While acknowledging that cars are part of the problem and solution to climate change, adviser to the UK government and former Ford exec Richard Parry-Jones has also pointed out that cars produce just 10% of man-made CO2.
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Writing in UK consumer magazine Autocar, Parry-Jones sets out the scale of the climate change challenge ahead and the position of the car.
“The truth is that cars produce about 10% cent of man-made CO2, and transport accounts for about 23 per cent,” explains Parry-Jones. “The rest comes from power generation, home heating and business activity.”
“But this does not excuse cars from a responsibility to reduce their CO2 emissions,” he says.
“That challenge is both enormous and exciting. For every passenger kilometre travelled in an average car in the UK today, about 130g/km is emitted, compared with about 100g/km for an average bus and 80g/km for an average train.
“If motoring is to be made sustainable, the figure for cars must be cut to about 30g/km, but we will have the technology to achieve that by 2050.”
