• F1 teams to pay for budget cap enforcement
• Cotman appointed VP of competition by IRL
• Drayson-Barwell appoints new strategic consultant
• MSA/FIA spaceframe safety initiative
• XF1 Tech looking for projects
• Mygale to continue in UK F3 series
• Defra: Total UK GHG emissions figures dropped in 2006, but transport emissions rose 1.3%
• FTA 10,000 trucks may not comply with London LEZ

• Audi confirms European sportscar racing programme
• Prodrive CEO doubts F1 budget cap viability
• Honda expands ALMS involvement
• Safety changes at Brands Hatch
• Shell appoints new motorsport commercial manager
• Peter Ashcroft dies
• DfT research shows consumers willing to pay more for higher fuel economy
• Spain and Portugal announce joint green car development initiative

• First ever global transport climate effect study published
• Walmart considers selling plug-in hybrids

• Commission issues memo on biofuels in climate change package
• Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik supports 'sensible' production of biofuels
• 20 mph roads can increase CO2 emissions by 10% - AA study

Speaking before a meeting with Formula One team representatives in Paris on Thursday FIA president Max Mosley outlined a proposal that would result in the F1 teams funding a team of auditors who would be charged with enforcing a proposed Formula One budget capping system starting in 2009.

Mosley’s plan would include the recruitment of 30 financial auditors from the UK’s Revenue & Customs service and equivalent bodies in other countries.

Mosley said, "The calculation is that if the average spend at the moment is €200m and it came down to €100m, then if each team paid €2m for this department they would still be saving €98m. It makes complete sense.

"The first reaction from the team principals will be that it is intrusive and they do not want people poking around their factory.

"But when you think about it, they will be happy with the budget cap and happy to spend less because it keeps them in business.

"The experience with McLaren taught us that if you can deploy the resources and you have sufficient expertise, you can find almost anything and the chances of someone doing work we could not find traces of is very small."

The organisers of the Indy Racing League have appointed Tony Cotman as the new vice president of competition for the US based race series.

Cotman recently resigned as the executive vice president and race director of the rival Champ Car World Series organisation.

The Drayson-Barwell Motorsport, which will race an E85 bioethanol fuelled Aston Martin Vantage in the GT2 class of the 2008 American Le Mans Series sports car racing championship, has appointed Dale White as a strategic consultant.

White was previously involved in the ALMS with his own Petersen/White Lightning team, which taking a sabbatical from competition, and will advise Drayson-Barwell team principal Mark Lemmer whose organisation is competing in the ALMS for the first time in 2008.

White said, "I am very excited for this opportunity with Drayson-Barwell. I have known several of the key people at Aston Martin Racing for a number of years. It is an absolutely top organisation and I am quickly learning Drayson-Barwell is also a well structured and professionally run group.

"It was disappointing not being able to continue our programme this year. However, as they say in life, as one door closes, so another one opens.

"I was contacted by a number of teams but the fit here seemed perfectly matched to my goals. Having an engineering background and experience in alternative energies, I was especially excited about Paul Drayson's push to run an E85 fuel in the Aston Martin Vantage GT2. It is going to be a very exciting year with a lot of new challenges. I am really looking forward to staying involved in the American Le Mans Series."

Team co-owner and driver Paul Drayson said, "I am delighted we will be working together with Dale this year. He has a tremendous track record in GT racing and will be a major asset to the team. I know we have a lot to learn in our first year in the American Le Mans Series, but with Dale's help, I am sure we will learn fast."

The UK Motor Sports Association (MSA) and the FIA Institute have concluded a test and development programme to further improve safety in grass roots motor sport.

The jointly-funded project has run a number of tests over the last two years to determine the safety-level of cars used in national championships. The work has focused on the "crashworthiness" of space-frame chassis construction race cars, which are used in national single-seater championships such as Formula Ford.

