The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a plan to mitigate statewide harm from more than 10,000 tons of smog-causing pollutants released in the state due to Volkswagen’s (VW) use of illegal “defeat devices” in diesel passenger cars. The National VW Environmental Trust provides California with $423 million for this... Read more →

UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove published a new Clean Air Strategy to cut air pollution backed up through new primary legislation. The UK said it will go further and faster than the EU in reducing human exposure to particulate matter pollution. These proposals are in addition to the government’s £3.5-billion... Read more →

As the Trump administration weighs how to revise fuel economy standards, a new study by research fellows of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) finds that attribute-based regulations—such as the footprint-based rules in the US—are less effective and more costly than a flat standard with credit trading. At the... Read more →

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is accepting grant applications for innovative, advanced fuel, and vehicle technology projects that will result in cleaner advanced alternative transportation within the commonwealth. DEP’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG) Program offers funding for the purchase and use of alternative fuels and alternative fuel... Read more →

The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors approved a plan last week to begin charging solo motorists in designated clean air vehicles (CAVs) a discounted toll to use the ExpressLanes on the 10 and 110 freeways, beginning in late 2018. Under the change, drivers in clean air vehicles without enough... Read more →

Opinion by Michael Sivak The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to protect human health and the environment. However, as the EPA is getting ready to relax the future vehicle fuel economy standards, the time is right to consider whether, under the current administration, this agency’s mission is,... Read more →

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the government will grant no further offshore oil and gas exploration permits. Existing permits will not be affected. Energy and Resources Minister Dr. Megan Woods said that this year’s block offer will be limited to onshore acreage in Taranaki alone. The onshore... Read more →

The Stanford Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) was established at Stanford more than 40 years ago to bring together leading experts and decision makers from government, industry, universities, and other research organizations to study important energy and environmental issues. For each study, the Forum organizes a working group to develop the... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced the completion of the Midterm Evaluation (MTE) process for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for cars and light trucks for model years 2022-2025, and his final determination that the current standards are not appropriate and should be revised. Administrator... Read more →

Guest post by Clay Siegert, Chief Operating Officer at XL. Incentive programs for new vehicle technologies are often put in place to support faster adoption by commercial fleets. These incentive programs can both help justify deployments of earlier stage technologies, and enhance return-on-investment calculations. While a broad range of incentive... Read more →

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that more than 5,750 consumers have received rebates to buy electric cars in New York since the State’s Drive Clean Rebate was launched one year ago. (Earlier post.) The initiative provides residents with a rebate of up to $2,000 for the purchase or... Read more →

California can reduce carbon emissions by more than 70 million metric tons by 2030—akin to taking 15 million gasoline-powered cars off the road in one year—by adopting a higher target for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), according to an analysis released by the UK-based research firm Cerulogy. The analysis... Read more →

In proportion to its population, the Nordic region—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden—is strikingly ahead of the rest of the world in adopting electric cars. With almost 250,000 electric cars at the end of 2017, the five countries account for roughly 8% of the total number of electric cars around... Read more →

The UK House of Commons has released a new report on air pollution that calls for urgent action by national leadership to bring about a step change in how the problem of air quality is tackled. The joint inquiry resulting in the report “Improving Air Quality” was launched in 2017... Read more →

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Auto Alliance) is strongly supporting the passage of Maryland’s SB 1234, a bill that would require the State of Maryland to purchase zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) for state fleets. The bill phases in a requirement that, by fiscal 2026, 50% of light-duty vehicles purchased for... Read more →

Average CO2 emissions generated by new cars in Europe increased during 2017—the first rise in 10 years—according to a new analysis by JATO Dynamics. Covering 23 European markets, the study found that average CO2 emissions increased by 0.3 g/km in 2017, finishing at 118.1 g/km. This rise in average CO2... Read more →

Propelled by growing public concerns about the environment and thanks to incentive policies, the enthusiasm among consumers in China for new-energy vehicles (mainly electric cars) has been steadily increasing, with consumers also expecting breakthroughs in battery technology, according to a recent J.D. Power survey on Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions regarding... Read more →

