Heavy pollution in urban areas due to dependence on road transport
improvement of road transport would be beneficial.
Policy options include the following:
a. Passing planning and development
laws that encourage energy efficiency
in the transport sectors, such as laws
on (i) town planning to encourage urban
consolidation, (ii) education and promotion
(iii) greater use of environmental impact
assessment and (iv) implementation of
demand management programmes, such
as staggered or flexible working hours, ride-
sharing and traffic management measures.
b. Passing laws that regulate the motor
vehicle industry resulting in reduced
fuel consumption and improved vehicle
use. Laws could be passed on the
establishment of fuel consumption
labelling, fuel consumption on model-
specific vehicle advertising, fuel economy
standards for vehicle manufacturers and
vehicle maintenance programmes.
c. Offering fiscal incentives to improve motor
vehicle fuel economy. Such incentives
should include skewed motor vehicle
registration charges, increased petroleum
excise taxes, income tax incentives
and grants, loans or loan guarantees to
businesses for the lease or purchase of
fuel-efficient vehicles.
d. Promoting alternative fuels, such as
biomass-based ethanol. This can be
achieved through the provision of financial
incentives for crop manufacturers,
government support for the redesign
of vehicle motors and the removal of
legislative barriers to alternative fuels.
C. Construction and buildings sector
In the construction and buildings sector, there are
two kinds of energy consumption:
a. Energ y c on sump t ion during t he
construction process and in the process of
manufacturing and procuring the materials
for construction. The total amount of energy
used is called the embodied energy of the
structure.
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