Global Principles for Cleaner Vehicles Released

SAN FRANCISCO, California, March 8, 2002 (ENS) - Global principles for achieving cleaner, more efficient road vehicles worldwide have been developed by an international group of regulators and industry representatives. Just released by the Energy Foundation, a San Francisco based partnership of major foundations, the "Bellagio Memorandum" is based on discussions held at a meeting last June in Bellagio, Italy.

Responding to priority environmental and health concerns surrounding road vehicles, the expert group identified a total of 43 principles for further action by governments and the fuel and vehicle industries.

The first zero emissions, fuel cell powered passenger car, Daimler-Chrysler's Necar4 seats five and can go 280 before refueling. (Photo credit unknown)

Among the top seven "most specific and urgent calls to action" is for the world to follow the European Union's lead and reduce sulfur levels to near zero levels - 10 parts per million - in all fuels except bunker fuel. Under draft proposals currently under debate, this is set to become the legal standard in the EU from 2009.

The expert group recommends measures to achieve a 25 percent average reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for new personal passenger vehicles over the next decade - in line with the goal of a voluntary agreement reached in 1998 between the EU and car makers.

The Bellagio Memorandum also recommends three other mechanisms to cut greenhouse gas emissions - fuel efficiency standards, exhaust greenhouse gas standards, and financial incentives.

Other top priorities are an immediate ban on lead in all fuels and a cap on benzene at no more than one percent, together with controls on aromatic content.

Emission standards worldwide should be based on the best available technology, the group recommends. Test procedures should reflect real world operating conditions.

Participants in the meeting included senior regulators from France, Germany, Japan, China and the United States, as well as the European Union. Annual evaluations of the principles are planned.

The Energy Foundation is a partnership of major foundations interested in sustainable energy. It was launched in 1991 by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Rockefeller Foundation. The group now includes the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The Bellagio Memorandum is online at: http://www.ef.org/bellagio/bell_final_use.pdf

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}