The European Commission will propose next week to set carbon dioxide targets for cars based on their weight as sought by German carmakers, although some key points still have to be ironed out, officials said.
Under plans from the Commission, new passenger cars would be required to emit on average no more than 120g per kilometer traveled as of 2012, which would represent a cut of about 25 percent from current levels.
Automakers would be required to limit average emissions across their fleet to 130g/km by improving the technology they use.
A cut of a further 10g will be sought through improvements to air-conditioning systems, tire pressure monitoring and gear shift indicators, while the use of biofuels would also be stepped up.
The issue has pitted countries that make big petrol-guzzling cars like Germany and Sweden against countries that make smaller more fuel-efficient cars such as France, Italy, Romania and Spain.
According to a study from pressure group Transport and Environment, French and Italian manufacturers' cars emitted 144g/km on average last year, compared with 173g/km for German carmakers.
The French and Italian carmakers reduced their average emissions by 1.6 percent between 2005 and last year while they increased 2.8 percent for German giant Daimler.
However, the Commission will propose on Wednesday targets based on cars' weight, as German carmakers want, rather than on other technical criteria such as a car's wheelbase, or the distance between the axles.
"The weight is the easiest way" to set the limits, Sigrid de Vries of European carmakers association ACEA said.
However, Joe Dings, with lobby group Transport and Environment, said that assigning emissions targets to cars based on their weight was "counterproductive."
"It's because carmakers have failed to reduce weight that some models' fuel consumption has not gone down," he said.
The other sensitive issue to be resolved is how much carmakers must pay if they do not meet the targets in 2012.
"If carmakers do not respect the limit, they will have to pay compensation. Otherwise the system would not be very credible," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
Figures ranging from 30 euros to 90 euros (US$44 to US$142) per gram of carbon dioxide over the limit per car sold are circulating as possible penalties.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)