Transport – Electrifying Europe
With the EU's large climate package Fit-for-55, the speed has been set for the green conversion of transport. This can have a major impact on how quickly and when the EU can reduce its climate impact.
The transport sector accounts for almost 30% of the climate burden in the EU. Since international emissions from shipping and aviation are not taken into account in the UN system, most of the climate impact comes from road transport, primarily from passenger cars.
With the EU's large climate package Fit-for-55, the speed has been set for the green conversion of transport.
First of all, the EU sets requirements for the CO2 emissions of new cars. Compared to 2021, new cars must emit an average of 15% less in 2025 and 55% less CO2 in 2030. In 2035, the reduction for both cars and vans is 100%, which in practice means that only electric cars may be sold from this point. Since the lifespan of a car in the EU is just under 15 years, this means that fossil fuel cars will in practice be phased out in the EU around 2050.
Likewise, the EU already sets CO2 requirements for some groups of trucks. Requirements that will probably be tightened with a new proposal in 2023, where it is expected that buses and all types of trucks will also be included.
The EU has also adopted a Battery Directive, must ensure that batteries are produced ethically and environmentally soundly, while at the same time requiring the recycling of the raw materials used for the batteries.
In order to secure the charging infrastructure for the electrification of road transport, the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) requires that charging be available, especially on the main road network in the EU. There must be charging stations for cars and vans as well as trucks from 2025.
The EU has also introduced minimum taxes on fuels, regulated in the Energy Taxation Directive, which so far has mostly had an impact on road transport, as aviation and marine fuels for commercial use have not been taxed.
The EU has decided in 2022 that the principle that the polluter pays must also apply to the transport sector. In future, both road transport, all air traffic within the EU, all shipping from one EU country to another and half of shipping to countries outside the EU will have to buy quotas in the EU's quota market when they emit greenhouse gases.
For both shipping and aviation, regulations are on the way from the EU to ensure that fewer fossil fuels are used and that new green fuels are used instead. But there is still a very long way to go for the green conversion of planes and ships, while things look better for road transport.
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