With assistance from Ford Motor Company and Van Diemen International, a standard Van Diemen Formula Ford chassis was fitted with prototype energy absorbing crash structures and subjected to frontal and side impact tests. The chassis and roll-hoop were also subjected to physical loading tests.

The Van Diemen chassis comfortably met the test criteria, demonstrating the high level of driver protection that can be provided by a traditional space-frame chassis. This chassis will be used as the foundation to develop low cost, but high performing safety features, including an energy absorbing nosebox, rear impact structures and anti-penetration side panels.

As a result of the work undertaken by the MSA, crash test criteria are in the process of being formulated for implementation in future cars of this construction and a full report will be completed for the FIA Institute.

Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive said, "I am delighted that the MSA's skills have been utilised to undertake this important project and I would like to commend John Symes and the other project partners for their excellent work. It further underlines UK motor sport's excellent reputation on the international stage."

Sid Watkins, FIA Institute President said, "Race car safety is of paramount importance at every level of motor sport. This is why the FIA Institute has actively supported this project from its inception and will continue to work with the MSA to develop safety at a grass roots level."

John Symes, MSA Technical and Risk Control Manager said, "A similar process was undertaken in respect of composite chassis construction a few years ago and this had led to a perception that space-frame chassis could not offer adequate levels of protection. It is essential that the risk inherent in motor sport continues to be managed to the highest possible level and the future introduction of these test criteria will contribute to the continuance of this form of chassis construction which is common in many formulae."

Mike Norton of Ford Motor Company said, "This project was initiated with the FIA Institute and MSA to confirm the strength of modern tubular steel chassis cars such as the Formula Ford. Safety is crucial to Ford Motor Company and having the cars certified by the FIA will enable Formula Ford's resurgence to continue into countries which stipulate this certification.

"This recognition will also be important in emerging markets where motorsport is growing fast. The opportunities to manufacture and design Formula Ford cars locally without the need for carbon monocoque designs will be most welcome. The ability to maintain and repair the chassis locally is another area that makes steel a favourable option.

"The recognition and certification of tubular steel chassis will mean this small specialist industry of designers and technicians will continue to be part of our motorsport heritage."

Steve Jenner of Van Diemen said, “We think that this is a very important project and it was a pleasure to work with the MSA, the FIA Institute, Ford and Cranfield on such a professional operation. We have always believed in the strength and safety of the space-frame chassis and I think that the results of these tests could well give a new lease of life to this type of racing car construction."

A group of five ex-Formula One engineers have set up a new UK company – XF1 Tech – which aims to offer their materials and design expertise to the wider engineering market.

Based in Bicester, Oxfordshire XF1tech has already conducted work in the aerospace industry where it was able to improve design to manufacturing techniques for a wing system and the company has also been working on a new sports car for a major manufacturer.

XF1 design director, and one of its co-founders, Tim Robathan said, “We’ve all had about 20 years in Formula One. We want to take the technology and mindset into other places.”

The French racing car constructor Mygale, based at Magny-Cours, will continue to be represented in the British Formula Three championship in 2008 after renewing its agreement with the Wellingborough, UK based Ultimate Motorsport team to use its chassis.

Ultimate was the only team to use the Mygale chassis in the UK series in 2007, in a series in which the majority of teams race Italian built Dallara cars.

Ultimate Motorsport team owner Barry Walsh said, "We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Mygale and Mercedes for our second season in British F3, a season in which we hope to score the first F3 victory for ourselves and Mygale.

"Last year was a learning year for all of us - and we learned fast. We developed a very strong relationship with Mygale and that is one of the key reasons we are working together again in 2008."

The UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell again in 2006, by 0.5% year on year, putting the UK in an even stronger position to exceed its Kyoto Protocol commitment, according to new figures from Defra.

Carbon dioxide (CO2), which makes up about 85% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions, stayed virtually the level (a 0.1% fall). The economy grew another 2.9% in 2006, meaning that the UK is continuing to break the historic link between economic growth and growth in emissions.

