UK should bring forward new petrol and diesel car ban to 2032: lawmakers

By Susanna Twidale

 

FILE PHOTO: Imported cars are parked in a storage area at Sheerness port, Sheerness, Britain, October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should bring forward a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by eight years to 2032 to help the country reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, a parliamentary committee said on Friday.

 

Britain hopes to become a world leader in electric vehicle technology and currently plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 as a part of efforts to meet its climate targets.

 

"If we are serious about being EV (electric vehicle) world leaders, the government must come forward with a target of new sales of cars and vans to be zero emission by 2032," said Rachel Reeves, Chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, which authored the report.

 

The report said the country should improve incentives for the uptake of electric vehicles and criticized a recent decision to cut grants for new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles from November.

 

It also said the country's infrastructure, to allow for the charging of electric vehicles, was not fit for purpose.

 

"The government needs to get a grip and lead on coordinating the financial support and technical know-how necessary for local authorities to promote this infrastructure and help ensure that electric cars are an attractive option for consumers," Reeves said.

 

Britain has around 16,500 charging points but will need this to increase to at least 100,000 by 2020, a report from UK-based data company Emu Analytics said in May.

 

(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; editing by David Evans)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-19

1 hour ago, webfact said:

grants for new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

The only way they will get the masses to buy these <deleted> >deleted>mobiles.

Banning proven technology before the replacement is as good as that it replaces only goes to show the madman have taken over the asylum. Could also be a bit of the old "you know what" is involved.

Seems they don't understand that new technologies may come in that are better and cheaper than electric vehicles. Also seems that fuel cell technology, which is far and away better than plug in electric charging isn't being given a look in.

It would be a simple process for manufacturers to convert their existing internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen whilst they develop more efficient fuel cell vehicles. Can't understand this headlong rush down this technical cul de sac that is battery power.

I'd  like to see the National Grid  keep up with that proposed plan.

11 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

It would be a simple process for manufacturers to convert their existing internal combustion engines to run on hydrogen whilst they develop more efficient fuel cell vehicles. Can't understand this headlong rush down this technical cul de sac that is battery power.

Making  hydrogen cheap is a problem

They better be building nuclear reactors if they want to keep up with the elec demand if they phase out hydrocarbons.

28 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

Making  hydrogen cheap is a problem

Can't find the figures now but the cost to produce hydrogen and petrol were given as very similar.

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

Can't find the figures now but the cost to produce hydrogen and petrol were given as very similar.

Last I read was it was more but maybe things have changed, would be good  if  they could do that though as Hydrogen would be way cleaner to burn.

2 hours ago, gunderhill said:

Last I read was it was more but maybe things have changed, would be good  if  they could do that though as Hydrogen would be way cleaner to burn.

On my wishlist is a hydrogen home refueller using renewables to produce the hydrogen which powers my home and car.......hopefully within the next decade.

 

9 hours ago, gunderhill said:

Last I read was it was more but maybe things have changed, would be good  if  they could do that though as Hydrogen would be way cleaner to burn.

While filling up the tank with hydrogen is currently a lot faster than charging the batteries, it comes with risk. Hydrogen is very volatile substance.

 

Hydrogen economy also requires extra steps as hydrogen is mostly produced by electricity. Therefore to get the car working we there is a need for several conversions, which each reduce the efficiency.

 

In case of often so wasteful combustion engine (The current efficiency is about 30%?)

Nuclear -> electricity -> hydrogen -> combustion engine

 

In case of fuel cell 

Nuclear -> electricity -> hydrogen -> fuel cell -> electricity -> motor

 

Car and home batteries are far from perfect, but at least there is a lot of research and development going on at the moment. Good battery technology is the next big thing, which will change both how energy is produced, transferred and naturally stored.

My thoughts are, combustion engines are inefficient because they are variable speed and torque. wondered if hydrogen jet turbine could be used to generate electricity to top up batteries when required. (hybrid)

Wonder if this announcement has anything to do with the goings on at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul 2 weeks ago??? 

On 10/19/2018 at 6:18 AM, webfact said:

Britain hopes to become a world leader in electric vehicle technology and currently plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 as a part of efforts to meet its climate targets.

Best of luck creating the infrastructure needed to support a country full of electric vehicles.  And most miss the point that the new electric grids will probably create as much if not more CO2 and other pollutants than the gas and diesel vehicles.  But it looks good on paper. And one hiccup in the power grid and nobody drives - which is probably a good thing. 

Edited October 20, 20187 yr by connda

18 hours ago, oilinki said:

While filling up the tank with hydrogen is currently a lot faster than charging the batteries, it comes with risk. Hydrogen is very volatile substance.

 

Hydrogen economy also requires extra steps as hydrogen is mostly produced by electricity. Therefore to get the car working we there is a need for several conversions, which each reduce the efficiency.

 

In case of often so wasteful combustion engine (The current efficiency is about 30%?)

Nuclear -> electricity -> hydrogen -> combustion engine

 

In case of fuel cell 

Nuclear -> electricity -> hydrogen -> fuel cell -> electricity -> motor

 

Car and home batteries are far from perfect, but at least there is a lot of research and development going on at the moment. Good battery technology is the next big thing, which will change both how energy is produced, transferred and naturally stored.

And those touting battery technology tend to overlook the pollutants created by the manufacturing process, and let's not even talk about the disposal.  There's no 'free-ride' here.  At best there are trade-off that may make the CO2 figures look nice on paper while ignoring the ecological mess that they will make in the future. 

18 hours ago, oilinki said:

While filling up the tank with hydrogen is currently a lot faster than charging the batteries, it comes with risk. Hydrogen is very volatile substance.

 

Hydrogen economy also requires extra steps as hydrogen is mostly produced by electricity. Therefore to get the car working we there is a need for several conversions, which each reduce the efficiency.

 

In case of often so wasteful combustion engine (The current efficiency is about 30%?)

Nuclear -> electricity -> hydrogen -> combustion engine

 

In case of fuel cell 

Nuclear -> electricity -> hydrogen -> fuel cell -> electricity -> motor

 

Car and home batteries are far from perfect, but at least there is a lot of research and development going on at the moment. Good battery technology is the next big thing, which will change both how energy is produced, transferred and naturally stored.

Yes hydrogen is volatile....same as lpg, cng, petrol and diesel, that's why they make excellent combustible fuels.

Hydrogens biggest problem is pr in that everybody has seen videos of the Hindenburg doing the big firework.

A properly fitted and installed system is perfectly safe and I for one would be happy to use it.