The automotive sector demands time for a mobility of ‘zero emissions’

The future of human mobility, but also of the goods with which it trades, is zero emissions. The acting Minister of Development, José Luis Ábalos, pointed out during the speech delivered at the opening of Transport Day, that the transport sector is the main emitter of greenhouse gases, which in Spain accounts for 27% of emissions.

Thus, the minister states that it will be impossible to achieve the climate objectives to which Spain has committed itself if transport emissions are not reduced. Therefore, he stressed that Fomento works to reduce transport emissions by 32% until 2030. The economic agents involved in mobility show their seamless adherence to the goal of an emission-free world, but doubts arise with the pace of the transition.

Differences in rhythms

Yaquí, there are different versions. The administrations – community, national, regional and local – want to force the march and demand from the industry in general, and the automotive industry in particular, hard reductions in emission levels. The motor sector reiterates its commitment to decarbonization, but points out two nuances: the investment effort they have faced in recent years to meet pollution requirements must have its returns and that the automotive industry is not solely responsible for transport emissions.

The European Environment Agency measures the environmental impact of the different means of transport according to the CO2 emissions it releases per passenger and kilometre travelled. The plane is in the lead with 285 grams of CO2, quite a distance away are the trucks, with 158 grams of carbon dioxide, while the car would emit 104 grams of CO2 per passenger and km. The motorcycle releases 72 grams and the bus, with an average of 12.7 passengers, would cause the emission of 68 grams of CO2. The train lowers it to just 14 grams of carbon dioxide for each passenger it carries.

However, the majority of passengers and goods move by road, so according to the Spanish Strategy for Sustainable Mobility, in 2006 the road caused 89.2% of transport emissions, national aviation 6.6%, maritime cabotage 3.9% and rail the remaining 0.3%. Thus, the insistence on influencing the automotive industry is understandable.

In response to the weight of asphalt, administrations are committed to electrification as a solution to the mobility of the future. Under this premise, the Spanish Government maintains as a goal that by 2030 there will be more than 5 million electric vehicles circulating in Spain (including cars, vans and motorcycles). For this, it has a sales forecast that will go from 24,000 vehicles (about 10,000 of them passenger cars) this year to almost 1.3 million in 2030. The take-off will take place, however, in 2027, when half a million registered vehicles will be exceeded.

However, five million electric vehicles on the road are not so many if you take into account that the current fleet is 33.7 million vehicles, 24 million of them passenger cars. Therefore, despite the rush, the rhythms are slow. The Volkswagen Group has announced that by 2050 all the vehicles it manufactures will be electric, a date similar to that considered by the other large automotive groups. Meanwhile, combustion cars will continue to be sold.

The challenge, according to the sector, is that gasoline and diesel engines are increasingly efficient, because in the opinion of the industry, administrations should maintain a “technological neutrality” and press for emissions to be as low as possible, without imposing any technology.

Source: The Economist