Differences in perceptions of fuel duties and emissions trading in road transport

The transport sector is responsible for around 20% of global CO2 emissions, and road transport alone contributes to three-quarters of that share. A separate Emissions Trading System (ETS) in the EU will be implemented in 2027, covering road transport, buildings and additional sectors (mainly small industry). The likely outcomes of such policy are higher fuel prices, leading to less fuel consumption and reduced road transport emissions. Given that the inclusion of road transport in the EU ETS was originally proposed by the UK in the 2000s, and that the UK is exploring possible improvements to its own UK ETS, it is not impossible that the idea of emissions trading in road transport could be revisited in the UK. This article explores differences in perceptions of fuel price increases as a result of an increase in fuel duties or as a result of the introduction of a parallel ETS for road transport. This research employs a Serious Game to elicit perceptions. The game was designed to create situations where car drivers would need to make decisions in response to an increase in the pump price of fuel. Ultimately, the idea was to get the study participants to reflect on their travel decisions both in the game and in real life. Possible responses included changing their cars, modifying their travel behaviour and moving house. The data was analyzed using an interpretive approach, which contributed to the understanding of how participants experience and rationalize their decisions after fuel price increases. The main finding is that emissions trading seems to be seen more positively than an increase in fuel duties. The study participants associated emissions trading with a reduction in GHG emissions, and fuel duty increases to an increase in pump prices. When they were reminded that emissions trading would also cause pump prices to increase, they still seemed to be open to the idea of such a policy, and when they were reminded that the increase in fuel duties would also be aimed at reducing GHG emissions, they changed their attitude slightly towards a more positive one.