Reducing vehicle cold start emissions through carbon pricing: Evidence from Germany
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Date
2020
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Abstract
A large proportion of local pollutants originating from the road transport sector
is generated during the so-called cold-start phase of driving, that is, the first
few minutes of driving after a car has stood inactive for several hours. Drawing on
data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP), this paper analyzes the factors that
affect the frequency of cold starts, approximated here by the number of car tours
that a household takes over the course of a week. Based on fixed-effects panel
estimations, we find a negative and statistically significant effect of fuel prices on
the number of tours and, hence, cold starts. Using our estimates to explore the
spatial implications arising from fuel price increases stipulated under Germany’s
Climate Programme 2030, we find substantial impacts on the number of avoided
tours even for modest fuel price increases of 20 cents per liter, particularly in urban
areas. This outcome lends support to using carbon pricing as a means to improve
both global climate and local air quality, pointing to a co-benefit of climate policy.
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Keywords
German mobility panel, car use, fuel prices