Xinhua reports that China’s State Administration of Grain (SAG) said that China will expand production and consumption of bioethanol fuel this year as the country seeks more channels to use corn and grain stockpiles. Years of government support for corn farmers—paying Chinese corn producers more than twice the international price... Read more →

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoEP) and Haifa Municipality have begun operating a low-emission zone (LEZ). As of 2 February 2018, polluting heavy diesel vehicles were no longer allowed in downtown Haifa. These buses and trucks must install a particulate filter in order to enter the restricted area. The creation... Read more →

Greater reliance on energy taxation is needed to strengthen efforts to tackle the principal source of both greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, according to a new OECD report. Taxes are effective at cutting harmful emissions from energy use, but governments could make better use of them. In 2015, outside... Read more →

Implementing a $0.25/gallon increase in the Federal fuel user fee (gasoline tax) as proposed by the US Chamber of Commerce would result in an additional 1.2 million Evs on US roads by 2050, according to an analysis by Energy Innovation. Annual EV sales would increase by about 100,000 units per... Read more →

President Trump unveiled his FY 2019 budget request, including $30.6 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE)—a more than 3% decrease from the 2017 enacted level. The bulk of DOE funding would flow to the National Nuclear Security Administration ($15.1 billion, +$2.2 billion over FY 2017 Enacted) and Environmental Management... Read more →

Removing fossil fuel subsidies would have only a small effect on CO2 emissions and renewable energy use, according to a new study led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and published in the journal Nature. Fossil fuel subsidies amount to hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide, and... Read more →

A newly released analysis produced by Beacon Economics for the nonprofit, nonpartisan think-tank Next 10 has found that California’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) market is on track to meet or exceed a target of 1.5 million ZEVs on California’s roads by 2025. The 1.5-million target, set by California Governor Brown in... Read more →

California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed executive order B-48-18, directing all State entities to work with the private sector and all appropriate levels of government to put at least 5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on California roads by 2030. Brown had mentioned the 5-million target in his State... Read more →

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper released of the Colorado Electric Vehicle (EV) Plan, delivering on a directive set forth in the July 2017 Executive Order, “Supporting Colorado’s Clean Energy Transition.” The plan details a series of actions supporting EV infrastructure along Colorado’s corridors. It also lays out goals to accelerate adoption... Read more →

Mobileye, an Intel Company, a global leader in the development of vision and data analysis for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving, and Spain’s Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) have agreed to a collaboration intended to reduce road accidents and prepare Spain’s infrastructure ecosystem and regulatory policy for... Read more →

Québec Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment, and the Fight Against Climate Change Isabelle Melançon has issued the final regulations in support of Bill 104 – An Act to increase the number of zero-emission motor vehicles in Québec in order to reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions. (Earlier post.)... Read more →

Lloyd’s Register and University Maritime Advisory Services (UMAS) released a new study—Zero Emission Vessels 2030—that aims to demonstrate the viability of zero emission vessels (ZEVs) by identifying what needs to be in place to make them a competitive solution for decarbonization. The first milestone in the IMO greenhouse gas (GHG)... Read more →

The EU Council has adopted its position on a directive promoting the use of renewable energy across the EU. This agreement paves the way for the Council to start negotiations with the European Parliament as soon as it agrees on its negotiating mandate. The EU is committed to reach a... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved a $663-million low-carbon transportation plan to increase the use of clean cars, heavy-duty trucks, buses and freight equipment. The funding will help the state cut climate-changing gases while promoting technologies that reduce harmful diesel emissions, particularly in disadvantaged and low-income communities. These investments support... Read more →

Last week, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached a political agreement to raise the quality level and independence of vehicle type-approval and testing; to increase checks of cars that are already on the EU market; and to strengthen the overall system with European oversight. Under current rules,... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released a funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0001817) to support development of advanced nuclear energy technology. DOE expects to make up to approximately $30 million to $60 million—contingent upon the availability of funds appropriated by Congress—available in FY 2018 awards, subject to the availability of... Read more →

