Airlines' fuel practices feed doubts over climate commitment

Yahoo – AFP, November 20, 2019

How serious are airlines about cutting emissions? (AFP Photo/JOEL SAGET)

Paris (AFP) - Airlines have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints under the gaze of public opinion, but the pressure of the bottom line means some fly with extra fuel, boosting emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

As the highly competitive air travel industry is being pushed to reduce its carbon emissions -- which it puts at two to three percent of the global total -- the practice known as fuel tankering has become an acid test for airlines' commitment to really go green.

In fuel tankering, an aircraft's tanks are filled sufficiently at the departure airport to avoid having to take on additional fuel for the return leg at a destination airport where fuel costs may be higher, or there are supply issues.

According to a study by Eurocontrol, the practice is a money-saving strategy for airlines as it outweighs the cost of additional fuel needed to carry the extra weight on the outbound flight.

"Aviation is a very competitive market and each airline needs to minimise operating costs, in order to keep its ticket prices as competitive as possible," said the group, an inter-governmental organisation that helps harmonise regulations in the sector.

With fuel accounting for up to 25 percent of airlines' operating expenses, "saving fuel has become a major challenge for aviation", it added.

Eurocontrol found that in Europe fuel tankering concerns about one in six flights, on average resulting in an extra 136 kg of fuel burned.

Despite the additional fuel cost of 75 euros it still results in a net saving of 126 euros per flight. That saving also includes nine euros for purchasing carbon allowances for the 428kg of additional CO2 generated.

The report estimated that in Europe fuel tankering could generate net savings of 265 million euros per year for airlines, while adding 286,000 tonnes of fuel burnt and 901,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

"This represents about 2,800 round-trips between Paris and New York or the annual emissions of a European city of 100,000 inhabitants," said the report.

The airline industry estimates it accounts for 2-3 percent of global CO2 emissions 

(AFP Photo/ANDREW COWIE)

Everybody does it.

After being called out for fuel tankering by the BBC, British Airways called it a "common practice across the airline industry" and said that it is done for "operational, safety and price reasons".

British Airways said it resorts to fuel tankering for "mainly short-haul destinations where there are considerable fuel price differences between European airports".

Willy Walsh, the head of IAG, British Airway's parent company, acknowledged that the issue shows that airlines are torn between economic and environmental imperatives.

"What we see today is that there is often a conflict between what we do that makes a commercial and financial sense and the things we should be doing from an environmental point of view," he told investors at a gathering at the beginning of November.

Germany's Lufthansa said it resorts to fuel tankering only exceptionally for operational reasons because the practice "goes against our goal of reducing carbon emissions," said a spokesman.

Air France said it practiced fuel tankering only on "some specific" routes for economic or organisational reasons.

Planting trees to offset emissions (AFP Photo/JOHANNES EISELE)

Offsets

The airline industry adopted in 2016 a mechanism called CORSIA to offset any increase in CO2 emissions from 2020 levels using tree-planting and other schemes that absorb carbon.

This will allow the industry to continue to grow to meet rising demand for air travel without adding any additional carbon on a net basis.

Budget airline easyJet announced it plans to go further by offsetting emissions from all flights.

Most airlines have also undertaken efforts to reduce their emissions such as optimising flight paths, using electric towing vehicles or reducing the weight of seats.

But these efforts are not sufficient believes Andrew Murphy of the non-governmental organisation Transport and Environment.

"The increase of aviation emissions and stories like this show that actually the industry isn't doing enough and actually we can't just rely on the industry to cut it's own emissions," said Murphy.

"The equation is super complex" to arrive at a reduction of emissions when the volume of air traffic is expected to double every 15 to 20 years, said Pascal Fabre, an air travel expert at the consultancy Alix Partners.

The situation is even more daunting as airlines need to make money to survive, with around a dozen going out of business in the past year and a half according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

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Climate protesters block Geneva's private jet terminal

Yahoo – AFP, November 16, 2019

The activists said they were protesting the 'absurd' mode of luxury transport
(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

Geneva (AFP) - Dozens of climate activists blocked access to the private jet terminal at Geneva airport Saturday, demanding a halt to the "absurd" mode of luxury transportation.

Around 100 people took part, organised by pressure group Extinction Rebellion, large groups sitting in front of three entrances to block access to the building for several hours.

Extinction Rebellion describes itself as an international movement using non-violent civil disobedience "to achieve radical change in order to minimise the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse".

