Mobility Basic Figures

In recent years the number of registered motor vehicles has increased sharply, with old vehicles (in particular public transport vehicles) as a significant source of emissions in towns and cities (in 2007 more than 95% of CO2 emissions in Slovenia are related to road transport). Statistics taken from the EU funded project ALTERMOTIVE show that the total energy consumption of car passenger transport in Slovenia has grown continuously from 26 PJ in 1994 to 36 PJ in 2007. After 2000 the amount of gasoline decreased slightly, whereas the amount of diesel grew towards some 65% in 2008. Since 2005 an increase of biodiesel consumption is observable still with a market share of not more than 1%. Diesel cars increased their market share continuously and represent currently more than 25% of the vehicle stock. Passenger vehicle stock in Slovenia has grown from about 0.6 millions cars in 1990 to more than 1 million cars in 2007. Car density stands at impressive 615 cars per 1,000 people, which is comparable to many Western European countries.

Despite the high level of growth in the past, the market of passenger cars in Slovenia does not show signs of saturation, since the number of registered vehicles has again increased in recent years after the extreme peak in 1999 (due to the introduction of VAT) and later decrease. The average age of passengers cars in Slovenia increased from 6.8 years in 1992 to 7.7 years in 2007. This means that new technologies are introduced gradually and that the vehicle fleet is mostly less environmentally-friendly. Between 50,000 and 60,000 private motor vehicles reach the end of their life every year; this figure is based on empirical data showing that the average lifespan of a vehicle is 15 years. Regarding the development of alternative car types in recent years gas driven cars have increased to about 2,300 which is a market share of less than 0.3%. The lion share of alternative car types are powered by LPF/CNG. Most recently the number of electric vehicles has start to grow starting from a very low level.

In Solvenia there is a National Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions comprising various instruments for the achievement of the Kyoto targets i.e. consumer awareness of CO2 emissions from motor vehicles and the promotion of the use of biofuels. In this context a number of different initiatives and projects were undertaken in the past ten years to stimulate the use of clean vehicles in Slovenia, mostly co-financed by EU sources, i.e.:

• The EU funded initiative CIVITAS MOBILIS is active i.e. in the City of Ljubljana (ELAN consortium) and trying to establish a close circle on bio-diesel (develop sustainable regional production, supply and distribution structures for alternative fuel on the example of bio-diesel, following the principles of diversification, renewability and cost-effectiveness of energy supply). The Ljubljana public transport company has started testing the use of biodiesel mixture on two buses in cooperation with the University of Maribor, Mechanical Engineering Faculty. Researchers provided investigations on bus engines, necessary to prevent or at least mitigate different engines or environmental problems. The Agricultural Institute developed a simulation model for the evaluation of the production economics for rapeseed on smaller estates to support its local production. In September 2007 twenty buses are running daily on 100 % biodiesel.

• The City of Ljubljana has started using one of the latest and cleanest technologies available for buses on the market. The overall objective is to achieve a 10 percent share of hybrid vehicles in the Ljubljana public vehicle fleet. The former bus fleet of the PT operator - LPP comprises 205 urban buses and 65 regional buses. The urban transport is operated on 23 lines of 268 km total length. There is a strong need to modernise the bus fleet and to make the public transport more comfortable and efficient for passengers as well as to upgrade its environmental component and reduce emissions. Hence, in 2009 a public procurement process for renting 3 different types of hybrid buses (Solaris, MAN, Volvo) from 3 different manufacturers in the year 2009 was implemented. The duration of testing of 3 different types of hybrid buses will be 9 months after the delivery on the different temperature. The evaluation is taking place on test roads and on city streets, with citizens being offered a free trip on the buses during the testing period. The city expects a 20 percent reduction of fuel consumption on hybrid buses. In Slovenia it was the first case of using hybrid buses in public transport. The public tender for the purchasing of additional 27 hybrid buses was started in 2010.

• There is a reasonable hybrid propelled taxi fleet in the city of Ljubljana operated by Rumeni taxi (Yellow Cab) which is based on an innovative business model of taxi service organisation. The main principles are the introduction of advanced technologies and introduction of new standards. Since November 2004 the company offers a ride in the first hybrid taxi in Ljubljana. Based on a 1.5 years and 360.000 km pilot phase it could be stated that hybrid propelled cars are performing very well so that additional vehicles of this type were purchased.

• Piran is a town of about 4,500 inhabitants on a 1 km˛ area on the Adriatic coast. Medevial town with its narrow streets is one of the most popular touristic attractions in Slovenia. The public service of waste collection has to be adjusted to this special function of town. According to their 6 years experience with electrical vehicles, they have not noticed any differences between diesel and electrical vehicles as far as acceleration, top speed, gear oil changes or filter changes are concerned. The lifespan and average time of service repair are equal for both kinds of vehicles. The refilling time for diesel vehicles is shorter - electrical vehicles run approximately 4 hours, after that, batteries have to be refilled. When compared to diesel propelled vehicles, the total of operating costs of vehicles which run on electricity are equal, although the costs of purchase of the latter are around 30,000 Euro higher. The costs of alternative fuels, taxes and insurance of electric vehicles are equal to costs of conventionally propelled vehicles.

