The National Infrastructure Commission, which advises Uk Government ministers, has said sales of diesel lorries should be banned from 2040 – 10 years later than is the case for cars.
The National Infrastructure Commission made the recommendation in a new report released on Wednesday.
The plan to phase out diesel lorries by 2040 was included on a list of proposals related to decarbonisation:
- produce a delivery roadmap for electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet the 2030 end to new diesel and petrol car and vans sales including ensuring that future price controls facilitate the necessary investment in the electricity grid
- publish a comprehensive cross-modal freight strategy with a firm commitment to phase out diesel HGVs by 2040 along with detailed decarbonisation plans consulted on with the road haulage and logistics industry
- develop clear, actionable, and funded plans to deliver on energy commitments made in the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, and the National Infrastructure Strategy, including setting out next steps on heat decarbonisation and the development of a hydrogen industry
- further improve energy efficiency schemes to deliver a material increase in the energy efficiency of the country’s building stock over the coming year
In its 2021 annual monitoring report, the National Infrastructure Commission also says that the widescale use of electric vehicles is an “urgent priority.”
“With almost a quarter of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions currently coming from surface transport, decarbonising travel by developing lower emission public transport systems and preparing for widescale use of electric vehicles is an urgent priority.”
Back in November, the CEO of Volta Trucks urged the UK Government to extend its 2030 ban on the sale of internal combustion cars and vans to include large commercial vehicles too.
Photo credit: Volvo Trucks