Britain targets ban on sale of new diesel and petrol trucks by 2040
The sale of new diesel and petrol trucks in the UK will be banned from 2040 under the government’s transport decarbonisation plan unveiled on Wednesday.
The much-delayed plan includes several public consultations on measures designed to cut pollution in the transport sector as the UK seeks to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The paper’s publication coincides with plans due to be outlined later in the day by the European Commission on how the EU aims to meet its goal of cutting emissions by 55 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030. Brussels wants to increase taxes on polluting fuels and introduce an EU-wide levy on aviation kerosene for the first time.
The UK government said on Wednesday that it intended to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol heavy goods vehicles by 2040, a proposal it would consult on. The sale of smaller trucks would be banned from 2035, and larger ones weighing more than 26 tonnes from 2040, “or earlier if a faster transition seems feasible.”
The schedule compares to the government’s intention to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, and hybrid vehicles from 2035.
The government reiterated its goal of reaching net zero aviation emissions by 2050, and proposed a new and more stringent target for domestic aviation, of net zero by 2040. All airport operations in England should also have reached zero emissions by 2040, the plan said. Those goals, and how practically they might be achieved, will be consulted on.
The Department for Transport hopes that new technologies and fuels will drive the fall in aviation emissions, and does not intend to intervene to restrict or cap the number of flights. Low-carbon aviation fuels are not yet available at scale.
Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said the aviation targets were welcome, but that “getting there through technological advances alone is a very big bet on very long odds . . . We need a mechanism to achieve those same emissions cuts if the advances don’t materialise, and that mechanism can’t be offsetting.”
The full UK paper, which will be published later on Wednesday, is expected to lay the groundwork for the politically difficult issue of road pricing, which green experts have said will be necessary to recoup the £37bn a year the government currently secures from carbon taxes such as fuel levies and vehicle excise duty once electric cars become dominant.
The government has launched a consultation on the possible introduction of a so-called “ZEV mandate” under which carmakers in the UK would have to produce a minimum proportion of electric cars.
Currently, car brands in the UK must ensure their sales meet an average carbon emissions limit that applied when the country was part of the EU.
The government’s fleet of ministerial vehicles is due to switch to new electric cars from 2027.
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The Climate Change Committee, which advises the government, said last year that sales of diesel-powered heavy goods vehicles should be phased out “no later” than 2040.
Last year Europe’s six largest truckmakers, including Volvo and Daimler, pledged to end diesel sales by 2040.
UK hauliers have said a 2040 target was setting “the bar too high” as technology “doesn’t exist today” that would allow the largest long-distance lorries to run on batteries.
Some manufacturers including Tesla and Volvo are developing electric lorries but some experts have said hydrogen will be a more realistic option for the largest HGVs.
Graeme Cooper, head of future markets at National Grid, said: “While there might be uncertainty as to which technology is best for clean HGVs, there are . . . actions that can be taken now, such as investing in energy infrastructure ahead of need.”
Ministers are turning to the difficult challenge of reducing emissions from transport and homes in order to hit the net zero 2050 target.
The government’s impact assessments have shown that decarbonising the transport sector will require a massive increase in the take-up of purely battery electric vehicles in the UK.
Tim Lord, who was director for clean growth at the business department until 2020 and is now at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, a think-tank, said a strategy that “shied away from hard choices” in areas such as car use and road pricing would be a missed opportunity.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the plan was “not about stopping people doing things” but about “doing the same things differently”.
“We will still fly on holiday, but in more efficient aircraft, using sustainable fuel. We will still drive, but increasingly in zero-emission cars,” he said.