2012, in line with an
official EU target first proposed in 1994 by the former German
environment minister Angela Merkel (now Chancellor). The
fourteen-year-old target was supposed to be achieved by 2005 and has
already been postponed three times.
The 120g/km average target can be met with existing technology
including stop-start engines, weight reduction, engine downsizing and
other modest improvements. T&E is therefore also calling for a
long-term target of 80 g/km by 2020 to ensure that carmakers invest now
in the technology needed to dramatically improve fuel efficiency in the
long term.
The T&E report, based on sales in Europe in 2007, are derived from
official EU monitoring data obtained by T&E under laws granting
access to official documents. T&E commissioned the independent
Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) in London to analyse
the data.
Download http://www.transportenvironment.org/Publications/prep_hand_out/lid:513 - the report . |
Source: http://www.transportenvironment.org/News/2008/8/BMW-leaps-ahead-on-new-car-CO2-emissions-others-still-stalling/ - transportenvironment.org
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Replies:
Posted By: kbannon
Date Posted: 26-August-2008 at 21:09
BMW leads industry in emissions cutsBy John Reed in London Published: August 26 2008 16:14 | Last updated: August 26 2008 16:14 BMW
is reducing its vehicles’ emissions at four times the rate of other
major manufacturers, according to a leading Brussels-based
environmental watchdog group. The average new car sold last year
by the Munich-based carmaker typically emitted 7.3 per cent less carbon
dioxide per kilometer than in 2006, according to a report on carmakers’
fuel efficiency by Transport & Environment, the campaign group. The
finding will vindicate BMW’s Efficient Dynamics strategy of improving
fuel efficiency and reducing emissions across its vehicle lineup,
rather than focusing on a small number of image-boosting “eco-cars.”
BMW,
with a fleet dominated by the kind of high-performance luxury cars now
in the sights of carbon-cutting legislators, has one of the industry’s
largest research and development budgets.
It is investing
heavily in more efficient engines, “stop-start” or microhybrid systems,
and other emissions-cutting technology in response to pressure from
local and national regulators, including the European Union, which
wants carmakers to cut their cars’ average CO2 by about a quarter by
2012 to 130 g/km.
“This year you see the first signs of the
reaction of the industry to regulatory pressure,” said Jos Dings,
T&E’s director. “We hope that next year they show more progress and
that this regulatory pressure works.”
The group compiled the
report from data submitted by EU governments to the European
Commission. Some carmakers have in past disputed the figures T&E
uses, and BMW was not immediately available for comment.
Other
companies that made significant improvements in CO2 reduction last year
included Hyundai and Daimler, down 3.9 per cent and 3.5 per cent
respectively.
However, T&E said Daimler’s improved ranking
had much to do with its demerger last year with Chrysler, which has
many large, high-emission vehicles in its lineup. Nor are carmakers are
not yet improving their cars’ efficiency fast enough to meet the EU’s
proposed climate target for new cars, according to T&E.
Notwithstanding
its improved performance, BMW’s cars emitted an average of 160 g/km
last year, slightly above the industry average.
Of the 14
automakers ranked, Ford Motor and Honda showed the least improvement
last year, with Ford’s average CO2 emissions down 0.2 per cent and
Honda’s up 1.1 per cent, according to the group.
Toyota, which makes much of the green credentials of cars like its hybrid Prius, reduced its emissions by only 2.4 per cent.
The
draft EU legislation is due to be discussed in committee in the
European parliament next month, and debated by European environment
ministers later in the year.
BMW and other carmakers are
lobbying for loopholes to be included in the draft to give them more
time to meet the targets or exemptions or credits for clean vehicles.
The
carmakers say that thousands of jobs and their future profits will be
threatened by overzealous legislation. Campaigners warn they are
seeking to water down European targets on cutting emissions.
Fiends
of the Earth, who are members of T&E, said that members of the
European Parliament “must stand firm against the self-interested
lobbying of the car industry and vote for tough new standards to cut
emissions from cars.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
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Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/138b3a72-7079-11dd-b514-0000779fd18c.html - FT.com
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Posted By: 540 V8
Date Posted: 31-August-2008 at 23:47
I read very similar things in motor industry news. You have been doing your homework KB, top marks!
Mike
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Previous:E34 530iSE AC Schnitzer suspension.