The biggest decrease in CO2 emissions was in the residential sector, with a fall of 4% on 2005 levels, along with a decrease of 1.6% in the business sector. Other sectors increased, including energy supply (up by 1.5%) and transport (up by 1.3%).

The UK's greenhouse gas emissions are now 16.4% lower than 1990 levels. When the effect of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme included, the overall reduction is 20.7%.

The Freight Transport Association is concerned that as many as 10,000 vehicles working in and around London may not yet be compliant with the new Transport for London Low Emission Zone scheme, which comes into force next Monday, 4th February. Vehicles which do not meet the required low emission levels face the prospect of paying a £200 per day charge or a penalty of £1,000.

The scheme initially requires vehicles of over 12 tonnes to meet Euro 3 emission standards for particulate matter in order to operate freely within the area bordered by the M25. It is estimated that each day some 50,000 vehicles are used to deliver goods and services to businesses and consumers within the Greater London area.

However, the FTA says it is possible that as many as 10,000 vehicles and their operators either do not meet the required standard or, despite efforts from the transport industry and from Transport for London, are still not aware of the scheme.

Operators of vehicles between 3.5 and 12 tonnes still have until 8 July to become compliant. There are a number of options available, including applying for a Low Emission Certificate, modifying the vehicle with a particulate filter or buying a compliant vehicle. Operators who do not take their vehicles into London are nonetheless recommended to check the Eligible Engines List (to get a Low Emission Certificate) as it may entitle operators to a reduction in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

The FTA’s Head of Policy for London, Gordon Telling said, “Londoners are entitled to cleaner air and all of us operating vehicles, whether they are cars, buses, taxis, or commercial vehicles, should do all we can to reduce emissions. However, this scheme achieves very little that would not have been achieved anyway as the result of enhanced EU engine standards. This means that Londoners, and lorry operators, are having to pay an enormous price - around a quarter of a billion pounds - £100 million of operator costs and £130 million of London taxpayers’ money - for a trivial improvement in air quality. The biggest pollution from traffic in London comes from cars and the scheme does not apply to them.

“This money could have been far better spent on grants or other incentives for the introduction of vehicles and equipment which actually would make a worthwhile improvement.”

Details of the Low Emission Certificate and the Eligible Engines List are available at www.fta.co.uk/lez

Audi AG has confirmed that it will run a factory supported two car team in the European-based Le Mans Series sportscar racing championship in 2008 and will thus be in direct competition with the works Peugeot Sport team which dominated the competition in 2007.

The German Audi Sport Team Joest organisation will race two of the latest generation Audi R10 TDI diesel powered cars in all rounds of the championship which currently comprises five races including an event at the UK’s Silverstone circuit.

Dr Wolfgang Ulrich, the head of Audi Motorsport, said, "We are absolutely delighted that we have been able to create a base together with the ACO over the last few months which will see our diesel sportscars on the grids in the classical European 1000-kilometre races. The Le Mans Series already boasted an extremely attractive field last year. The Audi factory involvement surely will further increase the value of the championship."

In an interview on the autosport.com website Dave Richards, the CEO of Prodrive, the Banbury, UK based automotive and motorsport development company, has cast doubt on the FIA’s plans to introduce a budget cap in the Formula One World Championship.

Richards has previous experience of budget capping through Prodrive’s participation in the Australian V8 Supercars touring car racing series in which such a measure was abandoned after one year.

He told autosport.com, "I don't believe it is going to work. I don't think it is a viable proposition. I have seen it in Australia where it has been abandoned.

"Maybe it plays to my strengths because I started life as an accountant, but I got out of accountancy to go into motor racing and I don't want to go back there."

"I think budget capping is an excuse for poor technical regulations. With proper technical controls, you should be able to manage the costs of F1. It is also about sporting regulations as well.

