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13 pages, 378 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

The Effectiveness of Environmental Taxes in Reducing CO₂ Emissions in Passenger Vehicles: The Case of Mediterranean Countries

by Mónica Meireles, Margarita Robaina and Daniel Magueta

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(10), 5442; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105442 - 19 May 2021

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 4485

Abstract

The transport sector is the biggest source of CO₂ emissions in Europe. It is responsible for over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. Passenger vehicles, alone, account for nearly 41% of these emissions, resulting in human health impacts. To meet the Paris climate commitments, cars and vans should be decarbonized until 2050. Such a transformation requires general changes, such as how the vehicles are owned, taxed, and driven. The European Federation for Transport and Environment revealed that Mediterranean countries tend to emit less per vehicle compared to the northern and central Europeans. Intriguingly, this does not necessarily correspond to motorization rates. In this article, we assess whether the observed reductions in CO₂ emissions in the Mediterranean countries can be attributed to vehicle taxation on CO₂ emissions. We apply panel data econometric techniques using data on annual registrations from 2008 to 2018 and model the demand for new-vehicle purchases and their responsiveness to changes in both CO₂-based taxation and circulation tax. Our results show the determinants of new-vehicle demand and the change in the emissions rate in each country under the taxation currently adopted. We found that fiscal policies can have an important role in reducing the emission in the Mediterranean countries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution and Carbon Dioxide Emissions)

21 pages, 531 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Encouraging Environmentally Friendlier Cars via Fiscal Measures: General Methodology and Application to Belgium

by Laurence Turcksin, Olivier Mairesse, Cathy Macharis and Joeri Van Mierlo

Energies 2013, 6(1), 471-491; https://doi.org/10.3390/en6010471 - 17 Jan 2013

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6480

Abstract

In this paper, a Belgian tax reform plan is elaborated to respond to the EU proposal that requires member states to restructure passenger car taxation systems, preferentially based on the CO₂emissions of the car. A tax orientation on CO₂ emissions alone might however favour diesel vehicles, characterised by a higher fuel efficiency, whereas they release more polluting emissions (PM and NO_x) than comparable gasoline vehicles. This paper introduces a methodology, the Ecoscore, as a potential tax assessment basis. The Ecoscore is based on a well-to-wheel framework and enables a comparison of the environmental burden caused by vehicles with different drive trains and using different fuels. A new proposal for a fixed vehicle taxation system, based on the Ecoscore, is launched. In addition, its impact on the life cycle cost of conventional as well as alternative fuelled cars is measured in order to examine its steering effect towards a cleaner vehicle choice. The overall result is that current tax distortions can be corrected by restructuring the vehicle registration tax and annual circulation tax, based on the Ecoscore. To stimulate behavioural changes, such a fiscal policy should however be paired with additional policies that act on the other important aspects that determine the car purchase decision. Full article

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