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Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced massive public investment to heal the economy from the coronavirus blow. The ten-point green plan for the UK focuses on clean energy, transportation, innovations and energy efficiency and accelerates the abolishment of gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles. The ban on new cars and vans running only on fossil fuels should be introduced by 2030.
Downing Street published a long-awaited economic recovery package with the ambition to create and support as many as 250,000 highly-skilled jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions to a neutral level by mid-century. Sales of cars and vans using gasoline and diesel will end by 2030, according to the green plan for the UK, compared to the earlier 2040 deadline.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed GBP 12 billion would be spent in the next ten years to sustainably overcome the impact of COVID-19, with a projection that the private sector would invest up to three times as much.
Major boost for UK offshore wind, hydrogen in green plan
The ten-point strategy includes raising offshore wind power capacity by four times by 2030 to 40 GW, sufficient “to power every home.” The United Kingdom is set to develop 5 GW in low-carbon hydrogen production and capture and store 10 million tons of carbon dioxide in four clusters.
“Imagine Britain, when a green industrial revolution has helped to level up the country. You cook breakfast using hydrogen power before getting in your electric car, having charged it overnight from batteries made in the Midlands. Around you the air is cleaner; trucks, trains, ships and planes run on hydrogen or synthetic fuel,” Johnson stated.CO2
Over GBP 2.8 billion to be spent on car electrification
As for the transportation sector, GBP 1.3 billion is earmarked for the expansion of chargers for electric cars and GBP 582 million will be paid in subsidies for the purchase of zero or ultra-low emission vehicles. The sale of hybrid cars and vans that can drive a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe will be allowed until 2035.
Sales of hybrid cars and vans that can drive a significant distance with no carbon coming out of the tailpipe will be allowed until 2035
The government said it would back the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries with almost GBP 500 million in the next four years alone and up to GBP 500 million after that. The electrification segment is worth more than GBP 2.8 billion in total.
Furthermore, it vowed to support research projects for zero-emission planes and ships and to consider ways to get diesel trucks off the roads in the UK. Public transportation and solutions for cycling and walking are seen attracting GBP 5 billion.
Green industrial revolution
Britain will make its homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient, the government added and estimated 50,000 jobs would be created by the end of the coming decade. It said it would spend GBP 1 billion next year in the sector and introduced a target to install 600,000 heat pumps every year by 2028.
“Our green industrial revolution will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland and the Noth East, propelled by the electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by the latest technologies developed in Wales, so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future,” Johnson stressed.
The UK intends to plant trees on 30,000 hectares every year and invest GBP 5.2 billion in flood and coastal defenses by 2027. The government also said GBP 525 million would be used for the development of large and smaller-scale nuclear plants and research.
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