Cash for Clunkers, Here and There
posted by Erica Rowell (Editor)
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A number of European countries have cash-for-clunker programs. The question is, are they environmental? (Sos.andre, WikiCommons)
The U.S. Congress is not the only (or first) group considering cash-for-clunkers programs. Similar incentives are underway on the other side of the big pond.
We all know the story over here. I'm posting on this a day after a New York Times headline announced, "U.S. Is Said to Prepare Filing for Chrysler Bankruptcy," and General Motors broke the news of an extended summer recess for its employees. Nobody's buying cars, and U.S. automakers are in the doldrums.
It’s arguable that Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) “cash for clunkers” bill (S. 247) might prop up car sales while providing greenhouse gas benefits within five years. (For details see my post.)
The car-market picture across the pond is much the same: drivers have not been crowding the showroom floor. At least not until European countries implemented variations on the cash-for-clunker scheme. These programs are alive and well over there, and if news and business reports are at all accurate, some of them are stimulating the car market. We environmentalists, of course, are also interested in the environmental piece of it, and again some do look to have environmental teeth; others do not.
Like those being considered here, some of the European schemes are moving targets still in flux. But here's what I've been able to find out thus far (unless otherwise noted, these programs are already up and running).
| COUNTRY | REBATE/CREDIT | MINIMUM AGE of SCRAPPED CAR |
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | €1,500 ($1,960) |
13 | New car must at least meet Euro 4 exhaust emissions standards |
| Cyprus | €675 ($880) €1,280 ($1,670) €1,700 ($2,200) |
15 | None New car consumes 7 litres/100 km max New car consumes 5 litres/100 km max |
| France | €1,000-2,000 ($1,300-2,600) |
10 | New car with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 160 grams per kilometer or less |
| Germany | €2,500 ($3,323) |
9 | New car must at least meet Euro 4 exhaust emissions standards |
| Italy | €1,500 ($1,960) Up to €5,000 ($6,500) for purchase of electric, natural gas, or hydrogen-fueled car |
10 | New car with CO2 emissions less than 140g/km |
| Luxembourg | €1,500 ($1,960) €1,750 ($2,280) |
10 10 |
New car with CO2 emissions less than 150g/km New car with CO2 emissions less than 120g/km |
| Netherlands (proposed) |
Up to €1,750 ($2,280) |
to be determined | to be determined |
| Portugal | €1,000 ($1,300) €1,250 ($1,630) |
10 15 |
New car with CO2 emissions less than 140g/km |
| Romania | €1,000 ($1,300) | 10 | None |
| Slovakia | €1,000-1,500 ($1,300-1,960) |
10 | None |
| Spain | €10,000 for a 0% loan ($13,000) |
10 (or 155,000 miles on the car) | New car with emissions less than 140 g/km |
| United Kingdom (proposed) |
£2,000 ($2, 900) (up to £5,000 ($7,275) to drivers who buy electric or plug-in hybrid cars) |
10 |
New car must at least meet Euro 4 exhaust emissions standards |
Source: European Automobile Manufacturers' Association [pdf]
While economies may or may not be growing, the list of countries planning similar programs is (for example, Canada and Japan).
There is a general sense out there that these programs will be good for the environment — after all how can removing an old, presumably polluting car from the roadways and driving a new one be bad? Well it turns out it can be an environmental downer, especially when the programs carry poor or unenforced environmental qualifications, or, of course, none whatsoever.
Don’t forget that manufacturing a new car requires energy and so it arrives in your driveway with several thousand tons of CO2 emissions embedded in it. To make up for those embedded emissions, you’d better be sure that there is a significant differential between the mileage of your old car and your new one. For more info on that take a look at these related posts and quiz.
Fuel Efficiency Revisited (theGreenGrok.com, July 7, 2008)
Cash for Clunkers Bill Could Be a Clunker (theGreenGrok.com, April 6, 2009)
Quiz: The MPG Illusion: Gas Mileage and Car Shopping (Duke University's Fuqua School of Business)
