Britain is going ahead with the ban and 65 percent of its drivers agree right now.
Recent news reports coming out of England show that the British car buyers are buying more electric cars during this pandemic. Sales of electric vehicles rose by 157 per cent compared to the same period last year. However, only one in 20 vehicles sold is an electric car.
Passenger cars and vans are responsible for about 15 per cent of European Union (EU) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and contribute to high concentrations of air pollutants in many European cities.
The continued COVID-19 pandemic (especially now with a third wave) is likely to cause a temporary dip of emissions from passenger cars and vans reflecting a decrease in passenger transport volumes and less traffic.
The British government wants to bring forward by a decade its ban on the sale of the most polluting cars as it wants to come even closer to its climate change goals, a new study by Greenpeace and Green Alliance said.
The British government is also considering toughening its ban on internal combustion-engine cars in order to drive sales of electric vehicles. The move would not only cut pollution but also create a market that will attract manufacturers and new jobs to the UK. Brexit has forced some car factories to close and relocate.
A 2030 enforced ban would cut 90 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in the years 2028-2032 which is about a quarter of all British emissions in 2019.
The report showed that only a 2030 ban, that also covers plug-in hybrids (PHEV), would put Britain on track to meeting its target of reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century.
The British government measures the progress of its climate-change targets against five-year carbon budgets that provide an increasingly stringent cap on emissions until 2050.
While it is on track to meet its third carbon budget, it needs to find more CO2 savings to meet its fourth and fifth budgets. The sixth carbon budget, which will be set this December will be even stricter as it will be the first to take in the net-zero emissions goal set in 2019.
Britain will need to save another 77 million tons of CO2 in order to meet its fifth carbon budget which covers the period 2028-2032, the report said. But in all likelihood, deeper cuts will be needed to account for the net-zero goal.
The less ambitious options of a 2035 ban for all new petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid cars and vans would result in the government missing its carbon target by 73 percent, and a 2032 ban for the same vehicles would result in missing the target by 18 percent, the researchers found. This is why a recent revised decision was made by British government to bring the total ban forward to 2030.
Cutting pollution from transport is expected to play a major role as it accounts for more than a third of the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions which happens to be the biggest of any industry.
A study in August this year also showed that 65 percent of car drivers in Britain approved of a total ban of petrol and diesel powered cars. A survey by the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA), which suggests 96 percent of drivers in Britain believe an earlier phase-out date would have a positive impact on public health.
Figures also show 82 percent of the 1,114, drivers surveyed believe the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans should end before 2035.