"It is a bit like a government trying to control a situation through measures that are inappropriate. At the end of the day, you should make sure in motorsport that there is a level playing field as best you can. But you cannot fight market forces and try and artificially influence that the best guys aren't going to come to the front."

Prodrive’s own plans to enter Formula One in 2008 were ended by a dispute over the use of customer cars.

The Honda Motor Company has expanded its involvement in the American Le Mans Series sportscar racing championship to include a fourth car that will be run by the newly formed De Ferran Motorsports team.

The Honda ALMS programme is carried out under its Acura brand name that is used to market the manufacturer’s high performance cars in North America.

De Ferran Motorsport, owned by former Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time CART Champ Car champion Gil de Ferran, will join Andretti Green Racing, Highcroft Racing and Lowe’s Fernandez Racing in running Acura ARX-01b

cars in the LMP2 class of the 12 race championship.

De Ferran, who retired from race driving at the end of 2003 and was most recently the sporting director of the Brackley, UK based Honda Racing Formula One team, will return to racing as a driver for his own team.

He said, “It is extremely exciting to be involved in the new Acura Motorsports program, both as a team owner and as a driver. The American Le Mans Series has a tremendous combination of technology and fierce competition. The cars look fantastic and the racing in the ALMS series is spectacular. I am eager to get back into the driver’s seat and race again.

“I know this program will be a challenge for me both on and off the track. We have already employed veteran racing executive John Anderson as general manager which is a great start for our organization. Together, we are working hard to put all the remaining pieces in place.”

The de Ferran teams ALMS debut event has yet to be confirmed but it will not compete in the season opening Sebring 12 Hour race in March.

The UK’s Brands Hatch race circuit has undergone a number of safety oriented changes that will increase the run off areas for riders and drivers using the short Indy circuit configuration.

The changes have been made at Clearways, the final corner on the circuit that leads into the pit straight, and have resulted in the ground level being raised by one metre to ensure the Armco safety barrier is higher as competitors approach the bend. In addition a five metre wider asphalt run-off area has been created that should reduce instances of cars hitting the safety barrier if they come off the track and also reduce the amount of interruptions during races if an incident occurs.

Jonathan Palmer, the CEO of circuit owner MotorSport Vision said, “This really is a bit of history for Brands Hatch as it is the first time any work such as this has been carried out at Clearways. The changes will make the track even safer for drivers and riders and allow for smoother-flowing race weekends with fewer red flags. This will improve the show for the crowd and with the re-profiling of the bank at Clearways we have made it an even better spot for spectators than before.”

Shell Racing Solutions, the motorsport arm of the Shell oil company, has appointed Don VanValkenburgh as its new global motorsport &automotive commercial manager succeeding David Giblin, who has taken up a post outside the industry.

Van Valkenburgh, who was previously SRS’s US motorsport business development manager said, "Shell Racing Solutions is in a very strong position both commercially and technically. We have established a comprehensive product portfolio of racing fuels and lubricants, under the Shell Racing and Q Racing brands, and we have a very strong technical platform on which to build for the future. I look forward to leading this team in exploiting the many opportunities that are presenting themselves in motorsport and related areas."

Shell supports a number of established and highly successful teams in motorsport around the world, including Ferrari in Formula One, Audi in endurance sports car racing, Ducati in MotoGP and World Superbikes and Richard Childress Racing in NASCAR.

Peter Ashcroft, who was formerly the competitions manager at Ford of Britain has died aged 79.

After serving in the British Army Ashcroft worked as a mechanic in Formula One before joining Ford of Britain as a rally mechanic. He remained faithful to Ford for the remainder of his motorsport career and rose through the company ranks while playing a key role in its race and rally programmes.

When he retired in 1991 Ashcroft was motorsport director at Ford of Europe and he spent his remaining years in the United States.

The Department for Transport has published two new research reports commissioned to enhance understanding of consumers' car purchase decisions and help indicate what policy instruments might best be used to reduce CO2 emissions from road transport.

