Cutting carbon from road transport; lessons from the first decade of focused UK policy

Panel: 1. Foundations of future energy policy

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Author:
Neil Wallis, LowCVP & ETCC Associates, United Kingdom

Abstract

Presentation of a study commissioned by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) and completed by E4tech and the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff Business School, published in July 2014. The study aimed to review the impacts of a low carbon policy focus on UK automotive investment, growth and jobs.

It included a broad industry survey, supplemented by in depth interviews with senior executives from motor and energy industries, government representatives and other stakeholder groups. The study sought to reveal whether a consistent and sustained policy approach to cutting carbon dioxide emissions from a specific sector can produce both ‘green’ results and growth. It sought to examine the extent to which progress in the road transport sector can be seen as an exemplar for policy towards other sectors of the UK economy where progress has been less encouraging.

In the early 2000s, the UK car industry was in a state of decline. Factory closures were commonplace, innovation was minimal, and the supply chain had become hollowed out. Environmental regulations were seen as a threat in some quarters. Since 2003, UK investments in the low carbon automotive sector have amounted to about £40bn, a figure which matches increases in the turnover of the sector, also accompanied by a 10% increase in UK exports from the sector over the last 10 years.