Petrol and diesel will be banned, along with plans to develop the first UK town heated entirely by hydrogen by the end of the decade
New petrol and diesel cars are no longer to be permitted for sale in the UK after the year 2030, the British government has now announced.
The ban had originally been planned for a decade later in the year 2040, but has now been brought forward under Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s newly announced 10-point plan that has been put forward to tackle climate change.
The plan also includes producing appropriate amounts of offshore wind to power every home with clean energy, developing the first UK town heated entirely by hydrogen power by the end of the decade, as well as developing a new generation of small and advanced nuclear reactors.
This comes after people in the UK may struggle to get their orders delivered in time for Christmas this year, with a shipping boss warning of chaos at Britain’s biggest port, that is “getting worse” and is leading to a “very challenging” Christmas period.
The president of the Automobile Association, Edmund King, told Sky News that only about 6% of local authorities in the country have installed on-street electric vehicle charging facilities within residential areas.
Without a solid commitment to developing the necessary infrastructure, he said the plan was “optimistic”.
“Everyone wants to move to electric vehicles but you can’t just pick a date out of the air. We need better infrastructure particularly for the third of people who can’t charge at home.”
“We also need a better supply of cars and they need to be affordable.”
The prime minister said: “Our green industrial revolution will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland and the North East, propelled by the electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by the latest technologies developed in Wales, so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future.”
And Business Secretary Alok Sharma told Sky News’ Kay Burley: “This is a package which is part of turbocharging the green industrial revolution, levelling up across our country.”
“It is £12bn of public money which will then leverage in three times as much from the private sector and, of course, support and create high-value added jobs – around 250,000 jobs by 2030.”
“If you look at the UK, we are a leader when it comes to green growth.”
“Since 1990 we have managed to grow our economy by 75% and at the same time cut our emissions by 43%, so we are world-leading in this area.”
This comes after a report that had been commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has said that the Treasury could potentially raise £14bn by increasing the country’s capital gains tax rates in order to bring them in line with the UK’s income tax.
The Labour Party has said that the announcement fell short of what would be required, but the independent Committee on Climate Change, the group that advises the UK government on the ways of getting to net zero, has welcomed the plan.
The Chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, Chris Stark, said that Boris Johnson’s plan was “a bold statement of ambition” but he added: “What’s missing is the road map to achieving it.”
