According to AP:
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Swedes who buy an environmentally friendly car will get a 10,000 kronor (euro1,100; US$1,400) cash award from the government, the environment minister said Thursday.
The offer, starting next month and lasting through 2009, is part of the government’s push to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
“The environmental advantages should be felt in the heart, but also in the wallet,” Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said.
The government expects the move to spur the sale of so-called green cars by 10-15 percent. Those cars include gasoline-driven vehicles that release less than 120 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, electrical cars and vehicles running on alternative fuels.
As of 2012, the European Union plans to lower emissions limits for new cars to 130 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
Sweden-based carmaker Volvo, which is owned by Ford Motor Co., criticized the government’s proposal, saying it will favor makers of smaller cars because those are typically more fuel efficient.
“It’s up to them to reach the requirements that have been set globally. But yes, small cars isn’t really their market,” government spokesman Tomas Uddin said about Volvo’s concerns.
Carlgren said the government will earmark around 250 million kronor (euro27 million; US$36 million) for the project, which needs lawmakers’ approval.
In February, the EU proposed its 2012 plan of lower emissions limits for new cars, but it also called for increased use of biofuels and cleaner fossil fuels, meant to reduce current car emission levels by 25 percent — even lower than the 130 gram limit. Voluntary emission targets that are already in place call for 140 grams per kilometer by 2008.
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SIMON : (From GAO’s Report page 29) “Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that has similar properties to petroleum diesel but can be produced from vegetable oils or animal fats. It is currently used in small quantities in the United States, but it is not cost-competitive with gasoline or diesel. The cost of biodiesel feedstocks—which in the United States largely consist of soybean oil—are the largest component of production costs. The price of soybean oil is not expected to decrease significantly in the future owing to competing demands from the food industry and from soap and detergent manufacturers. These competing demands, as well as the limited land available for the production of feedstocks, also are projected to limit biodiesel’s capacity for large-volume production, according to DOE and USDA. As a result, experts believe that the total production capacity of biodiesel is ultimately limited compared with other alternative fuels.”
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