One study, by Cambridge Econometrics, found that households would be willing to pay £510 more to purchase a car in return for reduced fuel costs of £1 per 100 km. The other study, ('Demand for cars and their attributes') was prepared by Eftec, and uses econometrics to determine various elasticity effects/demand changes in response to price and other changes.

Car purchase costs are expected to rise as a result of the European Commission's proposed regulation to cut CO2 emissions to 120g/km. From a consumer's perspective, however, the EC contends that that price rise would be countered by improvements in vehicle fuel economy.

The Cambridge Econometrics report also confirms the prior beliefs of the DfT that, following a change in either the purchase price of a vehicle or in the costs of motoring , there is likely to be a greater response (higher elasticity) in the middle CO2 bands (121-165g/km) than in the upper ones.

A recent report by Moody's Investors Service covered by Automotive News Europe on 19th January says that the additional cost to manufacturers of meeting the EU’s planned 2012 targets will be in the range £220-£740.

The ACEA European motor industry federation says the additional costs to car makers of compliance with the EC regulations will be more like £2,700, while the EC itself expects the extra cost to average about £970. Moody's says car makers should be able to exploit economies of scale and cost sharing with suppliers by collaborating in research and development.

The ACEA’s position paper on CO2 emissions reduction, Reducing CO2 emissions from Cars - Towards an Integrated Approach – can be downloaded from www.acea.be.

(LowCVP newsletter, 29 January, www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/economics/rdg/cardemand/cardemandreport2.pdf)

The governments of Portugal and Spain plan to cooperate to build a lower-emitting car, reports the LowCVP’s January newsletter. Through the joint initiative, the two countries hope to generate €150 million-worth of investment and 800 new jobs in the region's struggling motor industry, which has been losing jobs to Central and Eastern Europe.

Spain’s Minister for Industry Joan Clos announced that the "green" car, which could be powered by hydrogen fuel cells or batteries, is being developed by two automotive research centres in Portugal and Spain using funds from both the public and private sectors.

Officials hope to produce a prototype by the end of this year.

"Our goal is to create an environmentally friendly car that can be produced with technology from Portugal and Spain," a spokesman said. "We are involving the private sector to take on the challenge of producing the car in the long run and sell it to consumers".

H. Lee Scott, Jr., the CEO of Wal-Mart, has reportedly discussed the potential for it to sell and provide recharging facilities for plug-in hybrid cars at its U.S. stores, according to Climatechangecorp.com, the UK-based business and environment site. The environment-conscious retailer, the U.S.’s largest, might be able to use solar and wind energy generators installed at its outlets to recharge plug-in hybrids in its parking bays.

(Climatechangecorp.com, 28 January)

Road traffic is by a large margin the transport sector that contributes the most to global warming. Aviation has the second largest warming effect, while shipping has a net cooling effect on the earth’s climate, according to a study by CICERO, the Oslo-based Centre for International Clmate and Environment Research and published in the Proceedings of the (U.S.) National Academy of Sciences.

The study, “Climate forcing from the transport sectors”, is described by CICERO as the first ever comprehensive analysis of the climate effect from the transport sector as a whole on a global scale. Breaking down the transport sector into road transport, aviation, rail, and shipping, five researchers at CICERO have calculated each sub-sector’s contribution to global warming. The researchers have looked at the radiative forcing (RF) caused by transport emissions. The RF describes the warming effect in the unit Watt per square meter (W/m2).

The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) concludes that since pre-industrial times, 15% of the RF caused by man-made CO2-emissions have come from the transport sector. The study also looks at other emissions. For ozone (O3), transport can be blamed for circa 30% of the forcing caused by man-made emissions.

The study implies that more attention needs to be put on the fast-growing road transport sector. Looking solely at CO2 emissions, road traffic alone has led to two-thirds of the warming caused by total transport emissions (using a historical perspective looking at emissions since pre-industrial times.)