As musicians played, protesters wearing armbands with the Extinction Rebellion logo sang songs and danced around with white, cloud-shaped placards and banners with slogans like "Be part of the solution, not pollution".

"We are facing a total climate emergency," Extinction Rebellion spokesman Micael Metry told AFP.

Activists block an entrance at Geneva airport's private jet terminal, during a protest 

by the climate change action group Extinction Rebellion (XR) in Geneva, Switzerland 

(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

"Private jets emit 20 times more CO2 per passenger than normal airplanes," he said.

"It is very important for us to denounce this completely absurd and unjust means of transportation, which is used by a tiny fraction of the population."

Sonia Ediger, who said she had come from Lausanne to take part in the protest, called on the "powerful people of the world" who fly private jets "to come down out of the clouds".

"We are seeing the world collapse around us, we see catastrophe after catastrophe, ever bigger, ever more frequent, all around us," she told AFP, insisting that "radical change" was needed.

A large number of Geneva police, some in riot gear, assembled to monitor the unauthorised protest, but kept their distance for several hours.

At mid-afternoon, police asked the demonstrators to identify themselves and then leave in small groups, which they did peacefully.

Police spokesman Silvain Guillaume-Gentil told the ATS news agency they had not yet decided whether to bring charges.

Airbus ups estimate of 20-year demand for new planes

France24 – AFP, 18 September 2019

Paris (AFP) - Airbus on Wednesday increased its estimate of the number of new aircraft needed over the coming two decades as airlines seek more fuel-efficient planes even as it trimmed its forecast for the increase in demand for air travel.

In its latest Global Market Forecast for the next 20 years, the European aircraft maker said it expects air traffic to grow by 4.3 percent annually, a drop from the 4.4 percent annual growth it forecast last year.

Nevertheless, Airbus now expects even higher demand for new aircraft than it did last year thanks to airlines increasingly retiring older planes for new ones that offer lower operating costs as they consume less fuel.

Airbus anticipates demand for new aircraft over the coming two decades at 39,210 planes, a rise of nearly 2,000 from its forecast last year, due a sharp increase in replacements. Unlike last year, it did not provide a cost estimate.

"Developments in superior fuel efficiency are further driving demand to replace existing less fuel efficient aircraft," said Airbus in a statement.

However, it scaled back the number of planes it expects airlines to acquire to meet growth in demand for air travel by more than 1,500 aircraft to 25,000.

Airbus said that nevertheless the annual growth of more than 4 percent reflects the resilient nature of aviation from economic shocks and its increasingly key role in the global economy.

"Economies thrive on air transportation. People and goods want to connect," said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International.

"Globally, commercial aviation stimulates GDP growth and supports 65 million livelihoods, demonstrating the immense benefits our business brings to all societies and global trade," he added.

The firm also stressed that with its latest more fuel efficient models it will help the airline industry limit its environmental impact.

"Airbus believes it will largely contribute to the progressive decarbonisation of the air transport industry and the objective of carbon neutral growth from 2020 while connecting more people globally," it said.

The airline industry aims to freeze its carbon footprint at its 2020 level thanks to more fuel efficient aircraft and through offsets like planting trees.

Ticket tax won’t hit airlines, will cut CO2, says leaked Brussels report

DutchNews, May 13, 2019 

A plane landing at dusk. Photo: Depositphotos.com 

The introduction of a flight tax of €7.50 per ticket will not have a negative effect on the Dutch economy but will cut carbon dioxide emissions, according to a leaked report by the European Commission. 

The Dutch government plans to introduce a tax on flying in 2021. The Netherlands is one of 20 EU countries which levies little or no tax on airline tickets, apart from 21% value added tax on domestic flights. 

The report has been leaked by green campaign group Transport & Environment and shows that a tax on tickets similar to that which operates in Germany would lead to a 4% increase in ticket prices and a 4% drop in passenger numbers and flights. 

But the impact of this on the aviation sector will be ‘compensated by an almost equal increase in jobs in other sectors of the economy, so the net effect on employment is close to zero’, the report said. 

In addition, the  introduction of a tax on tickets would generate €324m for the treasury, cut CO2 emissions by 4% and the number of people affected by noise by 3%. 

The report, which has not been published by the commission, also shows that taxing kerosene in Europe would cut aviation emissions by 11% and have no net impact on jobs or the economy as a whole.

