Efficient cars are not the answer to road woes

According to James Bond movie title, the world is not enough. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), more efficient transport is not enough. To stop “the spiralling growth of emissions” that is.

According to the EEA, increasing transport emissions might Die Another Day if Europe set tougher targets and that European countries need to turn transport policy into a Licence to Kill demand for road use.

Or to put it another way:

Previous and current EU policies have mainly focused on improving vehicle technology and fuel quality to reduce pressures on the environment. Trends and projections show that these policies have not been enough to succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport and that the effect of introduced mitigation measures has been more than offset by increased transport volumes. To achieve emission reductions, measures and policy instruments must therefore also address demand for a transport in a serious way.

The report also suggests that claims that biofuels can salvage transport might be a bit, well, Thunderballs.

Growing doubt about the real ability of first generation biofuels – agrofuels – to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions and growing awareness of negative impacts of biofuel production on biodiversity, water and soi, both directly and through indirect land-use change at the global level, point to the need for great caution in promoting agrofuels further.

But it’s no simple yes or Dr No answer on biofuels – they may Only Live Twice, with the EEA saying more research is needed on how the second generation may perform.

If you’re after a View To A Thrill, then read the whole report here.