Footprint as utility parameter

The European Commission has to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from new cars if it is to have any chance of meeting its climate commitments, and it has set a target of 130 grams per kilometre from the average new vehicle. But the EU wants the diversity of the EU fleet to be respected, which means having different targets for some vehicles than for others. It could divide vehicles into categories and propose a target for each, but this would be very arbitrary. It therefore needs a uniform basis for ensuring that all vehicles make their fair share towards cutting CO₂ emissions – this basis is known as a ‘utility parameter’ that will in some way reflect the ‘size’ or usefulness of the car.

The researchers looked at the pros and cons of using footprint as a utility parameter – in particular its ability to avoid perverse incentives such as ‘gaming’ (the practice of car makers tinkering with cars to make them fit into category with a higher CO₂ allowance). They also investigated how understandable footprint is, whether there were any cost implications, and also ensured that using footprint as a parameter would meet EU legal requirements on not discriminating between one manufacturer group and another (especially as some car makers specialise in larger or smaller models). And it was also important to establish how easy it would be to compile a footprint database of all new models available in the EU.