2 December 2011: The International Energy Agency (IEA), in cooperation with the Global Fuel Efficiency Initiative (GFEI), has published a report comparing fuel efficiency and other characteristics over a large sample of registered vehicles in 21 countries. The sample accounts for 90% of global car sales, and the results show a 1.7% annual improvement over the 2005-2008 period, which is well below the required 2.7% improvement per year needed from 2005 to 2030 in order to halve vehicle CO2 emissions.

The target of reducing vehicle emissions by 2030 was set by the GFEI, a partnership among the IEA, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Transport Forum, and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Foundation. This target is global, and is not intended to be applied on a country-by-country level. It is expected that some countries will improve by more than 50% and others less. This reflects different starting points as well as market and cultural situations.

The report flags three main drivers that will help countries collectively meet the 50% target in under two decades time: (1) better technologies, such as turbocharged direct injection gasoline engines or start/stop starters; (2) buying diesel cars, because of the better efficiency of the diesel engine; and (3) buying small vehicles, which are more fuel efficient than big vehicles. [Report] [News Release]