Shred your old car, get a reward

The measure should lead to a replacement of sixty thousand old cars by environmentally friendly ones, "which will be to the benefit of employees, companies, car drivers and the environment", according to the secretary of economic affairs Mr Mitterlehner. The Austrian Association for Motorists and Cyclists (ARBÖ) applauds the Government's move and expects it to curb falling demand for new cars, while at the same time reduce harmful emissions.

Better ideas?
However, an Austrian environmental organisation, Umweltberatung Österreich (Environmental consultancy Austria), expects the subsidy to have effects that are far from environmentally friendly. Production of new vehicles is an energy intensive process and creates waste, it argues. Instead of the subsidy, the Umweltberatung urges for more funds being allocated to development of technologies that enable new mobility concepts. Gerald Franz of the Umwelberatung sums up some alternative measures:

• Development of a regional solar-powered charging network and increasing storage efficiency of batteries, which should make solar-powered driving ready for the masses.
• A subsidy for the use of public transport, as well as a subsidy for people that consciously refrain from the use of their private cars.
• Public investments in car sharing schemes.

The discussion vividly brings back a discussion we had earlier on MindsinMotion.net (see the link below to The Burning Issue).

What do you think? Have Austria and Germany decided for a good measure?

Source

• Das Österreichische Nachhaltigkeitsportal: Verschrottungsprämie vs. Alternative Mobilitätskonzepte (German)

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