Scrappage scheme launched in Britain to save car industry

• Source: Xinhua
• [07:43 May 22 2009]
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GREEN INITIATIVE

The scheme is also seen as a green initiative to deliver environmental benefits by replacing old cars with less polluting vehicles, as Britain aims higher in cutting vehicle emissions and fuel consumption.

According to data from the SMMT, 85 percent of a car's life cycle CO2 comes from the use phase of a vehicle and its production only accounts for 10 percent of lifetime CO2.

Under the scheme, the dealer will ensure that the vehicle is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way through an Authorized Treatment Facility and will need to prove this has happened in order to claim back the scrappage incentive, said the SMMT.

When a car is scrapped, 85 percent of it can be recycled or re-used. Once reusable parts have been removed, the vehicle is then de-polluted by removing its harmful liquids, tyres and deploying the airbags, the organization said.

The remaining materials are then shredded to recover valuable parts like steel, aluminium and recyclable plastics, some of which go back into vehicle production.

On the production frontline, manufacturers have made progress toward meeting tough environmental targets.

The amount of fuel consumed by cars fell by 1.5 percent in 2007 from a year earlier, and 6.3 percent from 10 years ago, according to the SMMT.

Average new car CO2 emissions have fallen every year since the SMMT collected the statistics as from 1997. CO2 emissions per vehicle produced in Britain have fallen 45 percent since 1999.

In 2008, the annual rate of decline was the steepest on record, at 4.2 percent, to 158g/km. This was more than 2.5 times the rate of improvement averaged over the previous 11 years.

However, the biggest challenges still lie ahead. The adoption of the EU new car CO2 regulation in December 2008 set strict pan-European targets of 130g/km by 2015.

This means an annual improvement of 2.5 percent is needed in Britain to meet the European target.

As part of the efforts to hit the target, British Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announced in January that the government would be investing 250 million pounds ($387 million) in low-carbon vehicles.

Meanwhile, the 2009 Budget provided 405 million pounds ($628 million) of support to low-carbon industries and green manufacturing.

The British government has announced an initiative to encourage the use of electric cars as the central part of its strategy to promote ultra low-carbon transport over the next five years.