Climate change: Netherlands on brink of banning sale of petrol-fuelled cars

'We need to phase out CO2 emissions and we need to change our pattern of using fossil fuels if we want to save the Earth,' says a Dutch Labour Party member





An electric Tesla car recharges on the banks of a canal in Amsterdam. The Netherlands saw an all-time high in electric cars in December this year

Europe appears poised to continue its move towards cutting fossil fuel use as the Netherlands joins a host of nations looking to pass innovative green energy laws.

The Dutch government has set a date for parliament to host a roundtable discussion that could see the sale of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars banned by 2025.

If the measures proposed by the Labour Party in March are finally passed, it would join Norway and Denmark in making a concerted move to develop its electric car industry.

It comes after Germany saw all of its power supplied by renewable energies such as solar and wind power on one day in May as the economic powerhouse continues to phase out nuclear energy and fossil fuels.

And outside Europe, both India and China have demanded that citizens use their cars on alternate days only to reduce the exhaust fume production which is causing serious health problems for the populations of both nations.

The consensus-oriented parties of the Netherlands are set to consider a total ban on petrol and diesel cars in a debate on 13 October.

Richard Smokers, principle adviser in sustainable transport at the Dutch renewable technology company TNO, said the Dutch government was committed to meeting the Paris climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions to 80 per cent less than the 1990 level. The plan requires the majority of passenger cars to be run on CO2-free energy by 2050.



"Dutch cities still have some problems to meet existing EU air quality standards and have formulated ambitions to improve air quality beyond these standards," he told The Independent, adding that the government had at the same time been reluctant to implement strict policies on the environment.

"The current government embraces long term targets and strives at meeting EU requirements, but is hesistant about proposing 'strong' policy measures.

"Instead it prefers to facilitate and stimulate initiatives from stakeholders in society."

If the law to ban the sale of new fossil-fuel cars by 2025 passes, a significant move will have been made towards phasing out all petrol and diesel cars by 2035, added Dr Smokers.

His words come after Jan Vos, a member of the country's Labour Party, hailed the success of the proposed ban in passing through the Netherland's lower parliament.

"We need to phase out CO2 emissions and we need to change our pattern of using fossil fuels if we want to save the Earth," he told media site Yale Climate Connections. He added that electric cars needed to be affordable.

"Transportation with your own car shouldn't be something that only rich people can afford."

But a spokesperson for the Netherland's Department for Climate, Air and Energy said the law was not guaranteed to pass after discussions are resumed in October.

"The proposal is being considered, but there is still opposition to it," they told The Independent.


According to Quartz, sales of electric cars have surged in the Netherlands with an all-time high last December. Meanwhile, the country has one of the lowest levels of CO2 emissions from new cars in the European Union. 




Elsewhere in Europe, Norway has hit its target of selling 50,000 electric cars three years ahead of its own target, in part owing to strong financial incentives to purchase the more environmentally friendly model.

Electric vehicles have been exempted from VAT and purchase tax, which would otherwise add 50 per cent to the cost of the vehicle, under new Norwegian laws.

Denmark, meanwhile, produced so much electricity from wind power in July last year that it was able to sell its excess to Germany, Norway and Sweden.

In India, Delhi was dubbed the equivalent of "living in a gas chamber" by its chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Similar criticism has been levelled at major Chinese cities, with Beijing set to double the number of air monitoring stations to assess the city's air quality.

Meanwhile in the UK, Theresa May has closed the Department for Energy and Climate Change and merged it into a new Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

One point of concern for the Netherlands will be ensuring the current design of electric cars can be adequately scaled-up for densely populated urban environments, warned Dr Smokers.

"I think that living labs and other large scale experiments in the coming two decades will be needed to find out how we can tackle this challenge," he said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/netherlands-petrol-car-ban-law-bill-to-be-passed-reduce-climate-change-emissions-a7197136.html






If the electricity is supplied by renewable means, that is brilliant!

Fantastic news, and I'm considering getting an electric car for my next vehicle. I'm looking at a listing for a 2012 Nissan Leaf that's under $9,000, so they're definitely becoming more affordable.

Where are we to get the electric from? most , at the moment has to come from power stations, a lot of them burn coal or gas to provide it.

Both Germany and Scotland have now had a day when ALL their energy supplies were from renewables.   The technology has improved massively.  The day is coming quite soon when coal and oil will be redundant.

It's not only about that though is it.   It's the damage the fumes from burning petrol and diesel in cars causes.   http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14639/1/Dangers-of-Exhaust-Fumes.html  It's about protecting our children.

Get rid of diesel engines first...

sassy wrote:Both Germany and Scotland have now had a day when ALL their energy supplies were from renewables.   The technology has improved massively.  The day is coming quite soon when coal and oil will be redundant.

