Willingness to Pay for $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ Emission Reductions in Passenger Car Transport

Abstract

Passenger car transportation is a major contributor to global carbon emissions. Despite a range of policy measures, the European passenger car fleet remains largely running on fossil fuels. It is questionable whether the lack of emission reductions can be attributed to a lack of consumer preferences for low-emission cars because consumers may have imperfect information about cars' emissions and the availability of clean cars remains limited. This paper investigates the preferences of consumers for emission reductions in passenger car transport. We estimate the willingness to pay of passenger car buyers for CO 2 emission reductions by means of a choice experiment amongst a sample of 1471 individuals that represents the Dutch adult population with the intention to buy a car. The main results are that the mean willingness to pay for emission reductions equals €199 per tonne, and that the majority of individuals is willing to pay more than the current market premium for two selected hybrid types. These results suggest there is a large market potential for emission reductions in passenger car transport. Our findings imply that providing consumers with trustworthy information can be considered a key policy tool for achieving emission reductions in passenger car transport.

Development and Structural Changes of Carbon Footprint in EU28

“…Basic descriptive statistical tools have been used to process the data, namely, growth coefficient, average growth coefficient, relative growth, average relative growth, base coefficient and emissions per capita [23]. To illustrate the indicators clearly, the tables Sustainability 2021, 13, 4771 4 of 20 present even years solely. The growth coefficient k t for individual variables y in time t = 2 .…”

“…Ziegler [11] or Hackbarth and Madlener [12] present additional factors that limit the development of the market with "clean vehicles", such as unavailability of filling stations for alternative fuels, long charging periods for electric vehicles, or a more limited number of models available than is common for conventional automobiles. Hulshof and Mulder [13] state that, firstly, a customer must understand the necessity to implement new measures that result in a decrease in emissions in personal transportation, which will be reflected in their internal willingness to pay. Some authors, for example, Kuwahara et al [14] focus on the development of intelligent transport systems which, thanks to better traffic flow and regulation, will decrease the total emissions.…”

Willingness to Pay for Crowdfunding Local Agricultural Climate Solutions

“…A range of international studies indicates that people are indeed willing to pay for mitigating carbon emissions. Investigating the WTP for carbon emissions reductions regarding car use, Hulshof and Mulder [16] found that, on average, a Dutch person was willing to pay EUR 199 per tCO 2 emitted in driving (USD ~210/tCO 2 ), when considering what car to buy. MacKerron et al [17] found that the mean WTP for a flight's verified carbon offset among young British adults was GBP 24 per person (USD ~30/tCO 2e ).…”

Learning in the Anthropocene

“…While degrowth advocates tend to insist that behavioral change, even explicitly betting on a "social miracle" (Kallis 2019, p. 195), is always preferable to any technological risk-taking (Heikkurinen 2018), that overlooks both the scope of the sustainability challenge and the lack of public consent to any sufficiently radical political project (Buch-Hansen 2018). While there may be growing willingness to pay for, say, an electric vehicle (Hulshof and Mulder 2020), giving up private automobile use altogether is obviously a different animal, to say nothing about a more fundamental rematerialization of the economy (Hausknost 2020). Again, the problem is one in which change either (a) remains marginal yet ecologically insufficient or (b) becomes sufficiently radical yet provokes a strong political counterreaction.…”