Tag Archives: Zero Emission

Electric Vehicles, News

Can mass adoption of EVs solve the air pollution problem?

Written by Kunal Sawhney, CEO, Kalkine Media

The government’s historic step towards climate control and transition to zero-emission cars and vans by 2030 has again come under fire with the introduction of new increased car tax changes from 1 April 2022. Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which is calculated using the vehicle’s age and CO2 emissions, has increased drastically in line with the Retail Price Index measure of inflation.

Households that are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis will face one of the biggest rises in car tax when fuel remains at a record high, despite some decline due to the US release of oil from its strategic reserve.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and its implications

The UK car owners have to pay car taxes Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), which is made up of two components: The first-year rate and the standard rate. When one buys a car or van, he has to pay a tax known as the first-year tax or the showroom tax. It depends on the CO2 emission figures when the vehicle was built.

The other component of VED is the standard tax, which the car owner has to pay annually, and its calculation is done by keeping the vehicle’s age and CO2 emissions into consideration. All those cars and vans with bigger and older engines that usually produce more CO2 are bound to be levied higher taxes, while it could be zero if the car doesn’t emit CO2.

As per the regulations, those cars producing emissions between 1 and 50g of CO2 per kilometre are liable to pay £165 and a first-year rate of £10, while cars emitting 51 to 75g of CO2 per km will have to pay £165 and first-year rate of £120, and so on.

Electric Vehicles exempt from VED

At the same time, electric vehicle (EV) owners don’t have to pay any standard rate, and this has become a major issue when the VED, which is popularly known as the road car tax, has risen for the majority of drivers. It is being said that electric vehicle users’ use of roads in the UK is being subsidised by other taxpayers.

Electric Vehicles have gained popularity in the last sometime in the UK, with the data showing a constant rise in registration for EVs. However, people are still concerned about range anxiety despite huge developments in battery manufacturing. Also, the availability of charging stations, the long charging time of batteries, and most importantly, the high upfront cost of the EVs have been restricting the transition from traditional fossil fuel cars to EVs. However, their benefits too can’t be ignored as they will not only lead to the government’s goal of zero-emission vehicles but will also create jobs and deliver public health benefits by improving air quality, and over half of the Britons would consider adopting an EV if it was available at a right price for them.

Course of action

It’s true that EVs don’t produce CO2 or exhaust fumes, but it is also a proven fact that they produce large amounts of tiny pollution particles from brake and tyre dust, which has been linked with cardiopulmonary toxicity and can result in serious illness.

Putting the tax burden on those who cannot afford to transition will only add to the woes of the households when the energy cap has gone up by 54 per cent, National Insurance rates are rising, and inflation is at its peak. The number of vehicles needs to be reduced from the roads and mass transit system to be expanded, not just the CO2 level of cars and vans with the forced mass adoption of zero-emission vehicles.

Climate, News

Zero emission planes to boost net zero plan

Written by Mr. Kunal Sawhney, CEO, Kalkine Media

In a bid to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and expedite the progress for reaching the net zero target by 2050, the government of the United Kingdom has been continuously supplementing various existing measures with new plans of action that can comprehensively help in diminishing the overall carbon footprint across the widespread geography.

For effectively counterbalancing the gross carbon emissions in the UK, a thorough support is required from the industries, enterprises, large-scale corporations, government-run settings, passenger vehicles, manufacturing facilities, commercial vehicles and aircrafts. As the Downing Street administration continues to scale down the dependency on coal-fired electricity, it is also incorporating several measures that can certainly turn very effective after a period of 5-10 years from now.

Following the ongoing research around carbon neutral planes that are being designed to harness energy from liquid hydrogen, people would be able to fly on longer routes through carbon emission free planes with just one stop for the purpose of refuelling the jet.

The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) on Monday, 6 December, showcased the concept aircraft, equipped with liquid hydrogen. The ATI-led FlyZero project has developed the concept aircraft that will be powered by liquid nitrogen. The mid-size carbon neutral jet has a seating capacity of 279 individuals, it can operate on long distances including London to San Francisco and Lonon to Auckland by taking a single layover for refuelling.

Zero carbon emissions from the plane will unequivocally make it very popular right after the initial commercial runs, while it will help in reducing the pollution around the airports as Heathrow remains one of the busiest airports in the world.

Commercialisation of such planes can certainly provide strength to the government’s ultimate objective of reducing the carbon emissions in the upcoming decades.

With the industries increasingly committing to reduce the net emissions from their operations, including the extensive supply chain networks and other processes, it becomes very crucial that the country should make proportionately similar progress across all the carbon-heavy processes including the commercial vehicles segment and industrial emissions.

Under the ongoing green energy revolution, the UK government has already fixed ambitious targets of banning the sale of petrol and diesel powered passenger vehicles by the end of 2030. With the nature and scope of Covid-19, rapidly emerging strains and persisting uncertainty in the operative environment, the pace of technological advancements has been partly hit, while, on the other hand, many individual entities are progressing very aggressively. Alongside achieving industry-wide breakthroughs in several state-of-the-art capabilities and a number of innovations that are touted to ease the pain of conventional processes, effectively streamlining the complexities.

As far as developing the sustainable aviation fuel is concerned, eight corporations have secured an approval from the government’s £15 million competition aimed to introduce aircrafts that can be operated on clean energy. The shortlisted winners in the project are entitled to receive a definitive proportion from the multi-million pound funding to the tune of £15 million. The Department for Transport (DfT) will remain responsible for giving the go-ahead on funding agreements.