Including all greenhouse gases, and at the effect today’s road emissions has on future climate, the share is even larger: the road emissions of today will constitute three quarters of the warming caused by transport over the next hundred years.

For shipping, the picture is more complicated. Until now, shipping has had a cooling effect on climate, because shipping emits large portions of the gases SO2 and NOx, which both have cooling effects. However, although these two gases, until now, have given the shipping industry a cooling effect, this effect will diminish after a while, as the gases don’t linger long in the atmosphere. After a few decades, the longer-lived CO2 will dominate, giving shipping a warming effect in the long run.

The net cooling effect from shipping does not imply that shipping emissions don’t need to be reduced; both SO2 and NOx have other environmentally damaging impacts.

SO2 and NOx are not covered by the Kyoto Protocol; neither is black carbon (soot). The Protocol is therefore too narrow to capture the real climate effect of transport emissions, particularly for the shipping sector.

Following road transport, aviation is the second largest transport contributor to global warming. The reason that road transport tops the list is mainly the amount of vehicles on the roads and the smaller cooling effect from their emissions. The researchers have not yet looked at emissions per kilometre or per person at a certain distance using different transport modes.

While aviation contributes significantly to global warming, the historical contribution from aviation emissions to global warming is more than doubled by the contribution from road emissions. Over the next 100 years, today’s road emissions will have a climate effect four times bigger than that from today’s aviation emissions.

The warming effect of rail emissions is said to be almost unnoticeable compared to the effects from road transport and aviation.

In general, the transport sector’s contribution to global warming will be continously high in the future. Current emissions from transport will be responsible for approximately 16% of the net radiative forcing over the next 100 years. The dominating contributor to this warming is CO2, followed by tropospheric ozone (O3).

(www.cicero.uio.no)

The European Commission’s new Directive aiming to establish national renewable energy targets includes a binding 10% minimum target for biofuels in transport to be achieved by each Member State, on which the Commission issued a Memo on 23 January, explaining inter alia that the same 10% target for each Member State was set to ensure consistency in transport fuel specifications and availability.

While it would technically be possible for the European Union to meet its biofuels needs solely from domestic production, the EC says it is both likely and desirable that these needs will be met through a combination of domestic EU production and imports.

The memo acknowledges that concerns have been raised about whether biofuel production is sustainable, and accepts that while biofuels are a crucial part of renewable energy policy and a key solution to growing emissions in the transport sector, they must not be promoted unless they are produced sustainably.

Although the majority of biofuels currently consumed in the EU are produced in a sustainable manner, the concerns are legitimate and need to be addressed. The Directive therefore sets out stringent environmental sustainability criteria to ensure that biofuels that are to count towards the European targets are sustainable and that they are not in conflict with the EU’s overall environmental goals.

This means that they must achieve at least a minimum level of greenhouse gas savings and respect a number of requirements related to biodiversity. Among other things this will prevent the use of land with high biodiversity value, such as natural forests and protected areas, being used for the production of raw materials for biofuels.

Biofuels cost more than other forms of renewable energy and without a separate minimum target for biofuels, they will not be developed.

This matters, says the Memo, because greenhouse gas trends are worst in transport, and biofuels are one of the few measures – alongside vehicle fuel efficiency – realistically capable of making a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions from transport. In addition, the oil dependence of the transport sector is the most serious security of supply problem of all.

And finally, the EC says “We must remember to send the right signals for the future: the old cars of 2020 are being built today. Vehicle manufacturers need to know what fuel to design for.”

“The environmental performance of biofuels depends very much on the different production pathways. If produced and used sensibly, biomass used for fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It an also be used to reclaim degraded land, reduce erosion, stabilise slopes and improve water retention and water quality,” read a statement released by EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik on 22 January.

The statement followed various reports in the media on the negative environmental impact of biofuels, and a meeting between Mr Potocnik and the European Biofuels Technology Platform.

