The Green Economy in Bristol and the West of ... - Miguel Mendonça
The Green Economy in Bristol and the West of ... - Miguel Mendonça
The Green Economy in Bristol and the West of ... - Miguel Mendonça
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Section 2: Policy<br />
Low Emission Vehicles (LEVs)<br />
With a view to major decarbonisation <strong>of</strong> road<br />
transport by 2050, <strong>the</strong> Government has set up an<br />
<strong>in</strong>terdepartmental group called <strong>The</strong> Office for Low<br />
Emission Vehicles (OLEV) to create policy <strong>in</strong> this<br />
area. It connects human <strong>and</strong> budgetary resources<br />
from <strong>the</strong> Department for Transport (DfT), BIS <strong>and</strong><br />
DECC. OLEV seeks to drive uptake <strong>of</strong> ultralow<br />
emission vehicle technologies, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g electric,<br />
plug<strong>in</strong> hybrid, <strong>and</strong> hydrogenfuelled vehicles.<br />
Provision <strong>of</strong> over £400 million has been announced<br />
for this purpose. In addition, OLEV has<br />
responsibility for manag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> regulatory<br />
framework around emissions from <strong>and</strong> efficiency<br />
developments <strong>in</strong> conventional vehicles. 63<br />
A Plug<strong>in</strong> Car Grant scheme has been set up,<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer<strong>in</strong>g 25% towards <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> an eligible ultralow<br />
emission vehicle, up to a maximum <strong>of</strong> £5,000. <strong>The</strong><br />
Climate Change Levy (CCL)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Climate Change Levy (CCL) was <strong>in</strong>troduced <strong>in</strong><br />
2001 as a driver for energy efficiency <strong>and</strong> GHG<br />
emission reductions <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> private sector. It is<br />
applied as a specific rate per nom<strong>in</strong>al unit <strong>of</strong> energy.<br />
<strong>The</strong> CCL is chargeable on <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dustrial <strong>and</strong><br />
commercial supply <strong>of</strong> taxable commodities for<br />
light<strong>in</strong>g, heat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> power by consumers <strong>in</strong> a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> bus<strong>in</strong>ess sectors: <strong>in</strong>dustry; commerce;<br />
agriculture; public adm<strong>in</strong>istration; o<strong>the</strong>r services.<br />
<strong>The</strong> revenues raised through <strong>the</strong> CCL are ‘recycled’<br />
back to bus<strong>in</strong>ess through a cut <strong>in</strong> employers’ national<br />
<strong>in</strong>surance contributions <strong>of</strong> 0.3%. <strong>The</strong> levy does not<br />
apply to taxable commodities used by domestic<br />
consumers, or by charities for nonbus<strong>in</strong>ess use. 66<br />
<strong>The</strong> levy is charged on taxable supplies, which are<br />
certa<strong>in</strong> supplies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g taxable<br />
commodities: electricity; natural gas as supplied by a<br />
gas utility, petroleum <strong>and</strong> hydrocarbon gas <strong>in</strong> a<br />
liquid state; coal <strong>and</strong> lignite; coke, <strong>and</strong> semicoke <strong>of</strong><br />
coal or lignite; petroleum coke. <strong>The</strong> follow<strong>in</strong>g are not<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer is stated as ‘technology neutral,’ cover<strong>in</strong>g any <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> categories with tailpipe CO 2 emissions <strong>of</strong> 75 g/km<br />
or less, <strong>and</strong> is open to both <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>and</strong><br />
bus<strong>in</strong>esses. Both <strong>the</strong> scheme <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> subsidy level<br />
will be regularly reviewed to take account <strong>of</strong> cost<br />
dynamics <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> evolv<strong>in</strong>g market. <strong>The</strong> first review <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Plug<strong>in</strong> Car Grant is due <strong>in</strong> early 2012.<br />
Currently available eligible models are: Citroen<br />
CZero; Mitsubishi iMiEV; Peugeot iOn; Nissan Leaf;<br />
Smart fortwo electric drive. Forthcom<strong>in</strong>g models are:<br />
Chevrolet Volt; Renault Fluence ZE; Tata Vista;<br />
Toyota Prius Plug<strong>in</strong> Hybrid; Vauxhall Ampera. As<br />
<strong>of</strong> 30 September 2011, <strong>the</strong> scheme had attracted 786<br />
claims out <strong>of</strong> 910 eligible cars that were registered <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> same period. 64<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Green</strong> <strong>Economy</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Bristol</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>of</strong> Engl<strong>and</strong><br />
Table 13. Climate Change Levy rates (updates<br />
from 1 April 2011) 65<br />
27