The UK ban on new petrol and diesel cars WILL come into effect as early as 2030, the government confirms
Britain’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars WILL still be in place from 2030, the government confirms – although Europe is watering down its own restrictions
- Energy Secretary Grant Shapps has defied calls to slow the rollout of the ban
- That means cars and vans sold in the UK must be completely emission-free by 2035
Britain’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars will still apply from 2030, although Europe is watering down its own restrictions, the energy secretary confirmed today.
Grant Shapps said the UK does not need to follow the EU, which has moved downwards to continue selling new internal combustion engine cars that run on ‘e-fuels only’ after 2035.
Brussels on Tuesday approved legislation to end sales of new CO2-emitting cars in the EU in 2035 – but Germany has been granted an exemption for vehicles burning CO2-neutral petrol alternatives.
The EU law stipulates that all new cars sold must emit zero CO2 emissions from 2035 and 55 percent less CO2 emissions from 2030 than in 2021. The UK has a policy to stop selling petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030. After that, hybrids will be phased out, so all new cars and vans will be completely emission-free by 2035.
But despite reports that the UK is considering following the EU’s example by also allowing an e-fuels exemption, Mr Shapps today insisted UK policy would not change.
By 2030 cars sold in the UK will have to be hybrids and by 2035 completely zero emissions. Pictured: A woman charges an electric car in London
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said the government would not give in to calls to slow the transition to zero-emission vehicles. Pictured: Mr Shapps arrives at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday March 28
The energy minister told reporters: “I guess the German auto industry has its own perspective on this. We have mapped out our path, which by 2030 is the end of selling pure petrol and diesel.
“Then there’s a five-year transition period that we’ve yet to detail … and also, as mentioned here, they’ll complete the ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) mandate, which is the number zero cars you can sell before you.” sell regular cars
“All of that stays the same. We will always look at what is developing or happening elsewhere, but it does not change our policy.”
He added: “Our plan at the moment does not include an exception for e-fuels, but there is also this five-year period that we have to deal with…
“This is not a change of policy – we are sticking to our plans. We’re not in Europe, we don’t have to do what Europe does on this stuff – we’ve always leaned more forward than the EU on this stuff.
“That’s been the case so far, and I suspect we’re going to want to lean more on all those things.”
Mr Shapps is set to unveil his ‘Powering Up Britain’ energy security plan today – on what is known as ‘Green Day’ – with a range of measures to provide the UK with cleaner, more affordable sources of energy.
There are plans to expand renewable energy by accelerating the planning process to allow more solar and offshore wind projects to be built.
There are plans to expand renewable energy by accelerating the planning process to allow more solar and offshore wind projects to be built. Pictured: Protesters gather at an anti-ULEZ demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London, on February 25
Mr Shapps will announce locations for the UK’s first CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage) projects.
The Government has already pledged to invest £20bn over the next 20 years to advance projects aiming to capture 20-30m tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030 – the equivalent of the emissions of 10-15m cars.
The energy plan comes less than a year after the last, suggesting ministers believe they have not yet done enough to improve Britain’s energy security in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the plans would “ensure affordable, clean energy from the UK so we can lower energy prices and grow our economy”.
What is an “e-fuel”, is it climate-neutral and how is it manufactured?
EU U-turn on e-fuel: Germany and the European Union have announced that new passenger cars with combustion engines will continue to be registered beyond 2035, provided they are exclusively operated with climate-neutral “e-fuels” such as those from Porsche (pictured)
E-fuels – or synthetic fuels – have been touted as a potential solution for the future of shipping and aviation, but some automakers have campaigned for keeping internal combustion engine cars on sale longer, claiming they could cut CO2 emissions by 85 percent to reduce %.
Synthetic fuel is made from captured carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide along with hydrogen produced from sustainable power sources such as wind, solar and nuclear.
When the fuel is burned, the same amount of carbon dioxide is released into the air as it was released during the manufacturing process, leaving a CO2-neutral balance.
Critics say this process is not only inefficient, but also incredibly expensive to manufacture.
Porsche is one of the headline-grabbing car companies known for pumping huge funds into the development of this gasoline alternative.
The German manufacturer has invested around US$75m (£61m) in Chilean company Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF).
The HIF Haru Oni eFuels facility in Punta Arenas, Chile, officially opened earlier this year after Porsche made a huge investment in the production of synthetic fuels for one of its one-make racing championships
HIF started operations at the Porsche-backed Haru Oni plant in Chile in December and is now producing 130,000 liters of e-methanol for the brand’s 911 Supercup racing series.
Bosch is also known for exploring the possibility of manufacturing synthetic fuels, while Mazda became the first automaker to join the e-Fuel Alliance in 2021.
Green campaign group Transport & Environment says e-fuels should be banned to “break the oil industry’s grip on transport” and said any gap to consider synthetic fuels should be “closed”.
Emission tests for e-fuels were conducted in 2021 and claimed they emit as high levels of toxic NOx fumes as the standard unleaded E10 sold at petrol stations today.
It claimed that its results also showed that synthetic fuel produced higher levels of carbon monoxide and ammonia, although CO2 pollution was reduced.
It concluded that e-fuels will do “little to alleviate air quality problems in our cities,” although it also revealed that its assessments were based on three different synthetic blends put together by French research organization IFP Energies Nouvelles , and not developed on real e-fuels from brands like Porsche.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11917649/Britains-ban-new-petrol-diesel-cars-effect-2030-Government-confirms.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 The UK ban on new petrol and diesel cars WILL come into effect as early as 2030, the government confirms