Volvo Bits

I have pondering what to do with some  information provided to me via a recent Volvo Cars North America (VCNA) press release. VCNA has released the fuel consumption numbers for their current "clean diesel" lineup in Europe. Why, I'm not sure, as they are not making them available to the North American market.

These vehicles do not use hybrid technology, rather, they are equipped with  a low carbon emissions diesel powerplant.  Apparently, according to the European spec Volvo fuel consumption numbers,  the Volvo V70 diesel that you buy in Belgium would consume up to one half of the  fuel than the same V70 (gasoline powered) purchased in Toronto.

This wouldn't be a big deal except for the recent interest in saving  our planet here in North America.  And the rising fuel costs. Not to mention the auto-industry bail-outs that many speculate are because the industry isn't providing the consumer with the product that they want.

My question is, why the hell can't I buy the Volvo V70 here that gets 4.9L/100km?

Would some of you not like the option of purchasing  a V70 that consumed half of the fuel of the North American V70?

Most speculate that the reason that we can't get these cars in North America is due to our strict emission control standards in North America. If, indeed, the reason has to do with emissions standards, I think we need to take a closer look at our emissions standards.

When testing a vehicle for emissions at the tailpipe, why is there no accommodation for the efficiency of the vehicle being tested?  In other words, if the diesel V70 is being tested and emits 20% more oxides of nitrogen than the gasoline powered V70, but the diesel powered car is capable of travelling twice the distance of the gasoline powered V70 on the same amount of fuel,  should we not be making an accommodation for the diesel powered vehicle with our emissions standards?  Am I mistaken in assuming that you will still emit less carbon (when making considerations for the range and efficiency) with the diesel powered Volvo?

How much more  energy does it take to collect and refine 70litres of gasoling compared to 35litres of diesel?  Is this not important?

For fun, here's the fuel consumption numbers as released by Volvo,

for the 2010 fuel efficient Volvos in Europe...