Controversial "cash for clunkers" schemes start to show green gains

More than four in five of the vehicles traded in under the US "cash for clunkers" scheme have been SUVs or pick-up trucks, according to new figures from the US Department of Transport.

The scrappage scheme, which has been modelled on similar schemes rolled out across Europe, pays customers up to $4,500 (£2,700) to turn in older vehicles and purchase a replacement that has to achieve only a 4mpg fuel-efficiency improvement on the previous car.

However, new figures suggest that the scheme is helping to accelerate the shift towards more fuel-efficient vehicles as motorists replace high-emission models with significantly cleaner alternatives. The top 10 list of cars traded in includes six SUVs, two mini-vans and two pick-up trucks, while in contrast only one of the top 10 cars being bought was an SUV.

The scheme has been running for two weeks and has proved popular, with 316,189 cars worth $1,326m turned in so far.

The Obama administration said the programme was getting the dirtiest vehicles off America's roads, adding that customers were going home from dealerships with new cars that were on average 63 per cent less polluting.

Figures from the UK government released earlier this week similarly revealed that motorists taking advantage of its scrappage scheme are generally switching to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The data revealed that while the UK has no emissions restrictions on the cars that are traded in or bought, on average new cars purchased under the scheme have CO2 emissions that are 25 per cent lower than the cars scrapped.

Based on data supplied by manufacturers, the average CO2 figure for scrapped cars is estimated to be at least 179g/km, compared to the emissions average of 133.9g/km for cars bought through the scheme.

Car sales in Germany, France, Italy and Spain have also seen a boost from similar programmes.

Ford said this week that scrappage schemes had contributed significantly to a five per cent rise in sales across European markets in the past quarter.

Meanwhile, the Russian government is also planning to launch its version of the scheme, offering a 50,000 rouble ($1,500) incentive to trade in cars that are more than 10 years old. The scheme is likely to begin in 2010.

However, many green groups remain unimpressed by the growing prevalence of scrappage schemes, arguing they are an extremely costly way of encouraging drivers to switch to cleaner cars, will deliver limited emission reductions, and constitute little more than a bailout for the auto industry.

Chris Ganson, transport analyst at the World Resources Institute (WRI), told the Guardian that the US scheme would have a negligible impact on emissions from the transport sector. "We think there will be some emissions reduction but it will just be a very small percentage of emissions from transportation," he said "It's still just a drop in the bucket."

According to research from WRI, emission reductions from the scheme will be equivalent to just two days' worth of car-related carbon emissions between now and 2019.