• Javne naprave d.o.o. is a company that removes the waste by vehicle in 12 municipalities in the region of Celje. Their main mission is economic handling with waste and taking care of the environment. They therefore decided to buy an utility vehicle with electrical propulsion as pilot case. If the experience made is satisfactory it is planned to procure additional vehicles of this type.

The internet portal www.poiplaza.com lists 35 refuelling stations for LPG in Slovenia. There are listed no refuelling stations for biodiesel, biogas, hydrogen and E85 flexifuel (cross checked by various sources) in Slovenia.

Fiscal Incentives

There is an uniform VAT rate of 19% on all fuels and the acquisition of vehicles. There is a registration tax based on the price of vehicle (1%-13% scale). There is no circulation tax (for commercial vehicles information on taxation is not available).

There is an excise duty on fuels of 0.403 EUR/litre for unleaded petrol and 0.383 EUR/litre for diesel. Biofuel sold in pure form have been completely exempt from excise tax since December 2003. Those sold in blends are subject to excise taxes but may apply for a 25% discount. The level of exemption from excise duties is proportional to the share of biofuel added.

A specific vehicle end-of-life environmental tax has been introduced in Slovenia. This tax lead to public income of approx. 1.8 billion SIT and is used for environmental adequate vehicle waste management.

Funding

In 2010 there was no direct funding schema for environmental friendly vehicles in Slovenia.

The Environmental Fund of the Republic of Slovenia operates the Program “Environmental Investments Loans OBČANOV". The program was launched in May 1996, after the World Bank obtained a loan of EUR 30 million. Funded by the World Bank the project extended to whole Slovenia. In 2008, among others it credited the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles (program cifre F). In the current call (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. 7/10) under cifre G there is defined a interest reduced loan schema for purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles (purchases of cars, motorcycles or mopeds on electric or hybrid drive where the amount of CO2 emissions in combined driving, according to the manufacturer is not more than 110 g/km). The total volume of the call is 12 m EUR. Loans of max. 20,000 EUR are given with a reduced tax rate of 3.5% annually on a 5 year base and 3.9% annual up to ten years.

Regulation

To implement the measures promoting the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels for transport to replace diesel and petrol of fossil origin, the Republic of Slovenia has adopted the following legislative acts:

• An operational programme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a revised version of which was adopted by the Slovenian government in 2006 and an initial programming document in which the Republic of Slovenia introduced measures to promote the use of biofuels in transport. The operational programme states that the objective of introducing biofuels in transport in the first five-year Kyoto target period 2008–2012 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 tonnes CO2 equivalent a year, which will mean replacing 45,000 tonnes of diesel and petrol a year. Converting this Kyoto objective into the percentage of the share of biofuels in transport, the average annual use of biofuels for the period 2008–2012 comes to around 3% of all road vehicle fuel.

• The Excise Duty Act (Slovenian Official Gazette No 84/98, last amended in No 122/06), which exempts biofuels used as motor fuels from the excise inspection and payment system when used in their pure form. When biofuels are blended with fossil fuels, a maximum 5% exemption from the payment of excise duty can be claimed, or more for standard fuels containing biofuels.

• The rules on the content of biofuels in motor vehicle fuels (Slovenian Official Gazette No 83/05, corrigendum No 108/05), which, in accordance with Directive 2003/30/EC, defines the types of biofuels used as transport biofuels and the minimum level of biofuels in motor vehicle transport which fuel distributors must ensure for motor vehicles each calendar year up to 2010.

In accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the Rules on the content of biofuels in motor vehicle fuels (Slovenian Official Gazette No 83/05, corrigendum 108/05), distributors of fuel for transport vehicles must ensure that the annual average content of biofuels in all transport fuels placed on the Slovenian market in the particular calendar year is as follows:

• 2006 - equivalent of at least 1.2%,

• 2007 - equivalent of at least 2%,

• 2008 - equivalent of at least 3%,

• 2009 - equivalent of at least 4% and

• 2010 - equivalent of at least 5%.

The content of biofuels is expressed as a percentage of the energy value of all motor vehicle fuel placed on the market.

As part of an EU funded project there was the implementation of a sustainable congestion charging scheme in cooperation with actors on national and regional levels starting as pilot project with the City of Ljubljana. The problem of congestion related to traffic streams is compounded in peak hours (7.00-9.00 and 15.00-17.00) especially at the highway exits to main roads towards the inner city centre as well as in the city centre itself.

Starting from July 2008 the vignette use on toll roads is mandatory. Toll roads, for which a toll for a limited period of their use in Slovenia is for all motorways and express roads, managed and maintained by DARS. The purchase of a vignette is obligatory for the use of a toll road for those vehicles with a maximum weight not exceeding 3,500 kg, regardless of the maximum weight of a trailer.

