The Carbon Trust, Defra and the BSI British Standards have announced they are to work together to co-sponsor the development of a program to measure the embodied greenhouse gases in products and services.

This will enable companies to measure the related impacts of their products and reduce them and could lead to a new labelling system where new car buyers will be able to identify which cars create more CO2 emissions during manufacturing.

Once completed the single standard will ensure a consistent and comparable approach to supply chain measurement across markets, it will help companies understand the life-cycle climate change impacts of their products and highlight significant emissions reduction opportunities.

BSI British Standards will oversee the development using the Carbon Trust pilot methodology as a starting point. Climate Change and Environment Minister Ian Pearson said: “The products that businesses make, buy and sell have an impact, both on climate change and the wider environment, at all stages from raw material to when the product is no longer required. These are created by the energy and other resources used, and the resulting emissions, in areas like production, transport and use of products as well as waste from packaging and discarded products.

“More and more, businesses are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment. To help them achieve that we need a reliable, consistent way to measure these impacts that businesses recognise, trust and understand. This is important work and will be fundamental in our efforts to move Britain towards a low-carbon economy in the decades ahead.”

Although no dates have been set to when we can expect the first result, the study will be welcomed by consumers.  A study by CNW Marketing Research in America revealed that some cars, such as the Toyota Prius may not be as environmentally friendly as Toyota claim when the impact of the vehicles complete lifecycle is considered (manufacture - use - recycle).  One particularly eye catching claim was that the Jeep Cherokee is cleaner than a Toyota Prius hybrid saloon. This result runs contrary to all other research in the area.