Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of strategies other than those involving electric vehicles to decarbonise petrol vehicles before 2040.
The Government takes a technology neutral approach to decarbonising the transport sector and supports a wide range of alternative fuels.
The Government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) supports a market for renewable fuels, including bioethanol which is delivering greenhouse gas emissions reductions from fuel used in petrol vehicles. We are continuing to support the commercialisation of advanced biofuels by grant funding through an Advanced Biofuel Demonstration Competition.
We have provided £5m to build or upgrade 12 hydrogen refuelling stations and £2m to assist fuel cell electric vehicles deployment in public and private sector fleets. This year we announced £23m of additional funding to increase the uptake of FCEVs alongside the expansion of hydrogen refueling infrastructure
The Government has put in place fuel duty differentials to incentivise the uptake of gaseous road transport fuels. This includes Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas and Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
At the regional level EU legislation sets mandatory CO2 emission performance reduction targets for new cars and vans sold into the single market each year. It is for manufacturers to decide which technology is most appropriate to meet these targets. As we leave the EU, we will look for opportunities to strengthen further the controls on vehicle CO2 emissions and pursue an approach that is at least as ambitious as current arrangements.