E28 525e auto-Standard
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Posted By: kbannon
Date Posted: 03-September-2008 at 14:40
News - Online Readers Rate Ford and BMW as Most Fuel Efficient Vehicles
How do Internet Users Rate Cars Based on Fuel Efficiency?, 9-3-2008
Expert
System, leading provider of semantic software that discovers,
classifies and interprets text information, today announces the results
of a six-month study developed to find which auto models are the most
fuel-efficient. Online consumer comments were analyzed and
divided into two categories: luxury and non-luxury vehicles. Of those
categories, BMW was rated the most fuel-efficient luxury brand and Ford
was rated the most fuel-efficient non-luxury brand. Starting
March 1, 2008 and ending August 31, 2008, Expert System examined reader
comments and messages on the Web sites: Automotive.com,
CarandDriver.com, Carforum.com, and Carspace.com. Only reader’s opinions related to fuel efficiency were analyzed, not manufacturers’ specifications for the vehicles. The
luxury vehicles with the highest ratings of fuel efficiency, ranging
from the highest score on, are: BMW, Lexus, Acura, Jeep, and Infiniti. The non-luxury vehicles with the highest ratings are: Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Chevrolet, and Honda. The
auto brands were classified based on their sales prices. Using semantic
search and analysis, Expert System was able to find true consumer
sentiment without confusion around the intended use of the words (e.g.
“gas” as in pedal and “gas” as in fuel) or if complex statements were
positive versus negative (e.g. “For a lousy car, the gas mileage is
pretty good.”). With a network of more than 350,000 definitions,
2.8 million word relationships, and 3,500 linguistic rules, Expert
System detects actual, granular consumer opinion in the most
unstructured places such as blogs and message boards. This is the most
accurate approach to identifying purchase trends and developing fads. “Every
American is feeling the pain at the pump and is looking for some honest
feedback on how to find relief,” said J. Brooke Aker, CEO of Expert
System’s U.S subsidiary. “Motorists are sharing solutions with each
other online—you just have to know where to find them. Semantic
intelligence allows us to see genuine opinions of what consumers really
want and how they think so businesses can make smarter decisions.” | Source: http://www.expertsystem.net/news.asp?idd=1112 - expertsystem.net ]
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Posted By: kbannon
Date Posted: 03-September-2008 at 22:59
EfficientDynamics technologies responsible for CO2 reduction across the BMW and MINI ranges.
MINI range now averages less than 140g/km.
BMW
Group products are officially the cleanest premium cars following
independent, industry-wide research into CO2 emissions. The data,
compiled by http://www.cleangreencars.co.uk/ - www.cleangreencars.co.uk
also shows that, through its EfficientDynamics programme, the BMW brand
has the most improved average CO2 emissions of any premium
manufacturer.
A report into average total model range emissions for car
manufacturers found that from the period January 2008 to June 2008, BMW
recorded an average of 161.64g/km. By comparison the model range
averages for Audi and Mercedes were 177.36g/km and 192.85g/km
respectively. Even Lexus with its hybrid-based model line-up only
managed an average of 194.85g/km, while Jaguar topped 200g/km and
Porsche recorded 275.64g/km.
It’s a similar BMW success story when looking at the percentage
improvements for premium manufacturers over the same time frame. BMW
has improved its average emissions by 11.34 per cent – the greatest
amount of any premium manufacturer. By contrast Audi improved its model
range average by just 5.78 per cent and Mercedes by 4.13 per cent.
Lexus and Jaguar only improved by 2.16 per cent and 2.04 per cent
respectively, while Porsche actually increased its average model range
emissions by 0.63 per cent.
Engineers at MINI have been equally successful in improving CO2 emissions, according to http://www.cleangreencars.co.uk/ - www.cleangreencars.co.uk ,
through the MINIMALISM programme – MINI’s take on EfficientDynamics.
The MINI model range now has an average of 139.64g/km for the period
January 2008 to June 2008. The figure for MINI has also improved by
9.44 per cent compared to a year ago – something that cements its
position as one of the top three manufacturers with the lowest average
CO2 emissions.
Jay Nagley, publisher of http://www.cleangreencars.co.uk/ - www.cleangreencars.co.uk ,
said: “The BMW and MINI model ranges have seen very significant
improvements when it comes to CO2 emissions. The BMW Group should be
praised for its leading stance in this area. It’s proof that driving
dynamics can go hand-in-hand with a green conscience.”
The BMW Group will continue to reduce car emissions ahead of EU
guidelines. NOx storage capability within a catalytic converter will be
offered on certain models in the near future. Engineers are already
finalising drivetrain configurations to meet the likely EU6 legislation
due to come into effect in 2014.
The full details of the research can be read at http://www.cleangreencars.co.uk/ - www.cleangreencars.co.uk |
[Source: http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/about/news/0,,1156__181246800_,00.html - BMW.co.uk ]
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