UK report says local authorities not pushing for alternative transportation fast enough

August 28, 2018 |

In the UK, a newly published report has shown that Local Authorities nationwide are failing to tackle their own transport emissions by continuing to opt for diesel and petrol vehicles, even after being made aware of the damaging impact upon the local population’s health and in some cases despite penalizing private motorists for making the same choices.

It also reinforces calls for the introduction of biofuels such as a greener petrol known as E10 which help to displace fossil fuels in the short- to medium-term whilst waiting for electric vehicles to reach the critical mass needed to make a large-scale difference to transport emissions.

The data does show a marginal trend away from diesel and towards petrol and petrol-hybrid vehicles, which is evident in the wider population. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show around 62% of new vehicle sales to be petrol, whilst only 0.6% are electric. With the average life of a vehicle around fourteen years, these sales figures are likely to represent the vehicle fleet on UK roads for at least the next decade or more.

Campaigners for E10 say this shows the importance of decarbonizing fossil fuels whilst waiting for the popularity and reliability of electric vehicles to increase.

Category: Fuels

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