Focus on vehicle efficiency to reduce GHG emissions

Sustainable transportation is a key aspect of reducing global carbon emissions to stem the climate crisis.

- IV Rao

The avoid, shift, improve, and fuel (ASIF) framework outlines a comprehensive approach to creating more sustainable transport systems. While much attention is given to alternative fuel technologies, particularly electric vehicles (EVs), the efficiency improvement strategy remains one of the least discussed but highly effective levers of sustainable transportation. This strategy, however, often gets overshadowed by the excitement surrounding new fuel technologies.

While all other strategies, such as modal shift from private to public transport or road to rail transport, are important, efficiency improvement is a crucial yet under-appreciated policy lever. Efficiency improvement is typically a technical issue dealt with at the vehicle manufacturing and regulatory levels, but it is an area often overlooked in public discourse on sustainable transportation. A prime example of this is the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, which regulate the fuel efficiency of vehicles in terms of grams of carbon dioxide emitted per km. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in India has set strict fuel efficiency targets for the four-wheeler passenger vehicles segment (M1 category).