Drew Kodjak of ICCT, and a member of the GFEI Advisory Board, presenting to the LowCVP conference
Norman Baker MP, the UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, was briefed on the 50by50 campaign at the annual Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) conference at Twickenham.
Experts in the field of low carbon vehicle technologies were meeting at the Twickenham Rugby Stadium on 14 July at the LowCVP meeting – ‘Moving to a Low Carbon Future’.
In his speech to the conference, Norman Baker began by emphasizing the important role which mobility plays by saying that ‘the enemy is not the car, the enemy is the carbon’ , before going on to outline the new UK coalition Government’s plans to support a greener car industry in the context of substantial cutbacks in public spending.
The Minister did not confirm whether the previous Government’s £5,000 subsidy for each electric vehicle purchase would continue, reinforcing the view that it is not yet clear which technology would dominate as more and more technological solutions to the carbon impact of driving are developed. He then found time to visit the ‘50by50’ stall in the Conference’s exhibition, and to hear more about the work which the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) is doing to promote fuel economy globally.
Amongst many others presenting their thoughts and ideas on the future of mobility were Lew Fulton of the IEA which is a partner of the FIA Foundation on the GFEI, and Drew Kodjak of ICCT and a member of the GFEI’s Advisory Board. The two focused on likely future energy scenarios, and current global activities to curb emissions, respectively (see their presentations here).
Lew Fulton, who called for ‘a revolution in technology and behaviour’, laid out some startling facts about the scale of the challenge facing the transport sector as it grows to become the biggest global emitter by 2050. Addressing the issue of fuel efficiency, he predicted that with trillions of dollars being spent on cars globally by 2050, the small additional costs which might be incurred to improve their efficiency would be marginal, compared to the huge gains which they could bring in terms of reduced CO2.
Speaking after the meeting, Sheila Watson, Executive Secretary of the GFEI said:
“It is important that we have as much clarity as possible from Governments all around the world on the future of green mobility at this crucial moment.
We really do not have any time to lose in addressing the issue, and we need global leaders who can show others across the world how important it is to act now to improve fuel economy and to promote new technologies. That is why we in the GFEI are continuing with our busy programme of work promoting the issue of fuel economy globally, and in particular helping countries to develop effective fuel economy policies.”
Click here to download presentation from Drew Kodjak, ICCT and member of the GFEI Advisory board >
Click here to download presentation from Lew Fulton, IEA >