13 Oct 09 15:37
Road charging revisited
A government committee has suggested that the motorway speed limit should be reduced to 60mph to cut national carbon dioxide emissions.
A report by the Committee on Climate Change claims the speed limit reduction could reduce annual CO2 emissions by 1.4 million tonnes.
The report also suggests higher taxes for drivers and also revisited the dreaded road charging policy as ways of cutting CO2 emissions in the UK.
The Committee report says a road-charging system in the UK could save 5.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2020.
The target is to get 1.7 million electric cars and plug-in hybrids on the road by 2020 - that represents about 16% of all new cars sold.
Other incentives to cut emissions include encouraging drivers to drive more efficiently. If 4 million drivers took an eco-driving course CO2 emissions could be cut by 3 million tonnes a year by 2020, says the report.
