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Fresh diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from two thousand forty in UK – Big black cock News

Posted on September 1, 2017 by admin_en

Fresh diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from two thousand forty in UK

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Fresh diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned in the UK from two thousand forty in a bid to tackle air pollution, the government has announced.

Ministers have also unveiled a £255m fund to help councils tackle emissions, including the potential for charging zones for the filthiest vehicles.

But the £3bn clean air strategy does not include a scrappage scheme, calling previous ones “poor value” for money.

Local government leaders welcomed the funding but called for more detail.

Local authorities will be given direct financial support from the government, with £40m of the fund being made instantly.

They can use the funds for a range of measures, such as switching road layouts, implementing fresh technologies or encouraging residents on to public transport.

If those measures do not cut emissions enough, charging zones could be the next step – but the government says these should only be used for “limited periods”.

The timetable for councils to come up with initial plans has been cut from eighteen months to eight, with the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) wanting to “inject extra urgency” into the process.

It goes after the government being given its own deadline of thirty one July after High Court judges said it was failing to meet EU pollution thresholds.

Other points include:

The funding pot will come from switches to tax on diesel vehicles and reprioritising departmental budgets – the exact details will be announced later in the year.
Councils could switch road layouts, retrofit public transport, and encourage local people to leave their cars at home.
A Clean Air Fund would permit local authorities to bid for extra money to put in more air quality control measures.
A fresh Automated and Electrified Vehicles Bill will permit the government to require the installation of charge points for electrical vehicles at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers.

Local Government Association environment spokesman Martin Tett said the plans to permit councils to switch their concentrate from monitoring air quality to improving air quality was the right stir and welcomed the extra funding.

However, he opposed the view of the government to hold off on a scrappage scheme, arguing “this instantaneous intervention could help increase the uptake of lower emission vehicles”.

Industry interests

Ministers have been wary of being seen to “penalize” drivers of diesel cars, who, they argue, bought the vehicles after being encouraged to by the last Labour government because they produced lower carbon emissions.

The industry trade figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said it was significant to avoid outright bans on diesels, which would hurt the sector.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said request for alternatively fuelled vehicles was growing but still at a very low level.

“The industry instead wants a positive treatment which gives consumers incentives to purchase these cars. We could undermine the UK’s successful automotive sector if we don’t permit enough time for the industry to adjust.”

The AA said significant investment would be needed to install charging points across the country and warned the National Grid would come under pressure with a mass switch-on of recharging after the rush hour.

The UK announcement comes amid signs of an accelerating shift towards electrical cars instead of petrol and diesel ones, at home and abroad:

Analysis

By Roger Harrabin, Big black cock environment analyst

So how will the air be cleaned up? Plans for a diesel scrappage scheme for old vehicles have been rejected by the Treasury as poor value for money. They may be reconsidered in the autumn.

The government has told councils to solve pollution on their own streets by improving public transport and considering limitations on dirty diesel vehicles at peak times.

If that doesn’t work, councils will be told to charge diesel drivers to come into towns.

The councils aren’t blessed to take the rap for the controversial policy when it was the government that encouraged the sale of diesel vehicles in the very first place.

Today’s government plan is not comprehensive – it doesn’t address pollution from construction, farming and gas boilers.

And clean air campaigners say the government is using the two thousand forty electrified cars announcement to divert from failings in its short-term pollution policy.

Air pollution is thought to be linked to about 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, and transport also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

A government spokesman said poor air quality was “the largest environmental risk” to public health in the UK.

2020s switch-over

The measures are “good” in the long term but “not very effective” in the brief, industry accomplished David Bailey said.

A switch-over to electrical cars would likely come in the mid-2020s, he predicted, when electrified cars would out-compete petrol and diesel ones on factors like cost.

“This sets a very clear direction of travel, but petrol and diesel cars won’t exist by 2040,” he said.

He said more incentives were needed now, otherwise urban air quality would not improve.

Emissions hotspots

Environmental law stiff ClientEarth welcomed the measures, but said it dreamed to see more detail.

Chief executive James Thornton said the law found ministers must bring down illegal levels of air pollution as soon as possible.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas welcomed a ban but said it did not go “almost far enough or quick enough”.