‘Aviation’s decades-long kerosene tax holiday needs to end now,’ said Bill Hemmings, aviation director of Transport & Environment. ‘This is essential to fight climate change and will help the millions afflicted by unbearable aircraft noise. Europe’s unique and deplorable status as a kerosene tax haven is indefensible.’

Germany finds truckers cheating to hide emissions

Yahoo – AFP, April 2, 2019

Emissions cheating in trucks is rampant and getting harder to detect (AFP Photo/
Christoph Schmidt)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German authorities have identified hundreds of trucks "manipulated" to save their operators money by shutting off exhaust treatment systems, saying many more cheating vehicles could be at large on Europe's roads.

Of around 13,000 trucks whose "AdBlue" filter system was checked on German roads last year, 300 were "defective", a government answer to a parliamentary question from the Greens party seen Tuesday by AFP showed.

Of 132 such defects spotted since August last year, 84 could be traced back to deliberate manipulation rather than a technical fault, the government added -- a distinction not drawn in statistics collected before then.

Electronic devices available for around 100 euros ($112) allow users to deactivate the exhaust treatment system, allowing some trucking firms to make massive savings, daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported after revealing the scheme.

But with their catalytic converters switched off, the trucks spew far more harmful pollutants.

"The fact that we are finding more manipulated systems than faulty ones is an alarm signal," Greens MP Stephan Kuehn said.

With time, "the parts needed for the cheating are becoming smaller and smaller and more sophisticated, and therefore more difficult to find" during spot checks, the government added.

The SZ reported that operators can save up to one-third of the costs of running a truck supposedly meeting the Euro 5 or 6 emissions standard by installing one of the boxes or modifying software -- an even harder-to-detect option.

Devices or software changes can enable cheating in a number of ways.

Some fool the engine control software into thinking the catalytic converter is still working, preventing a warning to the driver or an automatic reduction in performance.

Others produce fake readings for the outside temperature, triggering a system that deactivates exhaust treatment at below -11 Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit).

Clusters of similar rule-breaking have been identified elsewhere in Europe, especially in Spain.

Without exhaust treatment, trucks emit far more nitrogen oxides (NOx), which studies have shown is linked to various respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Since Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating emissions tests on 11 million vehicles worldwide, alarm has spread in Germany about levels of the gas in city air.

Federal, state and local governments are battling to prevent drivers of older diesel vehicles being banned from city centres as courts order a growing number of exclusion zones.

KLM-backed bio-kerosene plant may open in the Netherlands

DutchNews, September 18, 2018 

Aviation is a major source of carbon-dioxide emissions. Photo: DutchNews.nl 

The Netherlands is on the verge of getting its first factory to produce bio-kerosene, an alternative fuel to tradition kerosene and made out of biomass, the AD said on Tuesday. 

A location for the plant has not yet been confirmed but Groningen is on the shortlist, the paper said. 

The plans have been confirmed by Maarten van Dijk, director of SkyNRG, which will build the factory. ‘We are in the last phase of selecting the location and suppliers. I think that we will be able to reveal more at the end of this year or beginning of the next,’ he told the paper. 

Rotterdam and Amsterdam are being considered as alternative locations. 

Airline KLM is a important shareholder in SkyNRG and has also confirmed that plans for the factory are being made. The airline currently imports bio-kerosine from Los Angeles and it uses the fuel mainly on its fights to the American east coast. 

The AD says there are no other bio-kerosines plants in north-west Europe and that the investment will create a large number of jobs. 

Pollution 

Passenger air traffic is currently responsible for between 2% and 3% of global carbon-dioxide emissions, but in the Netherlands, the figure is 7%, the AD said. 

Bio-kerosine is made from leftovers from the timber and agricultural industries, as well as the food processing industry. Wageningen University said earlier this year that bio-kerosene is a potentially important option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector. 

However, the price is two to three times that of ordinary kerosene and ‘the direct and indirect effects… on the aviation sector and the Dutch economy as a whole depend to a large extent on how the additional costs of biokerosene will be funded,’ University researchers said.

EU raids automaker BMW in post-Dieselgate cartel case

Yahoo – AFP, Alex PIGMAN, October 20, 2017

BMW headquarters in Munich, southern Germany (AFP Photo/Christof STACHE)

Brussels (AFP) - EU antitrust regulators have raided the offices of automaker BMW in Munich, the company said Friday, in a fresh blow to the beleaguered German car industry.

The European Commission, which refused to name the company targeted, said it "can confirm that as of October 16, 2017 its officials carried out an unannounced inspection at the premises of a car manufacturer in Germany."

