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Road Transport and Its Potential Inclusion in the EU ETS

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The European Dimension of Germany’s Energy Transition

Abstract

Road transport accounts for about one fifth of the EU’s CO2 emissions and its share is growing. One of the key policy tools for achieving CO2 emissions reductions in road transport is the implementation of emission performance standards for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV). However, regulation through emission standards has a number of drawbacks. In this article, we focus on an alternative or complementary policy option for the CO2 regulation of passenger cars and LCV in the EU, namely the inclusion of road transport in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). We discuss whether to incorporate the road sector directly into the existing EU ETS or to create a gateway solution. We present advantages and disadvantages of making fuel providers, car manufacturers, or consumers the regulated entity. We also look at how the emission allowances should be allocated and how the cap should be set.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a survey of empirical evidence of adverse effects on firm performance and competitiveness in the existing EU ETS, see Martin et al. (2016).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), Dresden, Germany

    Martin Achtnicht

  2. Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, Germany

    Kathrine von Graevenitz & Miguel Angel Tovar Reaños

  3. University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Simon Koesler

  4. University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Andreas Löschel

  5. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Beaumont Schoeman

Authors
  1. Martin Achtnicht
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  2. Kathrine von Graevenitz
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  3. Simon Koesler
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  4. Andreas Löschel
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  5. Beaumont Schoeman
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  6. Miguel Angel Tovar Reaños
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Achtnicht .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Erik Gawel

  2. Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Sebastian Strunz

  3. Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Paul Lehmann

  4. Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany

    Alexandra Purkus

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Achtnicht, M., von Graevenitz, K., Koesler, S., Löschel, A., Schoeman, B., Tovar Reaños, M.A. (2019). Road Transport and Its Potential Inclusion in the EU ETS. In: Gawel, E., Strunz, S., Lehmann, P., Purkus, A. (eds) The European Dimension of Germany’s Energy Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03374-3_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03374-3_28

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03373-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03374-3

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