The Jet Zero Council has been working religiously towards the predetermined objectives with the FlyZero project displaying the huge potential of liquid nitrogen. Introducing more and more midsize emission-free aircrafts in the British fleet for domestic, as well as international usage, most of the flight operators will be able to transform and rejig the fleet efficiency when it comes to the gross emissions from the planes operating on air turbine fuel.

The Jet Zero Council has aimed to deliver carbon neutral transatlantic flight within a generation, effectively contributing in the road to net zero according to the Prime Minister’s Ten Point plan. Along with the aim of delivering emission free aircrafts, the department has been working to introduce a low-carbon fuel that can be utilised by the airlines. Produced from waste materials, sustainable aviation fuel will certainly help in decarbonising the flying experience.

Climate, News

Increasing zero emission vehicles to firmly expedite path to net zero

Written by by Kunal Sawhney, CEO, Kalkine Media

In the race to achieve net zero status, the largest economies are putting their best foot forward by incorporating a slew of measures that can bring a comprehensive change, through which the transformation to clean energy solutions can be done in a seamless manner.

The abrupt hardships of climate change have reached a critical phase as nations surrounded by snowy islands and huge glaciers are fearing the possible event of massive floods, while the plains and other geographical regions already experiencing a record-breaking rise in the annual temperatures during the peak summers are severely anxious over a fractional upsurge in the temperatures as it is increasingly developing the areas into hard-to-survive locations due to extreme habitual conditions.

Taking a couple of measures at a time is actually required now as it will only help in achieving the objective within the anticipated time, as the potential repercussions of climate change are mushrooming at a rapid pace, as we speak and discuss various strategies to contain the consequences.

Further ameliorating the road to net zero, the government of the UK has recently reiterated its commitment to eliminate the fossil fuel-powered commercial vehicles, including the heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) by the end of 2040. With this objective, the Downing Street administration is aiming to roll-out zero emission commercial vehicles at a large scale in the next two decades, enough to meet the cumulative supply chain and logistics demand in the domestic, as well as connected roads to cross-border regions.

In order to effectuate the predefined goal of selling 100% zero emission new cars and vans, the government has instituted a group of ministers and industry leaders that will remain responsible for working towards fulfilling the target by 2040. Bolstering the initiative, six major automakers including General Motors, Mercedes, Ford, BYD, Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover, 13 investors, 28 fleets and 34 countries have collectively pledged for all new car and van sales to be zero emission by 2035 in the leading markets and by 2040 on a global level.

Countries including New Zealand and El Salvador and corporations such as Sainsbury’s are among the group that have committed to integrate 100% zero emission vehicles following the proposals made by the European Union, a number of states under the control of the US, Canada and Chile. All these have committed to ensure that all the new cars and vans are emission free by 2035.

A number of emerging markets and developing economies including India, Turkey, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda and Paraguay have pledged to expedite the adoption and country-wide usage of zero emission vehicles, the move that can help achieve the global target of carbon emissions.

Alongside this, a new design for electric vehicle chargepoints is underway with the UK government set to unveil it as Britain charges up the green energy revolution by scaling up the power generation through renewable resources of energy and extensively working out to augment the potential of present EVs.

The new design concept for the EV chargepoints can certainly help in raising the awareness, generating the excitement around the EVs, increasing the adoption of EVs amidst the middle-income earners as a large section of people look forward to changing the primary vehicle with some of them exploring options to buy their first vehicle.

Not only this, the concept for EV chargepoints will provide a greater choice for local governments and industries as the primary objective is to ensure that everyone benefits from the transition to zero emission transport.

As countries and corporations build one of the most reliable, affordable and convenient charging networks for EVs in the world, the major area of focus will remain on diminishing the pain points in buying and owning an EV over the traditional vehicles fuelled by petrol and diesel.

At the moment, the zero emission vehicles are already affordable to run in the UK as compared to the petrol and diesel variants of similar configuration. In the upcoming years, with the scheduled technological advancements in the rechargeable battery segment, and other significant parts, the zero emission vehicles will become cheaper to buy.

As many as 30 countries have agreed to work collectively to make zero emission vehicles a new normal by making them sustainable, accessible and affordable in all regions by the end of 2030 or earlier.

The Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council (ZEVTC) is set to unveil its first annual action plan, while it discusses how international collaboration can strengthen global transition towards green technologies with the experts and representatives on transition in emerging markets and developing economies.

The first annual action plan by the ZEVTC will set out the areas for sustained international cooperation that will help in expediting the transition during 2022. With the cumulative support of various countries and companies responsible for developing advanced mechanisms in the green technology space, the United Kingdom is set to become the first country in the world to phase out new, non-zero emission HGVs weighing more than 26 tonnes by the end of 2035.

Making sure that each and every commercial vehicle, including the HGVs sold in Britain are zero emission by 2040, materially places the country ahead of many tech-intensive nations which are yet to roll-out EVs on a large scale. Decarbonising the overall carbon footprint certainly requires a number of actionable and measurable steps that can develop a sense of responsibility among the citizens, as consumer preference remains one of the most important factors in bringing such a transformational change.

Over the years, the number of people adopting EVs have grown significantly with the purchases of hybrid electric vehicles gaining pace in emerging markets as battery electric vehicles are quite expensive to purchase and run as compared to the vehicles of similar configuration running on petrol and diesel engines.

According to a research conducted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the proportional sale of zero emission vehicles is set to escalate to 70% of the new car sales by the year 2040.