Britain’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars WILL still take effect from 2030, Government confirms

Britain’s ban on new petrol and diesel cars will still take effect from 2030, despite Europe easing its own restrictions, the energy minister confirmed today.

Grant Shapps said the UK did not have to follow the EU, which has climbed down to allow sales of new internal combustion engine cars running on ‘e-fuels’ only to continue beyond 2035.

Brussels passed a law on Tuesday to stop sales of new cars that emit CO2 in the EU by 2035, but Germany was given an exemption for vehicles that burn carbon-neutral petrol alternatives.

EU law requires all new cars sold to be carbon neutral from 2035 and emit 55 percent less CO2 from 2030 than in 2021. Britain has a policy to stop selling petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030 . After that, hybrids will be phased out, so that all new cars and vans will be completely emission-free by 2035.

But despite reports that the UK is considering following the EU’s lead by also allowing an e-fuel exemption, Shapps stressed today that Britain’s policy would not change.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said the government will not shy away from calls to delay the transition to zero-emission vehicles. Pictured: Mr Shapps arrives at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday 28 March

The energy minister told reporters: “I appreciate that the German car industry has its own take on this. We have mapped out our path to the end of pure petrol and diesel sales by 2030.

“There is then a five-year transition period that we have yet to detail… and also, as mentioned here, they will finalize the ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) mandate, which is the number of cars you can sell before you buy regular cars. sells.

‘That all remains the same. We will always look at what is happening or happening elsewhere, but that won’t change our policy.’

He added: “Our plan does not currently have an exemption for e-fuels, but there is also a five-year period to deal with…

“This is not a policy change, we are sticking to our plans. We are not in Europe, we don’t have to do what Europe does in this area – we have always been more progressive in this area than the EU.

“That’s been the case so far and I suspect we want to lean more forward on all of these things.”

Mr Shapps is set to publish his Powering Up Britain energy security plan today – on what has been dubbed ‘Green Day’ – with a range of measures to provide cleaner, more affordable energy sources to power the UK.

There are plans to expand renewable energy by speeding up the planning process to allow for the construction of more solar and offshore wind projects.

There are plans to expand renewable energy by speeding up the planning process to allow for the construction of more solar and offshore wind projects. Pictured: Protesters gather at an anti-ULEZ rally in London’s Trafalgar Square on February 25

Mr Shapps will announce the locations for the UK’s first Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) projects.

The government has already committed to investing £20bn over the next 20 years in projects aimed at storing 20 to 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030, equivalent to the emissions of 10 to 15 million cars.

The energy plan comes less than a year after the previous one, suggesting ministers don’t believe they haven’t done enough to improve the UK’s energy security in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the plans will provide ‘affordable, clean energy from Britain so we can lower energy prices and grow our economy’.

What is an ‘e-fuel’, is it climate neutral and how is it made?

EU’s e-fuel turnaround: Germany and the European Union have announced that registrations of new passenger cars with internal combustion engines will continue beyond 2035, provided they run exclusively on climate-neutral ‘e-fuels’ such as those produced by Porsche (pictured )

E-fuels – or synthetic fuels – have been touted as a possible solution for the future of shipping and aviation, but some automakers have lobbied for internal combustion engine cars to stay on sale longer, claiming they can cut carbon emissions by 85% . %.

Synthetic fuel is produced using captured carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide along with hydrogen obtained from renewable electricity sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power.

When the fuel is burned, it is intended to release the same amount of carbon dioxide into the air as it did during the manufacturing process, creating a carbon neutral footprint.

Critics have said that this process is not only inefficient, but also incredibly expensive in terms of production.

Porsche is one of the most high-profile automakers known to be pouring huge sums into the development of this petrol alternative.

The German manufacturer has invested about $75 million (£61 million) in Chilean company Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF).

The HIF Haru Oni ​​eFuels plant in Punta Arenas, Chile, officially opened earlier this year following a huge investment from Porsche to produce synthetic fuels for one of its single-make racing championships

HIF began operating the Porsche-backed Haru Oni ​​plant in Chile in December and now produces 130,000 liters of e-methanol for the brand’s 911 Supercup racing series.

Bosch is also known to be exploring the possibility of making synthetic fuels, while Mazda in 2021 became the first automaker to join the ‘e-Fuel Alliance’.

Green campaign group Transport & Environment says e-fuels should be banned to ‘break the oil industry’s grip on transportation’ and any loophole to consider synthetic fuels should be ‘closed’.

In 2021, it said emissions tests on e-fuels and claimed they emit as high levels of toxic NOx fumes as standard E10 unleaded sold at filling stations today.

It claimed the results also showed that synthetic fuel produced higher levels of carbon monoxide and ammonia, despite reducing the carbon impact.

It concluded that e-fuels “will do little to alleviate the air quality problems in our cities,” although it also revealed that its assessments were based on three different synthetic blends devised by French research organization IFP Energies Nouvelles, rather than real e fuels. developed by brands such as Porsche.