The inspection was related to "concerns that several German car manufacturers may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," a statement said.

The commission added that Daimler was cooperating with the commission and could accordingly offer the Mercedes-Benz manufacturer leniency in the case.

"The inspection is linked to complaints against five auto companies that were reported in the media last July," BMW said in a statement, that confirmed the raids but denied any manipulation of diesel emissions.

News weekly Der Spiegel reported in July that German carmakers Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Daimler secretly worked together from the 1990s on car development, construction and logistics -- including how to meet increasingly tough diesel emissions criteria.

Both buyers and suppliers of the auto giants suffered from the under-the-table deals, the magazine alleged.

BMW in July denied any collusion with industry rivals on emissions from its diesel engines, saying none of its models had been "manipulated" or violated industry regulations.

Wolfsburg-based VW, along with Daimler, was among the first to hand over details of the alleged broader collusion between the five firms to competition authorities, reported Spiegel, saying it had seen a relevant VW document.

Diesel blues

The allegations of antitrust violations are the latest cloud over Germany's auto industry.

In 2015, Volkswagen was forced to admit it had installed software in millions of its diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests, which has already cost it tens of billions of euros.

In a separate cartel case, Daimler suffered a billion-euro fine from Brussels last summer for fixing truck prices with competitors.

In theory, the European Commission or Germany's federal competition authority could fine firms found guilty of colluding up to 10 percent of annual revenue -- or close to 50 billion euros ($58.3 billion) across all five car companies, based on 2016 sales.

BMW in its statement Friday said it wanted to make "the clear distinction" between the possible antitrust violations and the diesel emissions manipulations, "which BMW has not been accused of".

Volkswagen refused comment, but added that its offices were not targeted.

Among the areas Spiegel reported manufacturers collaborated on was the size of tanks for a liquid known as AdBlue, used to treat diesel exhaust fumes.

The fluid reacts with harmful nitrogen oxides found in the emissions and transforms them into water and nitrogen.

Carmakers agreed not to add tanks to their vehicles, Spiegel reported, preferring to save space for golf bags or profitable upgrades such as speaker systems.

Rather than call on drivers to refill tiny AdBlue tanks every few thousand kilometres, Volkswagen is alleged to have used so-called "defeat device" software to cheat emissions tests in some 11 million cars worldwide.

Other manufacturers including Daimler are suspected of doing the same.

"Vehicles made by the BMW group were not manipulated and complied with legal requirements," the firm said Friday in its statement.

BMW was one of the worst performers in late afternoon trading on Frankfurt's DAX 30 index, shedding 1.1 percent to 86.47 euros. Fellow carmakers Daimler and Volkswagen fell by close to one percent each. 

Former VW engineer gets 40 months in 'dieselgate' scandal

Yahoo – AFP, August 25, 2017

A US court on Friday sentenced a former Volkswagen engineer to nearly three
and a half years in prison for his role in the company's emissions cheating
scandal (AFP Photo/PAUL J. RICHARDS)

Detroit (AFP) - A US court on Friday sentenced a former Volkswagen engineer to nearly three and a half years in prison for his role in the company's emissions cheating scandal.

James Robert Liang was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine after pleading guilty to charges he conspired to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act, the court announced.

The sentencing comes several weeks after former VW executive Oliver Schmidt pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in the "dieselgate" matter, which has brought one of the world's to auto makers into disgrace.

Liang was also ordered to serve two years of supervised release upon his release from prison, according to a spokesman for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

However, US authorities may choose to deport Liang to Germany once he is released, the spokesman said.

The sentence was significantly harsher than what prosecutors had recommended.

In exchange for Liang's cooperation, Justice Department officials had recommended a sentence of only three years and a fine of just $20,000.

A lawyer for Liang had instead asked for a year of probation and home confinement, noting that Liang's cooperation had resulted in criminal charges against three other defendants.

Liang pleaded guilty in September to a role in a nine-year conspiracy to develop devices that hid emissions harmful nitrogen oxide during pollution tests on Volkswagen's diesel-power cars.

The company has set aside more than $24 billion to cover the fines and compensation in the scandal, in which it admitted in 2015 to equipping about 11 million cars worldwide with so-called defeat devices to mask emissions.

