The European Commission launches a plan to reduce CO ₂ from transport by 90% by 2050

The European Commission (EC) has presented on Wednesday its guidelines to modernize mobility and reduce by 90% the emissions of carbon dioxide (_CO2) from the transport sector in 2050, responsible for almost 30% of the greenhouse gases generated in the European Union. The agency aims to have 30 million zero-emission cars on European roads by 2030, double the number of users of high speed rail by that date and promote planes and ships that do not emit polluting gases, as well as encourage the use of bicycles in cities.

The so-called Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy is set to become a cornerstone of the Green Deal, the major linchpin of the Commission’s energy and environmental policy for the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. “What we have to try is to meet the needs of Europeans”, who except for the interruption of the pandemic increasingly travel more and more, and “at the same time decrease the carbon footprint of transport”, explained at a press conference the Vice-President of the EC for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans.

In an interview published this Wednesday in EL PAÍS, Timmermans himself has indicated that with this plan “400,000 people a year would stop dying prematurely because of poor air quality.” The work plan on a sector that accounts for 5% of the EU’s GDP and 10 million jobs has 86 initiatives to be developed in the four years of mandate that remain to the Eu Executive of Ursula von der Leyen and sets objectives for 2030, 2035 and 2050.

Cars, vans and trucks

Road transport is responsible for 12% of the EU’s _CO2 . By the end of this decade, the Commission wants 30 million cars and 80,000 “zero-emission” trucks on European roads. And in 2050, there should be practically no polluting cars, vans, buses or trucks, always with the same political philosophy: “the polluter pays”.

The Commission will propose in June 2021 a revision of the standards for cars and vans and in 2022 it will make a proposal on heavy-duty vehicles. Brussels is also exploring including road transport in the ETS emissions trading system, changing taxation, applying road tariffs or revising the rules on masses and dimensions of heavy vehicles. It also aims to promote the “large-scale deployment of renewable and low-carbon sustainable fuels”, as well as removing older and polluting vehicles from circulation.

Trains

The Commission wants to double passenger traffic on high-speed lines by 2030 and triple it by 2050, for which Brussels outlines ideas such as simplifying the use and purchase of cross-border tickets and liberalising rail markets so that rail replaces aircraft over distances of less than 500 kilometres.

Trains generally run on electricity and, if generated from renewable sources, it is a low-polluting means of transport. The fleet powered by diesel systems would be replaced by hydrogen, clean energy in which there are high hopes. In addition, the Commission wants “a substantial part of 75% of the inland freight transport currently transported by road” to pass “to rail and inland waterways”.

To that end, it wants to increase rail freight transport by 50% by 2030 and double its capacity by 2050, a concept that connects with that of “multimodal transport”, so that by 2030 it can compete “on an equal footing with road transport in the EU”. This will involve completing the TEN-T Network, an initiative to increase infrastructure and improve the interoperability of trains including high-speed lines, where the projects of the Mediterranean Corridor (Algeciras-Barcelona-Marseille-Milan-Ljubljana-Budapest) and the Atlantic Corridor (Lisbon-Vitoria-Strasbourg) are framed.

Aircraft

Aviation accounts for almost 4% of _CO2 emissions from transport and has doubled the carbon it releases in the last 20 years. The Commission expects that in 2035 the “zero emission” aircraft will be operational and to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gases until then it trusts in the development of the future international Corsia system of payment for emission, similar to the European ETS where the aircraft now fit.

To clean up the sector, Brussels also plans to rely on sustainable fuels, more effective airspace management through the implementation of the Single European Sky initiative and improving the climate efficiency of airports.

Boats

Brussels hopes that by 2030 there will be “zero-emission transoceanic vessels” on the market and that it will provide a global ecological boost, not only European. In the meantime, the Commission will review legislation on ship recycling and, in June 2021, propose to include maritime transport, which generates 3.7% of total greenhouse gases, in the ETS emissions trading system.

It will also encourage the development of renewable fuels with low _CO2 emissions, which currently only represent 7% of the sector, as well as clean ports and greenhouse gas control areas along the European coast.

Towns

The European Commission wants cities to bet on improving air quality and reducing emissions through shared and collaborative car services, the use of bicycles, the promotion of walking and micromobility (which includes electric scooters, electric skateboards and electric bikes, among other light means of transport). In addition, the agency sets itself the goal of achieving that by 2030 there are 100 climate-neutral European cities.

Source: The Country