{"id":34122,"date":"2019-10-21T08:32:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T22:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=34122"},"modified":"2024-01-25T07:34:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T22:04:32","slug":"australia-fuel-economy-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/australia-fuel-economy-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloody Hell! Fuel Economy Of Australian Cars Has Been Getting Worse Since 2015!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Australian

We urgently need to reduce emissions of CO2 and particulates. But car efficiency in Australia is getting worse. WTAF?<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve got some bad news about vehicle efficiency in Australia.\u00a0 It’s going backwards.\u00a0 And I don’t mean cars are now driving in reverse, sucking up smog and spitting out petrol.\u00a0 Despite the fact that we urgently need to slash our emissions, the average fuel efficiency of Australian vehicles has been getting worse.<\/p>\n

I’m pretty confident about this because I have a report here on my desk1<\/a><\/sup> by Robin Smit from Transport Energy\/Emissions Research<\/a> (TER).\u00a0 Robin’s report has 5 main findings:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Average new vehicle efficiency improved from 2008-20142<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. New vehicle efficiency3<\/a><\/sup> stopped improving in 2014 and has gotten worse since 2015.<\/li>\n
  3. Efficiency has worsened as cars have got bigger, heavier and more likely to be diesel-powered.<\/li>\n
  4. The rate at which car efficiency is getting worse is increasing.<\/li>\n
  5. \n
    \n
    Although diesel is more efficient than petrol, the average size of diesel cars is bloody huge. So diesel cars burn more fuel and emit more CO2 than petrol ones.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I’ve put the main findings from the report below in case you want to check my summary of them is accurate.\u00a0 If you enjoy reading it you can check out the whole report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"Real-World<\/p>\n

    The fact that the average Australian car today gets fewer kilometres per litre than it did 5 years ago is both embarrassing and shocking. Especially given the opposite is occurring in every comparable economy.<\/p>\n

    How did we earn this badge of dishonour? \u00a0By having no vehicle fuel efficiency standards. <\/span> This sets us apart from every other <\/span><\/span>OECD<\/span><\/a> country with the partial exception of New Zealand — which sometimes copies us way too much. 4<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

    As Australia has committed to cutting emissions by at least 50% per person<\/a> from 2005 levels by 2030, this is a serious problem for the government.<\/p>\n

    Or it would be for a government that gave a shit.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

    4 Reasons Poor Fuel Efficiency Is Bad For The Nation<\/h2>\n

    Four months ago, when it was an election issue, I wrote about why Australia should adopt fuel efficiency standards<\/a>.\u00a0 Four big reasons are:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. So we won’t die so much:<\/strong>\u00a0 Vehicle emissions are deadlier than coal power station pollution because they pump their pollution <\/span><\/span>directly<\/span><\/span> into the air we breath<\/span><\/span>. While we can’t be certain of the exact numbers, vehicle pollution results in thousands of excess deaths per year.<\/li>\n
    2. So we won’t cook the planet:<\/strong>\u00a0 The less petrol, diesel, and autogas we burn, the less we warm the earth with CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions.6<\/a><\/sup><\/li>\n
    3. We’ll be richer:<\/strong>\u00a0 If our vehicles use less fuel per kilometre (or use electricity, which is much cheaper) we will have more money to spend on other things.\u00a0 Since we will be getting the same amount of transport at less cost we will, effectively, be richer.<\/li>\n
    4. We’ll be safer:<\/strong>\u00a0 Australia imports about 90% of the oil used by vehicles. \u00a0Thanks to very limited reserves<\/a>, if imports were interrupted we’d only have autogas and a very small number of electric vehicles available for private transport. Oil would be restricted to “essential services” such as getting food to cities.\u00a0 Even with no oil for private transport, Australia’s production only covers a fraction of the demand from heavy vehicles, agriculture, mining, and shipping.\u00a0 So next time a politician says Easter eggs<\/a> or whatever are a threat to national security, just remember they’re doing bugger all about this real life problem.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \"\"

      Mad Max:<\/strong> When the oil runs out and the gangs take over the highway, pray that he’s out there. And that he refrains from sexist and antisemitic remarks.<\/p><\/div>\n

      22% Or More Of Australian Emissions From Vehicles<\/h2>\n

      According to the report, the percentage of Australia’s net CO2 emissions7<\/a><\/sup> that came from road transport8<\/a><\/sup> in 2000 and 2017 was:<\/p>\n