On 17 December 2018, the European Parliament and the European Council decided to tighten the CO2 limits yet again: Car emissions are to be reduced by a further 37.5 percent from 2021 to 2030 – a demanding goal. For Mercedes-Benz Cars, this would correspond to average emissions of 65 g CO2/km per vehicle in 2030 – this would amount to consumption of 2.4 l of diesel or 2.7 l of petrol/100 km. Other challenges: Different CO2 regulations apply worldwide. Here are the answers to the most important questions concerning the topic of fleet consumption and emissions:
1. What exactly is CO2?
Carbon dioxide is an odourless and colourless gas that remains in the atmosphere for an average of 120 years. It is one of the rarest trace gases and only exists in the atmosphere at about 0.0407%. Apart from oxygen, CO2 is the most important gas required to sustain life on earth. It results from burning fossil energy sources (wood, coal, oil, natural gas), among other things, and accounts for the majority of the greenhouse effect caused by humans. Heat and electricity generation, households and small consumers, as well as traffic and industrial production are primary sources.
2. Why do CO2 emissions have to be reduced?
At the Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP 21, 2015), 195 countries reached a global climate change agreement for the first time. The agreement includes a global action plan, which is to limit global warming to well below 2 °C in order to combat climate change. Greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming. The minutes of the Kyoto climate change agreement (COP 3, 1997) lists six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) as well as the fluorinated greenhouse gases (F gases): hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
3. What is fleet consumption?
Fleet consumption refers to the average fuel consumption and/or CO2 emissions of a vehicle fleet. This means that vehicles with low or indeed no CO2 emissions can balance out vehicles with higher consumption. This can refer to an individual manufacturer, but also to a group of manufacturers or brands that have merged (so-called pooling). The average CO2 emissions value is calculated as follows: The sum of the certified CO2 emissions values for individual vehicles is divided by the number of new vehicles sold in the calendar year. This results in a CO2 fleet average at “ pool” level for the calendar year. This must be below the pool-specific target value, as otherwise penalties will be payable.
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SOURCE: Daimler
