The UK Government’s think tank on climate matters, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), has recommended banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2032 at the latest – up to eight years earlier than originally planned.
The committee, which comprises politicians and scientists, has also suggested that tax hikes for petrol and diesel cars, with the extra revenue used to fund carbon lowering initiatives.
The recommendations come in the latest update of the so-called ‘Road To Zero’ strategy, which the CCC is leading and whose aim is to see the UK’s net carbon emissions fall to zero by 2050. The report says that the Government should take advantage of current fuel prices, which are especially low owing to the COVIV 19 crisis: “Greater use of carbon taxes can support the public finances and strengthen incentives to reduce emissions. They are particularly attractive when global oil prices, and therefore consumers' energy costs, are low, as they are now.”
The report adds that “there should be a rising mandate for car companies to sell a minimum share of zero-emissions vehicles, reaching 100% by 2032 at the latest.”
In reality that means ‘overhauling’ the road tax system – overhauling a euphemism for “jacking the prices up,” of course; currently the Government is in a consultation phase on banning petrol and diesel cars by 2035, asking the public for its views on the proposal, including the possibility of bringing the ban forward to 2032. The end date of the consultation is July 31.
“We are not making adequate progress in preparing for climate change,” says the report, adding that “the Committee's assessment is that the date should be brought forward to 2032 at the latest, and backed by detailed policy arrangements to deliver it.”
Originally the ban was supposed to come into force by 2040 – when the Road To Zero strategy was first published in 2018, that is – but it appears that the CCC is buoyed by the current proliferation of electric vehicles. While they still represent a fraction of new car sales their growth is substantial: battery electric vehicles account for 4.3% of total car sales so far in 2020, while in 2019 they represented just 1.6% of the market share.
The ban on petrol and diesel sales is likely to include hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles too – any car or van with internal combustion, basically. This is a major cause for concern for many motorists, as they see hybrids as a ‘bridge’ between conventional internal combustion vehicles and full electric cars, which some still view as unsuitable for their needs, given charging times and relative lack of charging infrastructure.
In addition, it’s not certain that enough of the raw material exists to facilitate a mass switch to battery electric vehicles. Materials like cobalt, neodymium, dysprosium and copper will be needed in vast quantities – and relatively quickly – to manufacture the batteries. All this does is shift the problem, arguably, from fossil fuels to else where because these things too are limited resources that require massive effort to gather.
Keyword: Climate Change Committee: ban petrol and diesel by 2032, hike car tax