It’s not just cars - millions of vehicles on UK roads will have to be petrol-free in the next couple of decades. Our new report shows why we need a rapid increase in electric vehicles to reach the 80% carbon cuts legally required by 2050.
"To avoid dangerous climate change, the world has to end its dependency on fossil fuels. In the UK, where transport is responsible for a quarter of our carbon dioxide emissions, that involves replacing petrol-engined transport with electric vehicles (EVs) as quickly as possible.
Our new report, ‘Electric avenues: driving home the case for electric vehicles’, calculates this means at least 1.7 million electric vehicles on our roads by 2020, and around 6.4 million by 2030. In fact the faster the rise of electric vehicles, the bigger the reductions in fossil fuel use – and the more the country saves on oil imports.
But we should also try to find ways of driving less in our everyday lives. If we can combine high levels of EV use with improvements in regular car engines and reduced patterns of driving, as well as decarbonising the grid, we could cut UK fuel demand by 80% and deliver a 75% drop in car emissions by 2030.
Green electricity for electric vehicles
To achieve the minimum EV target - 1 in 17 cars being electric by 2020 and 1 in 6 by 2030 - we’d need the government to offer subsidies and other incentives, to help overcome potential consumer concerns about price, range and battery charging limitations.
Critics have argued that electric vehicles will increase electricity use and therefore demand on the grid. But our report shows how EVs should actually have minimal grid impact, especially if charged overnight. We also need to ensure that EVs are charged with clean, renewable sources of power.
An increase in electric vehicle use should also have a very positive effect on the UK economy, creating thousands of new green jobs in the car industry. We’re already a world leader in commercial EVs and battery technology, and the Nissan Leaf will soon be built here. It’s an industry that deserves maximum possible government and private sector support.
We also need to keep pushing for tougher EU emissions targets for conventional cars, lower price tariffs for overnight charging of EVs, and a European-wide approach to EV infrastructure and standards.
That’s how we’ll succeed in reducing our oil dependency and make the transition to a green, low-carbon economy."
Em: http://www.wwf.org.uk/news_feed.cfm?479 ... arbon-cuts