U.K. Panel: Grim Outlook for Personal Transport
A U.K. environmental panel urges the British government to accelerate plans to ban piston engines and questions whether even switching to electrics will meet long-term carbon dioxide emission targets.
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A U.K. environmental panel urges the British government to accelerate plans to ban piston engines and questions whether even switching to electrics will meet long-term carbon dioxide emission targets, Autocar reports.
“In the long term,” the Science and Technology Select Committee says, “widespread personal vehicle ownership does not appear to be compatible with significant decarbonization.”

The gloomy prediction notes that the process of producing alternative-fuel vehicles, including EVs, in itself produces “substantial” CO2 emissions.
Still, the panel urges the British government to step up efforts to encourage the sale of EVs through incentives and programs to install more charging stations for such vehicles.
The U.K. has set a goal of banning the sale of all petroleum-fueled vehicles not later than 2040. But the committee points out that Britain is well behind interim targets, including a goal that 60% of new-car sales by 2030 must be ultra-low-emission vehicles.
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