Currently, the seventh revision of the Law on Public Procurement Procedures (Official Gazette of RS, no. 78/99, 90/99, 110/02 and 42/02, hereinafter: ZRPJN) is in force. A governmental Decree on Green Public Procurement is in draft circulation (status: October 2009). It will regulate green public procurement and present requirements for inclusion of green criteria into public procurement proceedings.

Slovenian statistical data show that public procurement represented 12.98 % of GDP in 2007, which accounts for as much as 47.35% of national budget expenditures. This shows a clear upward trend, if compared, to around 10% of GDP (24.3% of the value of the national budget) in 2001. The purchase of vehicles account for 4.4% of the entire procurement volume and is ranked as no. 4 of the most important supplies of the public sector.

Through practising of green purchasing the public sector in Slovenia could thus be one of the most important actors when it comes to environment- and energy-conscious activities. In spite of these facts and opportunities procurement in the public sector mainly still follows traditional, only lowest cost oriented patterns. The same practice could be identified in the majority of private sector too. Recent legislative attempts should bring forward a noticeable shift towards green(er) decision making at least in the public sector, while in the private sector such activities are becoming also a question of corporate image.  For a longer period no specific legislative documents existed, which would handle green procurement in general or some of its individual fields.

There are, however, regulations and other documents constantly present, which deal with energy- and environmental issues (energy efficiency, emissions, labelling, etc.) and can serve as a foothold when planning of green purchasing. The first version of the “modern” national Public Procurement Act came into force in April 2004, as an update and upgrade of the version from the year 2000, which took into consideration Directives 92/50/EEC, 93/36/EEC, and 93/37/EEC. These procurement regulations did not comprise environmental (or green, sustainable, energy, etc.) criteria, although green procurement was being informally encouraged by the Government. In December 2006 a new version of the Public Procurement Act fully harmonized with the EU legislation, had been promulgated.

For the first time energy and environmental criteria were explicitly brought forward, not as an obligation, but as a (recommended) possibility in contract award procedures. The Act introduced terms such as environmental protection, environmental characteristics and similar. Criteria from different green labelling schemes can be included in the tender documents and taken into account when assessing economically most viable offers. However, for vehicles no green criteria were defined.

In May 2009, the Government promulgated the national Action Plan for Green Public Procurement. The overall aim of this plan is to establish an operational system of green public procurement. Concrete specific targets are aimed at achieving certain shares of green public procurement by 2012: construction and buildings (30 %), cleaning (60 %), office IT (95 %), vehicles (40 %), electricity (100 %), furniture (50 %), paper (70 %), and catering (40 %). The Action Plan for Green Public Procurement lists 14 measures, including: preparation of a governmental decree on green public procurement, trainings and educational activities, green procurement web platform, dialogue with the commercial sector to develop a green market, and introduction of EMAS into the public sector.

Based on some of the successful activities within the IEE GreenLabelsPurchase project and close cooperation between Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK and responsible ministries of the Slovenian government (Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning), the IEE Buy Smart project has explicitly been included in the text of the national Action Plan for Green Public Procurement as one of the supporting elements for realisation of planned measures. In October 2009 a draft version of the Decree on Green Public Procurement has been prepared. The Decree will regulate green public procurement and present requirements for inclusion of green criteria into public procurement proceedings. Appendices to the decree provide basic and additional requirements for certain public procurement procedures for the following product groups: electricity, personal and transport vehicles, office IT, office paper, appliances and other energy labelled products, construction and renovation or buildings, construction and renovation of public lighting systems, furniture, cleaning products and services, and food and catering.

On the government’s 84th regular meeting held on 27/05/2010 a report on the implementation and achievement of green public procurement in the period June 2009 - March 2010 was presented, which shows that in 2009 415 green public procurement in the total value of 246.32 million EUR was awarded. One important result of the report shows that the adaption of the new regulation on the supply led to the fact that selected passenger cars for six different categories have average emissions of 124 gr CO2/km and vans 144 gr CO2/km.

www.dkom.si	website of the National Review Commission with information on public procurement including all laws and actual tenders
www.enarocanje.si	Slovenian e-procurement portal
www.mzp.gov.si	website of the Slovenian Ministry of Transport
www.mf.gov.si/si/delovna_podrocja/sistem_javnega_narocanja/zelena_javna_narocila/	website of the Slovenian Ministry of Finance with all information on the Action Plan for Green public procurement
www.mop.gov.si/en/	website of the Slovenian Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning
www.promet.si	website of the traffic information centre with road traffic information and all legislation on road transport
eionet-en.arso.gov.si	website of the environmental agency of Slovenia (EIONET)
kazalci.arso.gov.si	website with detailed statistics on the environmental performance of transport
www.ekosklad.si	website of the Environmental Fund of the Republic of Slovenia with information of funding clean vehicles

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT ACT (ZJN-2)

RESOLUTION ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PROGRAMME 2005–2012 (NEAP)

The Action plan for green public procurement for the period 2009 to 2012

Report on the implementation and achievement of green public procurement in the period June 2009 - March 2010

Transport - Green Public procurement (GPP) Product Sheet (Seznam proizvodov za zeleno javno naročanje)

A public call for people's environmental investment lending 43OB10

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