The American Lung Association has been named the 2017 Clean Fuels Champion by Chicago Area Clean Cities (CACC), a nonprofit coalition dedicated to promoting clean-energy and clean-air solutions for transportation in the Chicago area impacting nearly 9 million people. The Clean Fuels Champion was awarded last night at the coalition’s... Read more →

Europe’s transport sector is making only mixed progress in meeting its environment, health and climate policy targets, according to the latest European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment which tracks the short and long-term environmental performance of this key economic sector across the European Union. The EEA Briefing “Transport and Environment Reporting... Read more →

Exposure to air pollution on city streets is enough to counter the beneficial health effects of exercise in adults over 60, according to new research led by Imperial College London and Duke University. These findings, published in as open-access paper in The Lancet, show that short term exposure to air... Read more →

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the availability of up to $3.5 million for innovative research and development proposals to accelerate the use of electric vehicles, to reduce the cost of installing and operating charging stations, and to provide recommendations on how they can be used for grid resiliency.... Read more →

The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, presented his Autumn Budget to Parliament. Among the elements in the budget are the launch of a new £400-million (US$530-million) Charging Investment Infrastructure Fund and the provision of an extra £100 million (US$133 million) towards helping people buy battery-electric cars. The government... Read more →

Thirteen environmental groups working on clean transportation solutions sent a letter to the United States Postal Service (USPS) urging it to select plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) for the next generation of delivery vehicles (NGDV). The USPS fleet travels more than 1.3 billion miles every year and uses more than 180... Read more →

Plug-in electric vehicles sales surged to a record in the third quarter, largely driven by strong demand in China, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Sales of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids exceeded 287,000 units in the quarter, 63% higher than the same quarter a... Read more →

Although China and India remain the world’s largest consumers of coal, a new University of Maryland-led study found that China’s sulfur dioxide emissions fell by 75% since 2007, while India’s emissions increased by 50%. The results suggest that India is becoming, if it is not already, the world’s top sulfur... Read more →

As part of a newly released Clean Mobility package, the European Commission is proposing a 30% reduction in average CO2 emissions for new cars and vans from 2021 to 2030. The proposal includes targets both for 2025 and 2030. The 2025 intermediary target of a 15% reduction is intended to... Read more →

Autonomous vehicles should only have to be moderately better than human drivers before being widely used in the United States, an approach that could save thousands of lives annually even before the technology is perfected, according to a new RAND Corporation report. Allowing wide use of autonomous vehicles when they... Read more →

Air pollution in China, especially in mega-metropolitan areas, is a matter of concern due to its impact on public health; outdoor PM2.5 exposure contributed to approximately 1.22 million deaths in China in 2013. China’s measures to improve its air quality are working, but more stringent policies should be put in... Read more →

The average gap between official fuel consumption figures and actual fuel use for new cars in the EU has reached 42%, according to the latest update by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) to its on-going research into vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. A companion analysis by the... Read more →

In a new report (its fourth on electric car adoption) the Boston Consulting Group forecasts that a combination of hybrid and fully electric powertrains will cut the global market share of pure internal combustion engines (ICEs) by about 50% by 2030. ICEs will continue to play a major but changing... Read more →

Southern California Edison has proposed an integrated strategic framework for the state of California to meet its ambitious climate and air quality goals. SCE describes its Clean Power and Electrification Pathway in a white paper. The approach builds upon existing state programs by identifying cost-effective actions to increase clean energy... Read more →

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has published new data demonstrating the correlation between the market uptake of electrically-chargeable vehicles (ECVs) and both GDP and customer incentives. Based on these new findings, ACEA calls for an ambitious but more realistic approach to the electrification of Europe’s car fleet, just before... Read more →

The eighth edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report, released ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, finds that national pledges only bring approximately one-third of the reduction in emissions required by 2030 to meet climate targets, with private sector and sub-national action not increasing at a rate... Read more →

Based on their findings in a new study, researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota suggest that modifying urban form—as a means of affecting motor vehicle usage—may be a strategy to mitigate urban air pollution. Their paper appears in the ACS journalEnvironmental Science & Technology. They... Read more →