£20 million for low emission research

• Government pledges grants
• Cash boosts car manufacturers' own efforts
• Money is for UK-based companies

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The Government has pledged £20 million to support research into reducing carbon dioxide emissions from road transport.

The money is being distributed by the Technology Strategy Board and the Department for Transport and it is hoped vehicles benefiting from the research will be on the road in between five and seven years.

The money will be made available to UK-based companies via grants.

Road transport currently accounts for 20% of domestic carbon dioxide emissions in the UK, and the motoring industry is under pressure from the European Union to reduce its contribution to this figure.

Science and Innovation Minister Ian Pearson said: 'Through our investment in UK-based research and development we want to accelerate the introduction of low carbon vehicles, ahead of what would be achieved by market forces alone.'