There’s good news for environmentalists. The government has finally decided to address their concern regarding rising pollution levels and is giving the final touches to a notification setting fuel efficiency standards for the automobile sector. The norms will come into force in 2011.
At present, vehicle manufacturers voluntarily disclose fuel efficiency at the point of purchase, but the disclosure is optional. Once the notification is in place, revealing efficiency details will become mandatory.
According to the ministry for environment and forest, the automobile sector contributes 15%-20% to the nation’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By 2030, the contribution is likely to go up to 25%.
“We are completing administrative formalities and discussing whether to issue the notification under the Energy Conservation Act or the Motor Vehicles Act,” minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh said on the first day of the two-day fourth environment friendly vehicles conference under way in the capital.
He said all vehicles will have to have energy efficiency tags certified by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency by 2011 and the onus to ensure this would be on manufacturers.
Ramesh said there could be “no two views” on the issue considering the increasing number of vehicles hitting the roads every day.
Environmentalists have been raising the issue, especially in metros where the number of new cars on roads is growing by the day.
The situation in the four metros is grim. Delhi alone has over 50 lakh vehicles on roads every day and the state government is independently planning to introduce stricter norms for vehicles entering the city from its four satellite towns.
“We should move towards a mandatory-fuel-efficiency-standards regime by 2011. The government is discussing how it should be done,” Ramesh said.
At present, only the power and agriculture sectors emit more greenhouse gases than the transport sector. “It is not only about air pollution but also from the point of view of climate change. The rate at which the automobile sector is growing, the industry could account for about 25% of GHG emissions by 2030,” Ramesh said.