Audi voluntarily recalls up to 850,000 diesel vehicles

Yahoo – AFP, July 21, 2017

German luxury carmaker Audi, a Volkswagen subsidiary, issued a voluntary recall
of up to 850,000 diesel vehicles, saying it would help reduce engine emissions
(AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German luxury carmaker Audi, a Volkswagen subsidiary, issued a voluntary recall of up to 850,000 diesel vehicles Friday, saying it would help reduce engine emissions.

"Audi aims to maintain the future viability of diesel engines for its customers and to make a contribution towards improving air quality," the Bavaria-based manufacturer said in a statement.

Vehicles with affected engines would receive a free software upgrade that "will further improve their emissions in real driving conditions beyond the current legal requirements," Audi added.

The recall affects cars fitted with six- and eight-cylinder diesel motors meeting the Euro 5 and Euro 6 emissions criteria, Audi said, including some from parent Volkswagen and sister firm Porsche that are fitted with Audi engines.

It had developed the offer "in close cooperation" with Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority or KBA, it added.

Audi's recall comes days after Mercedes-Benz and Smart maker Daimler issued a voluntary recall for more than three million diesel vehicles in Europe.

Pressure on car manufacturers in Germany and elsewhere has been growing steadily since Volkswagen's admission in 2015 that it installed systems in 11 million diesel-fuelled cars worldwide to defeat regulatory emissions tests.

Politicians in Berlin and German regional capitals have been looking at measures to reduce air pollution from diesel vehicles, with some even mulling bans for the highest-emitting vehicles from inner-city areas.

In its statement, Audi said it hoped to "counteract possible bans on vehicles with diesel engines" with its recall.

Related Article:

New report: Massive collusion amongst German automakers

Daimler announces emissions recall of 3 mln diesel cars in Europe

Yahoo – AFP, July 18, 2017

Mercedes-Benz will extend a voluntary recall to more than three million
diesel vehicles (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Berlin (AFP) - German luxury car maker Daimler, which is being investigated for alleged emissions cheating, announced Tuesday a voluntary recall of more than three million Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles in Europe.

It said it had already launched a service action for other models and that, "in order to effectively improve the emissions of additional model series, Daimler has now decided to extend the service action to include over three million Mercedes-Benz vehicles".

The Stuttgart-based company said the action would cost the company some 220 million euros ($255 million) and be free of charge for customers.

"In this way, Daimler is making a significant contribution to the reduction of nitrogen-oxide emissions from diesel vehicles in European inner cities," it said in a statement.

The recall would start in coming weeks and, "due to the large number of vehicles", take "a longer period of time".

A week earlier, German media reported that Daimler had manipulated the engines of around one million diesel vehicles to make them appear less polluting, raising echoes of competitor Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' scandal.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily and two public broadcasters, citing a court-issued search warrant, said the company "sold vehicles with higher levels of damaging emissions than allowed for almost a whole decade between 2008 and 2016, in Europe and the United States".

Investigators suspect Daimler used a similar so-called "defeat device" to Volkswagen, which in 2015 admitted to manipulating emissions readings on some 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide.

Software in the motor runs the emissions treatment system at a higher setting when it detects the vehicle is undergoing regulatory testing.

At the time, a Daimler spokeswoman contacted by AFP declined to comment on an ongoing investigation, but said the carmaker was cooperating with the authorities.

In its latest statement, Daimler said Mercedes-Benz had developed a completely new diesel engine family that could meet stricter EU emission regulations to come.

"The public debate about diesel engines is creating uncertainty –- especially for our customers," said Dieter Zetsche, chief executive of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

"We have therefore decided on additional measures to reassure drivers of diesel cars and to strengthen confidence in diesel technology," he said.

"We are convinced that diesel engines will continue to be a fixed element of the drive-system mix, not least due to their low CO2 emissions." 

France 'to end sales of petrol, diesel vehicles by 2040'

Yahoo – AFP, Clare BYRNE, July 6, 2017

In 2016, hybrid and electric cars accounted for 3.6 percent of new cars
registered in Western Europe (AFP Photo/PATRICK HERTZOG)

Paris (AFP) - France will end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of an ambitious plan to meet its targets under the Paris climate accord, new Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot announced Thursday.

"We are announcing an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040," Hulot said, calling it a "veritable revolution".

Hulot acknowledged that reaching the goal would be "tough", particularly for automakers, but said that French carmakers Peugeot-Citroen and Renault were well equipped to make the switch.

France, home to Europe's second-biggest car industry, dominates its market for electric vehicles, with the Renault Zoe far outselling other models in 2016.

On Wednesday, Sweden's Volvo said it planned to phase out production of petrol-only cars from 2019, with all new models to be either electric or hybrids.

