Mobility Basic Figures

Hungary’s CO2 emissions in the transport sector in both absolute and relative terms have increased of about 40% between 1990 and 2005. More than 85% are related with the road transport. According to figures presented in the EU funded project ALTERMOTIVE the total energy consumption of passenger transport in Hungary has grown from 67 PJ in 1990 to 77 PJ in 2007. Gasoline has got the smallest growing rates, whereas the major part of growth is held by diesel. The major amount of consumption of alternative fuels is being held by natural gas until 2005. After 2005 this part was complemented by an increasing consumption of biofuels mostly biodiesel and bioethanol/E85 flexifuel. In 2007/2008 the market share of alternative fuels in terms of energy consumption are more than 20%. Most of the alternative fuels are used by public transport bus operations.

The passenger vehicles total stock in Hungary has increased from 1.9 millions cars in 1990 to 3 millions in 2007. However, according to the national statistical office the registration of new passenger cars has decreased in Hungary from about 200,000 in 2003 to about 150,000 in 2008. The historic development of the stock of gasoline cars shows a fluctuating increasing trend, whereby the stock of diesel cars increased continuously. The stock of alternative cars is held by natural gas cars. According to the European funded project BEST in 2008 no purchase of flexifuel vehicles were recorded and no related vehicle fleet with state of the art technology is currently observable in the country. It is however understood that to a reasonable extent E85 is used for a stock of elder vehicles which principally can use E85 but without realising a positive environmental effect (owe to the fuel prices there was a certain incentive for the use of E85 but with the risk of harming the vehicle engines).

Several cities/municipals have started to implement clean vehicle solutions for their local public bus transport. First experiences in Hungary with the use of CNG has started in 2006 in the city of Szeged. The last of the 41 CNG vehicles has been purchased in 2006. Szeged is situated in the Southern Great Plain of Hungary with even topography. Under these operational conditions the buses have a maximum cruising range of 350 km and an average fuel consumption of 0.76 cubic meters CNG per kilometre (respectively 0.63 kg of CNG per kilometre). The CNG buses have proven to be a reliable and low-emission alternative to diesel buses. For the usage of the CNG buses in Szeged no restrictions are reported.

The operator of the public transport fleet of the city of Szeged will continue using CNG buses and additionally is looking to explore the possibilities of bioethanol/biodiesel. Also the city of Debrecen hast started to switch their bus fleet to biogas/CNG (target fleet size) starting with a pilot case of 7 vehicles. The Debrecen’s approach represents one of the most evident efforts towards a sustainable mobility system in Hungary integrating waste management, district heating, electricity production and public transport. The city also uses to a large extent biodiesel for their public transport.

Electro mobility currently does not play a tangential role in Hungary. At the moment there are also non significant public programmes to promote electro mobility. On the private sector site there are some initiatives, i.e. the manufacturer Antro plans to take a small electro-hybrid passenger car into market by 2012. The environmentally-conscious company started research back in 2002 and, with backing from various local sponsors, has invested 1.5 million EUR in market research and development of a working prototype.

According to the geo-information system European Environmental Atlas (http://technologies.ewindows.eu.org/atlas_map) in Hungary is an extensive national wide network of LPG refuelling stations (the system lists about 175 stations; on www.mpe.mtesz.hu/toltoallomasok_a-k.htm there are listed more than 200 LPG refuelling stations). The geo-information system www.metanoauto.com/modules.php lists 3 biogas refuelling stations. According to the European funded project BEST there are about 36 E85 flexifuel pumps in the country. However the website www.korridor.se/aryan/acadiane/E85/stationsadmin/stations_search.phtml which is linked to the BEST project list 374 bio-ethanol refuelling stations in Hungary. Currently, there are no refuelling stations for pure biodiesel, hydrogen and no information on public accessible recharging point for electric vehicles (cross checked by various sources).

Fiscal Incentives

In 2004 the state revenues from taxes and charges on cars and trucks amounted to HUF 560

billion. The majority of this amount (HUF 390 billion) came from the excise duties on fuels. Further items between HUF 10 and 50 billion are the following: registration tax, annual tax on motor vehicles, tolls, transfer duties on motor vehicles, tax on company cars, and environmental product fees.

There is a uniform VAT on the acquisition of vehicles of 25%. The registration tax for passenger cars is based among other on vehicle emissions. There are fixed tax amounts based on the type of the motor, cylinder and environmental feature. The adequate tax amount is depreciated taking indo account the age of the vehicle. The tax on ownership for passenger cars (motor vehicle tax) depends on the engine power and for commercial vehicles the tax depends on the weight of the vehicle, i.e.

• 300 HUF/kW/year in the year of manufacturing of the vehicle and 3 years after
• 260 HUF/kW/year in the 4-7th year after manufacturing the vehicle
• 200 HUF/kW/year in the 8-11th year after manufacturing the vehicle
• 160 HUF/kW/year in the 12-15th year after manufacturing the vehicle
• 120 HUF/kW/year from the 16th year after manufacturing the vehicle
• The tax rate for other vehicles is 1 200 HUF/100 kg/year

The tax must pay the owner of the motor vehicle at the first day of the calendar year.

