Road transport emissions up since 1990 despite efficiency drive

Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions from road transport have continued to grow since 1990 despite more efficient cars because traffic has increased by almost a third, according to government figures.

Cutting emissions on Britain’s roads remains a significant challenge, according to the report from the Office for National Statistics, citing a 6% rise in greenhouse gases in the past three decades.

More fuel-efficient vehicles have mitigated but not stopped the increase in emissions, as traffic rates rose from 255bn miles travelled a year in 1990 to 328bn miles in 2018.

Greenhouse gas emissions, primarily carbon emissions, or CO2, peaked in 2007 before levels of road traffic tumbled during the financial crisis. But road emissions have steadily risen again since 2013 to more than 118m tonnes in 2017, more than a fifth of the UK’s total emissions.

Campaigners said the figures showed car use had to be curbed, and that private vehicles were “locking us in to a high-carbon future”.

Car owners were encouraged by government in previous decades to switch to diesel, a policy that helped limit carbon emissions but contributed to worsening air quality in urban areas. Though greenhouse gas emissions improved relative to the volume of traffic, the slow rate of change has resulted in the transport sector overall – including rail and domestic aviation – overtaking energy production as the most polluting sector. Overall UK emissions dropped by almost a third in the same period.

Jenny Bates, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Despite noise made by vehicle manufacturers about cleaner petrol and diesel technology, transport is still the most climate-polluting sector and it’s clear petrol and diesel sales have to stop as soon as possible. Admittedly there has been some progress but the ever-increasing number of car miles is still locking us in to a high-carbon future, as well as causing health-damaging air pollution.

“The only way to stop transport from leading us to further climate breakdown is to drastically cut the miles travelled by car. Cleaner options such as bicycles, buses and trains need to me made more accessible and more affordable, which will be good for the health of people and the planet.”

Campaigners’ calls for a modal shift in transport come in the face of figures showing declining use of buses. The number of annual journeys in England has fallen by more than 300m in the last five years, to 4.3bn in the year to March, and the Local Government Association repeated warnings last week that half of all routes were at risk. Fares on buses, as on trains, have risen faster than inflation.

China produces the most heat-trapping pollution, followed by the US. But historically, the US has contributed more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than any other nation. The US also has high emissions per capita, compared to other developed countries. And Americans buy products made in China, therefore supporting China's carbon footprint. 

Hopes for bringing down emissions otherwise lie in the swift uptake of low- and zero-emission cars. The Tesla Model 3 helped sales of battery electric vehicles surge last month to a record 3.4% of the UK market, although there was an accompanying slump in sales of hybrids from last August, after subsidy cuts at the turn of the year.

The business minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “As electric vehicle sales reach a record high, the potential of this market for the UK car industry and wider economy is huge. We are committed to achieving our aim for all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040.”

Although motor manufacturers have said the viability of that transition remains in doubt, in May the Committee on Climate Change recommended bringing forward the deadline so that only zero-emission vehicles would be sold after 2035. By the end of last year, while almost 2% of new registrations were ultra-low-emission vehicles, they comprised only 0.5% of all cars on UK roads, the ONS said.

Research published on Monday by Go Ultra Low, a joint government and industry campaign to promote electric vehicle (EV) use, found that despite low current sales, EVs were regarded as increasingly normal. It found 69% of people expected “electric cars” to be referred to simply as “cars” by the end of the decade. Almost half cited concerns over the availability of charging points as the biggest deterrent to buying an electric car.