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Friday 1 February 2013

Aston Martin emissions


Here's an interesting post from Watts Up With That?

EU Carbon Trading ‘death spiral’ continues

Carbon has closed below $4 a ton in a new record low.

So if carbon has reached $4 a tonne (assuming tonne rather than ton), then what should we charge the driver of an Aston Martin DB9 V12 Volante emitting 368g/km of CO2? Let's see. 

If the Aston Martin driver does 20,000 km per year, the car emits 

   20,000 x 368 g CO2 per year
= 7360 kg CO2 per year  
= 7.36 tonnes CO2 per year

At a EU ETS price of $4 per tonne, this amounts to $29.44 in CO2 damage annually. However, the Aston's emissions put it in vehicle tax band M, which generates an annual charge of £475.

This of course isn't special pleading  for Aston Martin drivers, but special pleading for less silliness in government. Carbon trading is an obvious scam based on another obvious scam promoted by obvious scammers.

Let's just admit it and drive on.

2 comments:

Mark Wadsworth said...

Agreed. Fuel duty is at a level which exceeds all these "cost of CO2 emissions per ton" estimates.

Road Tax is a red herring, it shouldn't be more than £10 or whatever it costs to process.

A K Haart said...

Mark - yes, a nominal yearly admin charge is all we should be paying.

Fuel duty is enough and already finely tuned to emissions should one believe in that kind of thing.