The Technology Platform brings together more than 100 representatives of the agriculture and forestry sectors, as well as the food, paper and biotechnology industries, the biofuels industry, oil companies, car manufacturers, universities and researchers. Its objective is to move forwards with the research needed to develop the use of biofuels in Europe.

Biofuels can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuels consisting of, or derived from biomass (living or recently living biological material). Some 17 environmental non-governmental organisations recently wrote to the European Commission warning that pursuing biofuels could threaten important ecosystems, increase food and feed prices and lead to water shortages. EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas reacted by saying that it would be better for the EU to miss its biofuels targets, agreed last year, than to risk harming the environment.

The Strategic Research Agenda of the European Biofuels Technology Platform will be unveiled on 31 January. The document will provide a long-term view on how to over come the technical and non-technical challenges associated with the sustainable use of biofuels in Europe.

'It is well known that the increased use of biofuels will need to be accompanied by technological developments. In particular we discussed the balance of existing 'first generation' biofuels and future 'second generation' biofuels, which can be produced more efficiently, with far fewer emissions and from a wider range of agricultural products,' reads Mr Potocnik's statement.

He emphasised that if used sensibly, biofuels can have many environmental benefits, not only in relation to sustainable energy, but also for the land. 'I was extremely encouraged by the clear priority given by the Technology Platform leaders to environmental concerns throughout the biofuels chain. I strongly supported their intention to take into account in their future research issues such as biodiversity, water use and changes in land use, and to closely align their work with [the] Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources.'

The Commission also encouraged members of the Platform to get involved with the Bio-energy Europe Initiative, which is to address next generation biofuels within the context of an overall strategy for bio-energy.

For further information on the European Biofuels Technology Platform, visit www.biofuelstp.eu.

(Cordis Express - EU research news service)

Cutting the speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph on the wrong roads can increase tailpipe CO2 emissions by more than 10%, AA research has discovered. The UK's largest motoring organisation is now warning local authorities that some well-intentioned safety schemes may backfire in environmental terms.

On average, petrol car fuel consumption on longer and relatively free-flowing 20mph urban streets can worsen by 5.8 mpg (1.3 miles/litre). In the first piece of research for its new Fuel for Thought campaign, updating widely-used test results from 1999, the AA argues for further detailed research into the environmental impact of 20mph zones - before the more widespread use of the new speed limit.

Compared to a 20 mph road, speed humps on a 30 mph road increase fuel consumption by 41%. The AA accepts that targeted 20 mph speed limits in residential areas are popular and improve safety. Along shorter roads with junctions and roundabouts, limiting acceleration to up to 20 mph reduces fuel consumption. However, a 30 mph limit on local distributor roads may be more environmentally-friendly.

Some councils which are charging owners of larger vehicles premiums for parking and access, may be guilty of hypocrisy if their policies increase CO2 emissions by 10% through blanket and badly-placed 20 mph restrictions, suggests the AA.

"Transport and highways planners have little or no official guidance on the environmental impact of 20 mph speed limits. It would be a bitter and unpalatable irony if local authorities, that have targeted owners of larger vehicles with environmental charges, are found guilty of pumping up CO2 emissions through indiscriminate use of 20 mph restrictions," says Edmund King, the AA's president, who until joining the AA last month to head its campaigns, led the rival RAC Foundation .

King continued, "The Green Party has been advocating 20 mph limits across the whole of London, perhaps without realising that this policy would backfire in terms of environmental emissions. We need independent research to ascertain both the safety and environmental implications of 20 mph zones so that authorities don't make a huge and widespread environmental mistake. Researched guidance on 30 mph versus 20 mph limits versus speed humps will help road engineers to make informed decisions on where best to site lower speed restrictions on urban roads."

The AA recalls that the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions argued against reducing the 30 mph limit for fear of increasing emissions. Its own fuel consumption tests were carried out at Millbrook proving ground by an independent engineer and car tester, using a fuel flow meter.

(/www.theaa.com/public_affairs)