The European Union is approaching the point of no return with transport emissions

It doesn’t go any further. The European Union is at a decisive moment to decide the rules on clean vehicles, and the European Commission proposes that from 2035 only the sale of new zero-emission vans and cars will be allowed. A decision to which countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain are favorable that could have the character of law in the coming months.

That is one of the conclusions of the European Automotive Climate Summit held in Madrid and organized by Transport & Environment. A summit that hosted government, industry and union leaders, as well as environmental and consumer advocates.

“Two years ago, with the Covid crisis, it seemed that things were going to change, but I regret to tell you that we have already reached three quarters of pre-pandemic emissions, and only in the aviation sector it is already 100%,” said William Todts, CEO of T&E.

“In the transport sector we have a unique opportunity to lower emissions. The European Parliament and the ministers of the Member States are discussing their future and that of our planet. We are accelerating climate change and the war in Ukraine has made us realize the dependence on oil,” Todts explained.

Increase electricity generation

But not everything must come hand in hand with the direct reduction of emissions. Generating the necessary infrastructure to favor the electricity transition will also be fundamental. “If we want to electrify transport, we need to increase electricity generation, and this must be renewable,” said Pascal Canfin, chairman of the committee of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.

“By 2030 we want 45% of our energy consumption to come from renewable sources, but today we are at 22%. It has taken us seven years to double what we have built in decades, we have to further boost the green transition,” he said.

At the European level, Germany’s position will be key as it is the world’s leading car manufacturer. “This is the first time Germany has supported such an ambitious low-emission target,” said Christiane Rohleder, State Secretary at Germany’s Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.

In this sense, the German valued the role that the main players in the industry are playing. “Many car manufacturers have already decided to decrease the manufacture of combustion cars even in this same decade of the 20s.” However, he acknowledged that “the goal of reducing CO2 emissions is not going to be enough as the only means to reach 15 million electric vehicles by 2030.”

The role of biofuels

“Italy agrees with the European Commission’s proposal to increase ambition in the 2035 targets, especially in light transport and vans, and in the case of biofuels we propose their use where there are no alternatives,” added Enrico Giovannini, Italy’s Minister of Sustainable Transport and Infrastructure.

Italy foresees a target of 6 million electric vehicles by 2030, but Giovannini sees the process of change as difficult. “It will be anything but linear. We need to know what the reaction of the market and people is, Italians are saving because they are worried about their future.”

In this sense, the Italian minister stressed that “Italy is late compared to the rest of European countries, with a low number of charging points and electric vehicles circulating on its roads, but we are willing to promote the transition.”

Joan Groizard, general director of the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving, also admitted this delay. “We are lagging behind because of our purchasing power, and also because of a geography problem, 90% of our mobility is short distances but traveling through the country means making very long trips due to the size of the territory.”

However, Groizard concluded by emphasizing in the marked strategy: “We want to change the current dependence to a new dependency: on batteries, electric motors, renewables and storage. Our PERTE of the Electric and Connected Vehicle is aimed at this objective”.

Source: The Spanish