Friends of the Earth said the plan was a “cynical” stir which passed the buck of saving lives to local authorities.

Labour said the government was only acting after being taken to court.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman Sue Hayman MP said the government had a “squeamish” attitude to clear air zones, and was shunting the problem on to local authorities.

“With almost forty million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, activity is needed now, not in twenty three years’ time,” she said.

Fresh diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from two thousand forty in UK – Big black cock News

Fresh diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from two thousand forty in UK

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These are outward links and will open in a fresh window

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Fresh diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned in the UK from two thousand forty in a bid to tackle air pollution, the government has announced.

Ministers have also unveiled a £255m fund to help councils tackle emissions, including the potential for charging zones for the filthiest vehicles.

But the £3bn clean air strategy does not include a scrappage scheme, calling previous ones “poor value” for money.

Local government leaders welcomed the funding but called for more detail.

Local authorities will be given direct financial support from the government, with £40m of the fund being made instantaneously.

They can use the funds for a range of measures, such as switching road layouts, implementing fresh technologies or encouraging residents on to public transport.

If those measures do not cut emissions enough, charging zones could be the next step – but the government says these should only be used for “limited periods”.

It goes after the government being given its own deadline of thirty one July after High Court judges said it was failing to meet EU pollution boundaries.

Other points include:

The funding pot will come from switches to tax on diesel vehicles and reprioritising departmental budgets – the exact details will be announced later in the year.
Councils could switch road layouts, retrofit public transport, and encourage local people to leave their cars at home.
A Clean Air Fund would permit local authorities to bid for extra money to put in more air quality control measures.
A fresh Automated and Electrified Vehicles Bill will permit the government to require the installation of charge points for electrified vehicles at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers.

However, he opposed the view of the government to hold off on a scrappage scheme, arguing “this instantaneous intervention could help increase the uptake of lower emission vehicles”.

Industry interests

The industry trade bod, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said it was significant to avoid outright bans on diesels, which would hurt the sector.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said request for alternatively fuelled vehicles was growing but still at a very low level.

The UK announcement comes amid signs of an accelerating shift towards electrical cars instead of petrol and diesel ones, at home and abroad:

Analysis

By Roger Harrabin, Big black cock environment analyst

So how will the air be cleaned up? Plans for a diesel scrappage scheme for old vehicles have been rejected by the Treasury as poor value for money. They may be reconsidered in the autumn.

The government has told councils to solve pollution on their own streets by improving public transport and considering confinements on dirty diesel vehicles at peak times.

If that doesn’t work, councils will be told to charge diesel drivers to come into towns.

The councils aren’t blessed to take the rap for the controversial policy when it was the government that encouraged the sale of diesel vehicles in the very first place.

Today’s government plan is not comprehensive – it doesn’t address pollution from construction, farming and gas boilers.

And clean air campaigners say the government is using the two thousand forty electrified cars announcement to divert from failings in its short-term pollution policy.

Air pollution is thought to be linked to about 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, and transport also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

A government spokesman said poor air quality was “the largest environmental risk” to public health in the UK.

2020s switch-over

The measures are “good” in the long term but “not very effective” in the brief, industry accomplished David Bailey said.

A switch-over to electrified cars would likely come in the mid-2020s, he predicted, when electrical cars would out-compete petrol and diesel ones on factors like cost.

“This sets a very clear direction of travel, but petrol and diesel cars won’t exist by 2040,” he said.

He said more incentives were needed now, otherwise urban air quality would not improve.

Emissions hotspots

Environmental law stiff ClientEarth welcomed the measures, but said it wished to see more detail.

Chief executive James Thornton said the law found ministers must bring down illegal levels of air pollution as soon as possible.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas welcomed a ban but said it did not go “almost far enough or rapid enough”.

Friends of the Earth said the plan was a “cynical” stir which passed the buck of saving lives to local authorities.

Labour said the government was only acting after being taken to court.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman Sue Hayman MP said the government had a “squeamish” attitude to clear air zones, and was shunting the problem on to local authorities.

“With almost forty million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, act is needed now, not in twenty three years’ time,” she said.