The Chinese-owned group is the first major manufacturer to electrify all of its models.

Hulot cited Volvo as an example in making his surprise announcement, part of the government's new stated plan to make France carbon neutral by 2050.

'Public health' matter

Hulot, a veteran environmental campaigner and TV presenter, was among several political newcomers to whom President Emmanuel Macron gave top jobs in his government.

His nomination was seen as a strong statement of Macron's commitment to greening the economy.

Within days of being elected, Macron crossed swords on social media with US President Donald Trump, after Trump announced America's withdrawal from the Paris agreement on curbing emissions.

France is one of several European and Asian countries that have said they want to dramatically reduce the amount of polluting petrol and diesel cars on their roads.

India has said it wants all cars sold there to be electric-powered by 2030.

Norway -- where electric cars topped the sales charts for the first time last month -- aims to end sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2025 and car giant Germany wants to put one million electric vehicles on the road by 2020.

Cyrille Cormier of Greenpeace France expressed disappointment over Hulot's failure to set out concrete measures.

The minister said he would give low-income households a grant to help them replace older cars with a cleaner model, but did not specify how much they would receive.

"We still do not know how we will achieve these objectives and respect these ambitious promises," Cormier said.

Motorists still continue to opt overwhelmingly for petrol and diesel models, usually substantially cheaper.

In 2016, hybrid and electric cars accounted for only 3.6 percent of new cars registered in Western Europe, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

The greatest spurt in sales was for non-rechargeble hybrids, which rose 27.3 percent compared to 2015. Electric car registrations jumped by seven percent, while plug-in hybrids grew by only 3.9 percent.

Hulot said that weaning France off conventional cars was also a matter of "public health".

Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and other French cities have a chronic smog problem.

Analysts are split on how quickly electric vehicles will displace those powered by internal combustion engines.

The 29-nation International Energy Agency (IEA), formed after the 1973 oil crisis, sees relatively modest growth, resulting in an eight percent market share -- about 150 million vehicles -- by 2040.

By contrast, private forecaster Bloomberg New Energy Finance's predicts a 22-percent market share for electric vehicles by 2035.

US regulator finds another cheat device in Audi car

A year on since the parent party Volkswagen was hit with near bankruptsy, German media has reported the discovery of a second illegal software function in automatic transmission Audis.

Deutsche Welle, 6 November 2016

German newspaper "Bild am Sonntag" reported on Sunday that the Californian Air Resources Board (CARB) had discovered another illegal software function in an automatc transmission in Audi last summer.

The paper said the device, which was not the same as the one which triggered last year's diesel emissions scandal at Audi's parent company, Volkswagen, was also used in gasoline and diesel-powered cars in Europe.

The illegal software deactivated pollution controls on more than 11 million diesel vehicles sold worldwide, triggering the deepest business crisis in the German carmaker's history.

Investigators found that the cars emitted more than 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems.

Unorthorized

VW said earlier this week, however, that the use of the software  “did not constitute an unauthorized shutdown device under European law.”

According to "Bild am Sonntag" the most recently discovered software was installed on many Audi models with a certain automatic transmission. If the steering wheel does not turn, this indicates laboratory testing conditions, and a gear shifting program which produces less carbon dioxide is activated.

If the driver turns the steering wheel by more than 15 degrees, however, the "warm-up strategy" deactivates, "Bild am Sonntag"said.

Audi reportedly stopped using the software in May 2016, just before CARB discovered the manipulation in an older model, the paper said, adding that the carmaker had suspended several engineers in connection with the matter.

ksb/jm (Reuters, AFP)

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Sweden wants EU to switch to emission-free cars by 2030

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2016

Sweden's environment minister urged the European Union to ban petrol and
diesel-powered vehicles from 2030 (AFP Photo/Fred Tanneau)

Stockholm (AFP) - Sweden's environment minister on Saturday urged the European Union to ban petrol and diesel-powered vehicles from 2030.

Speaking to the Aftonbladet daily, Isabella Lovin of the Green Party hailed a non-binding resolution adopted by Germany's upper house of parliament to switch to emission-free cars by 2030.

"It's a really interesting proposition ... In order to achieve it, we will need to implement an EU-wide ban along the same lines," she said.

"As the environment minister, I do not see any other way than to relegate vehicles powered by fossil fuels to the dustbin of history."

The Swedish government aims to produce all of its power from renewable energy sources by 2040.