Paris (AFP)

A fashionable, but polluting: SUV, booming in cities, threaten to negate the attempts of the automotive sector to reduce its CO2 emissions, warned Wednesday the International Energy Agency (IEA).

More and more, these cars with 4x4 look, but without their crossing capacity, were the second largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the world between 2010 and 2018, according to the director of the IEA .

"Of course, automakers are putting a lot of money into electric cars, but the same ones are also putting more and more SUV models on the market," Fatih Birol told reporters at an international conference in Paris. electrification of energy.

"Yes, electric cars are strong, there are about 6 million in the world (...) But is it synonymous with decarbonisation? Absolutely not," he insisted, noting that half drive "in a country in Asia ", China, where two-thirds of electricity is produced by coal-fired power plants.

"Electric cars are not a panacea, the prerequisite must be a decarbonisation of the energy system," he pleaded.

In addition, "in fact, the star of the car industry, it is not the electric car, it is the SUV: in 2010, 18% of car sales in the world were for SUVs, in 2018, it was over 40%! "

"As a result, over the past ten years, SUVs have been the second largest source of CO2 emissions growth", after the energy sector, but before heavy industry (steel, cement ...), heavy trucks or aviation.

More than 200 million SUV circulate today in the world, against 35 million in 2010, a trend that can be found everywhere, says the IEA in a note published Tuesday.

Often heavier and less aerodynamic, these ubiquitous vehicles in the ranges of manufacturers consume a quarter of energy more than a car of average size, says the report.

- More difficult to electrify -

As a result, they are the sole source of the increased demand for petroleum from the automotive industry between 2010 and 2018, which has largely outpaced the gains in efficiency achieved on smaller cars and fuel savings. allowed by the electric.

"If the consumer appetite for SUVs continues to grow at the pace of the past decade, these cars would add nearly 2 million barrels a day to global oil demand by 2040, canceling the savings allowed by 150 million electric cars, "warns the report.

He also points out that "bigger and heavier cars like SUVs are harder to electrify". In the EU, after years of decline, CO2 emissions from new cars have risen in 2018 for the second year of the year. following, according to the European Environment Agency, which refers to the rise of SUV as one of the "main factors".

Manufacturers are under pressure in many countries to reduce their emissions, which forces them to turn to electrification and improve the efficiency of combustion engines: in the EU, new ceilings will come into effect in 2020 , with an obligation for new cars to display average CO2 emissions of less than 95 grams per kilometer.

However, under the pressure of the German car lobby, this figure of 95 grams will be adjusted according to the mass of vehicles: big cars can emit a little more.

In France the question is a subject of battle via the definition of bonus / penalty for purchase: whether or not to take into account the weight of vehicles, as some MPs wish?

For environmental NGOs, SUVs have become a new foil. In September, 15,000 to 25,000 protesters disrupted the Frankfurt auto show to demand public transport funds and denounce SUVs, these "urban tanks".

In Germany, where voices are rising for their ban in the city center since a fatal accident in Berlin, a cargo ship carrying a load has been targeted by Greenpeace, under the banner of "climate killer on board".

© 2019 AFP