EU politicians seem determined to hobble their car industry regardless of economic consequences, to save a few molecules of a harmless trace gas that’s essential to plant and tree growth.
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The European Commission’s proposed Euro 7 emission rules on cars, vans, trucks and buses would amount to “a ban through the back door” of internal combustion engines as of 2025, if implemented in their current form, industry has said, calling the proposal premature and “completely out of the question”. Euractiv reporting.
The ‘Euro 7‘ rules aim to ensure vehicles are clean over their entire lifetime, helping Europe to meet its European Green Deal emissions targets.
The exact details of the measure are still under discussion, but they are already creating jitters at VDMA, a German trade association representing mechanical engineering companies.
“The planned obligation that new vehicles in Europe must be practically emission-free from 2025 onwards would be an ecological, economic and technological aberration,” VDMA said in a statement.
“The proposals for the Euro 7 regulation discussed so far jeopardise value chains far beyond the automotive industry by leading to a de facto ban on cars and trucks powered solely by internal combustion engines. Europe cannot afford that,” the statement said.
VDMA argues that the introduction of e-fuels means the internal combustion engine will continue to play a role in the shift to green transport.
E-fuels, such as liquid hydrogen, can be created from electricity provided by renewable sources, offering a green alternative to fossil fuels. However, these synthetic fuels currently have a much higher cost of production and require large amounts of renewable energy to be carbon neutral.
Frans Timmermans, the EU’s climate policy chief, said decisions will be made in dialogue with the car industry, but stressed that his intention was not to avoid “difficult topics and difficult decisions”.
“You know that the car industry starts by saying it’s impossible and then, in the end, complies,” he told a press briefing last November. “But I’m not taking that as a template for my negotiations now because we have to listen to [the industry], we have to listen to their arguments,” he said.
Timmermans acknowledged the critical role of car manufacturing for the European economy but said the industry needs to now move towards electric vehicles and the use of hydrogen for heavier transport.
“I know that there is a lot of nervousness. We will have this dialogue with the industry, but we cannot wait until 2029 to have a further reduction of our emissions,” he added.
Continued here.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
March 4, 2021 at 03:54AM