King Review to assess carbon-saving car technologies for Government

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in this year’s Budget statement that he had asked Professor Julia King, Vice Chancellor of Aston University and former Director of Advanced Engineering at Rolls-Royce plc, working with Sir Nicholas Stern, author of the Government’s recent climate change report, to lead a review to examine the vehicle and fuel technologies which over the next 25 years could help to 'decarbonise' road transport, particularly cars.

The Review will build on the work of the Energy White Paper and the Government's Low Carbon Transport Innovation Strategy and the TSB's Innovation Platform for Low Carbon Vehicles. It will consider the existing evidence on technologies to reduce the carbon emissions from vehicles and examine whether, over a 25-year time frame, ‘decarbonisation’ may be most cost effectively delivered through incremental evolution of existing technologies, through growing competing niches or via more radical transformational approaches.

The Review will take account of UK capabilities in R&D, design and development and pay particular attention to the competitiveness of the UK manufacturing sector. It will assess the scope for the UK automotive and fuels/energy sector to benefit from the transition to a ‘decarbonised’ road transport system, how a shift in favour of lower carbon vehicle options can be achieved, and how best to influence the global adoption of lower carbon technologies, including in the most rapidly expanding vehicle markets around the world.

The initial element of the Review will report at the Treasury’s pre-budget review in the autumn of 2007 and the Government anticipates using its recommendations to refresh and refine its strategy.

It will involve discussion with a range of stakeholders, including the automotive sector, fuel suppliers and those involved in the development of next generation fuel systems, the investment and venture capital community, vehicle fleet operators (public and private) and academic experts.

Source : http://www.autoindustry.co.uk