Diesel Engine cars and the Carbon Tax

gbh

Apparantly there is a carbon tax in the pipeline as part of Green Party policy.

This is fair enough for petrol cars as they consume more fuel. But a 2 litre Diesel car can sometimes consume half the fuel of a 2 litre petrol car. So will the increased car tax apply to Diesel engines as well and if so why cause it doesn't make any sense from an environmental point of view.

Surely its better to encourage as many people as possible to switch to Diesel cars and if nessecary reduce the VRT on them as well.

Mr Magnolia

Apparently CO2 emissions are a lot lower on a petrol car than on a diesel anyway (all things being equal).

Anan1

Mr Magnolia wrote:

Apparently CO2 emissions are a lot lower on a petrol car than on a diesel anyway (all things being equal).

I would have thought that CO2 emissions are a function of the quantity of fuel burnt?

fletch

Mr Magnolia wrote:

Apparently CO2 emissions are a lot lower on a petrol car than on a diesel anyway (all things being equal).

I thought it was the other way around

Mr. Presentable

Carbon dioxide emissions are directly proportional to fuel consumption, and as diesel cars use 30 to 40% less fuel, they emit 30 to 40% less carbon dioxide than petrol cars. Natural gas and LPG cars are actually quite fuel inefficient, if otherwise cleaner burning, and so produce more CO2 than a diesel

Source: http://www.stealthtdi.com/Emissions.html

Now, I don't know if that is for engines of equal size, or equal BHP, so....

Mr Magnolia

"Diesel engines are more economical than petrol engines, therefore they emit less CO2"

Source

It doesn't compare figures directly but I'm told the difference is considerable.

Edit/ Read nipplnuts link instead, it looks better at a glance

R.O.R

Diesel will generally emit less CO2 than equivalent size / power output Petrol engines, but Diesels emit other nasty stuff as well (although a Diesel Particulate Filter cuts down this as well).

In the UK where road tax and benefit in kind are worked out by emissions there is a loading placed on Diesels. I'd suggest a similar basis here.

gbh

Ok fair enough about the other stuff...but as far as CO2 or carbon emmissions generally Diesels are a fair percentage less. Most diesels have bigger engines, i don't know the technical reason for this...but a 1.4 diesal polo probably emits less CO2 than a 1 litre polo and i know that a 1.6l petrol passat emits more CO2 than a 1.9 diesel passat. But the car tax system penalises the bigger engine diesel car. Its just another example of broad brush policies by the government.

Anan1

Most diesels used to have bigger engines, but I don't think this is the case any more.

Dwilly

I brought my '04 A3 2.0 TDI down from Belfast when I moved back to Dublin. Was only paying £150 tax a year up there thanks to the UK's emissions based tax system. Enjoyed the hike to €530 once reregistered..

I guess it makes sense to base tax on emissions but surely also it should be on how much you use the car, similar to the way insurance companies take annual mileage into account?