Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment

France will ban the sales of diesel and gasoline vehicles by 2040

Good job, France! *raises wine glass*

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
July 7, 2017
in Environment, News

The newly elected government unveiled an ambitious plan to ban sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles in France by 2040. The measure is part of a wider action plan that will see the country become carbon neutral by 2050.

Renault electric cars. Credit: Renault.
Renault electric cars. Credit: Renault.

Nicola Hulot, Minister of Ecological and Solidary Transition in the Philippe Government, said his cabinet recognizes that automakers — a huge part of the French industry — will feel pressured but added he’s been briefed French companies can ‘fulfill that promise’.

During the same announcement, Hulot, a former journalist and environmental activist, stated that the nation will stop using coal to produce electricity by 2022. To further boost the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement, France will invest €4bn to increase energy efficiency and keep greenhouse gas leaks to a minimum. Very recently, President Trump made the first steps to pull the USA out of the Paris Agreement, a controversial decision that has distanced America from climate leaders. Pascal Canfin, the head of WWF France and a former Green politician, said the new government policy “places France among the leaders of climate action in the world.”

Mr. Hulot noted that poorer households that might not afford to switch to a cleaner alternative, like an electric or gas-run vehicle, will receive a premium to make the transition smoother.

“We want to demonstrate that fighting against climate change can lead to an improvement of French people’s daily lives,” he told a crowd of journalists.

The Netherlands and Norway said they also want to rid themselves of petrol and diesel vehicles with a target of 2025, only eight years from now. Germany and India have similar plans with 2030 as a target. The French plan, however, sounds a bit more realistic.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

““The timescale involved here is sufficiently long term to be taken seriously. If enacted it would send a very clear signal to manufacturers and consumers of the direction of travel and may accelerate a transition to electric cars,” Prof David Bailey, an automotive industry expert at Aston University, told The Guardian.

France is already well on track to meets its Paris Agreement pledges. Some 75 percent of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear power whereas Poland relies on coal for a staggering ~90% of its electricity. Even so, Hulot said France wants to reduce nuclear energy use to just 50 percent of the country’s energy mix by 2025.

This move is one of the several science-conscious decisions the new government has already pledged to. Just yesterday, they announced that 8 more vaccines will be mandatory for French children starting 2018, following the recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.