But in order to contribute less to the world's pollution, it will not be enough for Russia to adopt the Euro-4 standards, which are operating in the European Union. It will also have to match the modern fuel efficiency requirements.
The European car makers are paying dearly for compliance with new environmental standards. Robert Bosch GmbH, one of the major suppliers of car spare parts in Europe, has to spend about 10% of its budget for this purpose.
"We have to pay more and more in order to meet higher fuel emission standards," said the chairman of its automotive group, Dr. Bernd Bohr.
Thus, a reduction in CO2 engine emission from the current 189 g/km to 139 g/km by 2008 (a voluntary commitment of European car makers) will increase the costs of a car by 500-1,200 euros. A further decrease of carbon dioxide to 120 g/km by 2012 will add another 800-1,600 euros to its price tag. It is still too early to speak about the level of 100 g/km-105 g/km, but then car buyers would have to pay another 1,500-2,000 euros.
European car makers have started wondering whether further toughening of emission standards is justified. The spending it requires seems unreasonable.
Russia has only started studying the problem. Until 2006, Russian emission standards were lagging years behind the European norms. But in April 2006, Russia banned the import and production of cars below the Euro-2 standard. Under the law, Euro-3 will be enforced on January 1, 2008 and Euro-4 in 2010. The law provides for transition to Euro-5 in 2014, which is hard to imagine. The Russian industry is still trying to match the Euro-3 and Euro-4 standards, and even Europe, which supplies Russia with the bulk of imported cars, has just adopted Euro-4 en masse.
The Euro-5 seems a remote target for us, and right now we have other issues on the agenda.
In order to reduce emissions, it is not enough to compel our industry to produce and our citizens to buy environmentally friendly cars. It is essential to supply them with clean fuel. It might seem paradoxical, but Russia, a major oil supplier, does not yet produce enough quality fuel. There are several reasons for this situation: the outdated methods of oil refining, small demand for expensive quality fuel and lack of mandatory fuel efficiency requirements.
The situation has started to change for the better only recently. The quality of the Russian car fleet has been on the upsurge in the last few years. Only 55% of our cars are below the Euro-2 standard as compared with 90% in the beginning of the decade. Following the EU example, the government is planning to introduce a tax mechanism which would encourage Russians to buy more modern cars.
Oil companies are actively investing into modernization of oil refineries. It will take from 30 billion to 37 billion euros to match the Euro-4 standards on a national scale. The authorities are not neglecting the problem, either.
This August, the Russian government began reviewing the technical regulations to establish fuel quality standards. After their adoption in 2008, the Russian oil processing companies will start producing quality gasoline and diesel fuel. The same compulsory regulations will introduce tough compliance procedures in the fuel market.
Reluctant to invent a bike, the Russians have simply copied them from their European colleagues. So, we have reasons to hope that in a few years our cars will be as safe for the environment as they are in Europe.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
