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German government moves to make all cars electric by 2030

In a pledge to turn the tide on carbon emissions, all new cars registered in Germany will need to...
Newstalk
Newstalk

16.16 15 Jun 2016


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German government moves to mak...

German government moves to make all cars electric by 2030

Newstalk
Newstalk

16.16 15 Jun 2016


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In a pledge to turn the tide on carbon emissions, all new cars registered in Germany will need to be electric and emissions free by 2030, a senior government official has said.

Germany, the largest economy in Europe and one of the world’s biggest producers of motor vehicles, has vowed to reduce its carbon footprint by as much as 95% by 2050. But deputy Economy Minister Rainer Baake has claimed that in order to reach this target, registration of new diesel and petrol cars needs to be eradicated over the next 15 years, given that modern vehicles have a lifespan of 20 years.

“Fact is, there’s been no reduction at all in CO2 emissions by transport since 1990,” Baake told the Tagesspiegel newspaper’s climate forum in Berlin. “We don’t have any answers to cut truck emissions right bow but we do have answers for cars.”

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Germany’s attempts to cut back its emissions have been stalling of late, largely down to the level of its transportation emits, which the country’s Environment Ministry says amounts to 20% of the Germany’s carbon dioxide pollution. Transportation needs to get rid of roughly 10m metric tonnes of CO2 over the next five years if Germany is to reach its goal of reducing its emissions by 40% compared to 1990. But as a nation of petrol heads, Germans have been slow to adopt electric cars.

Chancellor Angel Merkel has made moves to incentivise the electric vehicle sector, promising to introduce subsidies this year to boost e-car sales, following the likes of France, Norway, and China, which all over cash incentives to those purchasing electric or hybrid cars.

But electric cars in Germany have a hill to climb, only accounting for 0.6% of registered vehicles in 201. Almost 130,000 hybrid and 25,000 all-electric cars were registered all over Germany in January – compared to 30m petrol and 14.5m diesel cars.

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