In Hungary there is a company car tax on ownership also for cars partly used by employees for private reasons. Most recently the taxation system was switched from the Act on Personal Income Tax to the Act on Taxation of Motor Vehicles. The amount of tax payable depends on the capacity of the car engine. For cars with an engine capacity up to 1,600ccm (or 1,200ccm for Wankel engines) the tax is HUF 7,000 per month; for engines above that limit, the tax is HUF 15,000 per month.

There is a fuel excise tax on fuel of 0.448 EUR/litre for unleaded petrol and 0.368 EUR for diesel. From July 2007 a full tax exemption was established for biofuels blended up to 4.4% of the volume of gasoline and from January 2008 this tax exemption also applies to 4.4% of biodiesel blended into diesel. Fuel distribution companies not complying with the 4.4% regulation will have an extra tax burden of 8 HUF/litre of fuel at the wholesale level. In addition, as of January 2007 the bioethanol component of fuel E85 (defined as containing at least 70% bioethanol) is exempted from excise duty too.

The lion share of Hungarian motorway network is subject of a toll system on basis of vignettes. For cars the vignette prices are €4 - €6 (HUF 1,170 - 1,530) for 4 days (more expensive between May 1st and September 30th), €10 (HUF 2,550) for a week, €16 (HUF 4,200) for a month, and €139 (HUF 37,200) for a year. On January 2008, physical stickers have been abolished in favour of the electronic vignette. Most recently also vehicles more than 3.5 tonnes are subject of this system. So far the system does not contain environmental incentives.

Funding

Since 2004 the European funds have been available in 10 “new” EU member states including Hungary. Some of the funding programs relevant for Hungary are dedicated to environmental investments i.e. the so–called Central-Europe Programme for supporting the use of renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency or the South-East European Space Programme Promoting energy and resource efficiency (both with co-financing rates: 75-85%). The funding sources are used for the Hungarian Operative Program for Environment and Energy which provides financial incentives to renewable energy technologies from 2007-2013. The National Energy-Saving Program also promotes renewable energy through subsidies, which can be combined with soft loan from the Energy Saving Credit Program 2008. The maximum subsidy is 25 percent of the investment cost or 1,000,000 HUF per flat. The Energy Saving Credit Program 2008 also offers low-interest loans for renewable energy projects.

Regulation

In accordance with the goals of Government Decision No 2058/2006 (III.27.) Korm. focussing on development of the production of biofuels and promotion of their use for transport, the Government of the Republic of Hungary implemented new measures to achieve a proportion of biofuels of 5.75% by 2010.

There is a national standard for E85 flexifuel in Hungary: MSZ CWA 15293:2006 automotive fuels – ethanol E85 – requirements and test methods.

The City of Budapest is planning a Low Emission Zone but detailed figures are not available yet. Already today in the case of heavy smog flexible short term driving bans can be declared. In these cases usually vehicles with paired registration numbers can drive on paired dates vehicles with unpaired registration numbers on unpaired dates.

In Hungary imported second hand passenger vehicles must be less than 4 years old, second hand commercial vehicles must be less than 8 years old. All vehicles must have catalytic converters.

The vehicle emission and air quality standards are equivalent to EU directives. An annual emission testing is required. Catalytic converters are required since 1998.

Lead fuels are banned since 1999. Sulphur max allowable by law are 10 gr / litre. Both petrol and diesel follow the EU Fuel and Vehicle Directives.

The Act CXXIX of 2003 and its latest amendments define the legal conditions for Public Procurement. According to Art 4 (15) ‘technical specifications for public procurement’ as well as Article 57 (4c) ‘evaluation criteria’ set out that contract authorities shall include environmental criteria in their procurement decision whenever it is possible. However, so far in Public Procurement there are no standards for the purchase of clean vehicles. The Hungarian Centre of Environmental Studies has published Green Procurement Guidelines for Municipals in 2003 but without making reference to road vehicles.

There is no information available on joint public procurement initiatives in general or with regard to the purchase of clean vehicles.

www.nkh.hu; webpage of the  National Transport Authority with vehicle statistics

www.kozbeszerzes.hu; webpage of the Hungarian Public Procurement Council with all information on public procurement including regulations and tenders issued most recently

www.ktk-ces.hu/index2.html; webpage of the Hungarian Centre of Environmental Studies with publication on the use of biofuels and Green Public Procurement

www.energiakozpont.hu/index.php; webpage of the Hungarian Energy Centre with information on funding/loan schemas also comprising clean vehicle technology

www.mpe.mtesz.hu; webpage of the Hungarian LPG association with a list of refuelling stations for LPG

levego.hu/en/about_us; website of Clean Air Action Group (CAAG) an Hungarian environmental NGO organisation with publications on clean vehicles

Act CXXIX of 2003 on Public Procurement

Transport - Green Public procurement (GPP) Product Sheet (Közlekedés – Termékadatlap környezettudatos közbeszerzéshez)

Green Procurement Manual for Hungarian Municipalities (Zöld beszerzési kézikönyv önkormányzatok számára)

Procurement of Energy Efficient Products. European Best Practices (Energiatudatos közbeszerzés. Követendő példák az európai gyakorlatból)

Production Potential of biofuels in Hungary (Bioüzemanyagok előállításának lehetőségei Magyarországon)