Average CO ₂ emissions from European cars rise 1.8% in 2019

The average carbon dioxide (_CO2) emissions of new passenger cars registered in the European Union (EU) rose by 1.8% in 2019, to stand at 123 grams per kilometer, well above the 95 grams established by the new European emissions regulations for this year.

This is clear from the Pocket Guide prepared by the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), which points out that in the last three years the average emissions of European cars have rebounded, despite the path of decline initiated during the last decade. The ‘all-rounding’ of the market and the ‘criminalization’ of diesel in favor of gasoline could be some of the causes that explain this increase.

However, there are large discrepancies between the gas levels of passenger cars in the different EU Member States. Thus, the Netherlands is the European region with the lowest average emissions, with 98.4 grams of _CO2 per kilometer traveled, after decreasing by 6.8% last year.

Malta and Portugal follow the list of ‘cleanest’ countries, as measured carbon dioxide emissions from their new cars are 105.3 and 109.4 grams, respectively, after the island country cut its emissions by 2.2% last year, while Portugal increased them by 2.9%.

For its part, Spain is below the European average, with 121.3 grams of _CO2 per kilometer traveled, despite increasing this figure by 2.7% compared to 2018.

Likewise, among the European countries with the highest average emissions of their vehicles are Bulgaria and Slovakia, with 137.6 grams and 133.4 grams, respectively, after increasing their emissions by 7.8% and 5.1% in 2019.

The most polluting ones grow

This document also states that the number of most polluting passenger cars has increased in the last year. In this way, more than 30% of the total cars sold in the EU last year emitted more than 130 grams of carbon dioxide for each kilometer traveled, while in 2018 this figure stood at 27% of the total.

On the other hand, 60% of the passenger cars registered in Europe in 2019 emitted between 96 and 130 grams of CO₂ per kilometer, three percentage points less than a year earlier, while ‘only’ 9% of cars emitted 95 grams of CO₂ or less, as in 2018, but below the figures of 2017, when up to 11% of total passenger cars stood at 95 grams.

However, emissions from new cars accumulate a 20% drop compared to 2008, according to the same data from ACEA.

The manufacturers’ association has also pointed out that despite the fact that the complexity of the production of the new vehicles has increased, the energy consumption per car has decreased by 16.7% in the last 15 years.

In this way, average _CO2 emissions per vehicle fell by 37.7% between 2005 and 2019, “reflecting the industry’s efforts to reduce emissions”, thanks to obtaining more and more energy from renewable or low-carbon sources.

Water consumption per car produced also fell by 44.8% between 2005 and 2019, while waste generated per assembled unit fell by 15% in the same years, as did volatile organic compounds (especially emitted in vehicle paint shops), which fell by 43.3% in the last 15 years.

Source: The Spanish