It's not only about that though is it.   It's the damage the fumes from burning petrol and diesel in cars causes.   http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14639/1/Dangers-of-Exhaust-Fumes.html  It's about protecting our children.

Simply not true.

From the OP:

It comes after Germany saw all of its power supplied by renewable energies such as solar and wind power on one day in May as the economic powerhouse continues to phase out nuclear energy and fossil fuels.





Scotland's wind turbines cover all its electricity needs for a day
High winds on Sunday boosted renewable energy output to provide 106% of Scotland’s electricity needs for a day

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/11/scotland-completely-powered-by-wind-turbines-for-a-day







Portugal runs for four days straight on renewable energy alone
Zero emission milestone reached as country is powered by just wind, solar and hydro-generated electricity for 107 hours

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/18/portugal-runs-for-four-days-straight-on-renewable-energy-alone

So not "ALL THEIR ENERGY SUPPLIES WERE FROM RENEWABLES"... as I said...

Can't you read:

Both Germany and Scotland have now had a day when ALL their energy supplies were from renewables.




YOU SAID THAT WASN'T TRUE, IT WAS (AND FOR PORTUGAL) AS SHOWN ABOVE.   DON'T WRIGGLE BECAUSE YOU WERE MADE TO LOOK A TIT (AGAIN)

sassy wrote:Can't you read:

Both Germany and Scotland have now had a day when ALL their energy supplies were from renewables.




YOU SAID THAT WASN'T TRUE, IT WAS (AND FOR PORTUGAL) AS SHOWN ABOVE.   DON'T WRIGGLE BECAUSE YOU WERE MADE TO LOOK A TIT (AGAIN)

Read your statement again...


Is simply not true...

Tommy Monk wrote:

sassy wrote:Can't you read:

Both Germany and Scotland have now had a day when ALL their energy supplies were from renewables.




YOU SAID THAT WASN'T TRUE, IT WAS (AND FOR PORTUGAL) AS SHOWN ABOVE.   DON'T WRIGGLE BECAUSE YOU WERE MADE TO LOOK A TIT (AGAIN)

Read your statement again...


Is simply not true...

Tommy, would you like to detail what is not true, because I think you have finally flipped.


And don't come out with some worm like wiggly squiggly, get me out of a fix, answer like cars still needed petrol, because you know full well the energy supplies are those supplied to houses and business, which in each country for a day, and in the case of Portugal 4 days, were from renewable energy.

All energy supplies...?


That was your claim...

Yes Tommy, ALL THEIR ENERGY SUPPLIES that would normally be supplied by power stations, and you know that, so now you are just wiggling - again.   No wonder nobody takes you seriously.

You are the one wriggling sassy...


You made the claim... ambiguous bollocks that now requires back peddling and further clarity after scrutiny applied...



Lies and spin are the tools again...

Tommy Monk wrote:You are the one wriggling sassy...


You made the claim... ambiguous bollocks that now requires back peddling and further clarity after scrutiny applied...



Lies and spin are the tools again...

NO I AM NOT, READ THE TITLES OF THE LINKS, ALL ENERGY SUPPLIED BY RENEWABLES.   YOU ARE SPINNING SO FAST YOU WILL FLY OFF, DON'T LAND TOO FAR AWAY, IT WILL HURT.

Your claim came first...

It was ON THE OP DICKHEAD.

sassy wrote:Yes Tommy, ALL THEIR ENERGY SUPPLIES that would normally be supplied by power stations, and you know that, so now you are just wiggling - again.   No wonder nobody takes you seriously.

Not said on main claim...

Tommy Monk wrote:

sassy wrote:Both Germany and Scotland have now had a day when ALL their energy supplies were from renewables.   The technology has improved massively.  The day is coming quite soon when coal and oil will be redundant.

It's not only about that though is it.   It's the damage the fumes from burning petrol and diesel in cars causes.   http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14639/1/Dangers-of-Exhaust-Fumes.html  It's about protecting our children.

Simply not true.

See above...

OK Tommy, I give in, you wanted to prove how stupid you are and you have done it in spades.   Over to you, make a tit of yourself all you want, and boy, do you want.

All energy supplies was the claim...


That is not true.

Tommy Monk wrote:All energy supplies was the claim...


That is not true.

All the electricity, then -- you get the point. Stop being a dickhead.

What happens when there's no sun and no wind?

My personal opinion is Wave power, always there twice a day.

Ben Reilly wrote:
Fantastic news, and I'm considering getting an electric car for my next vehicle. I'm looking at a listing for a 2012 Nissan Leaf that's under $9,000, so they're definitely becoming more affordable.

ONE SIMPLE REASON why the prices are plummetting after 4-->6 years ownership...

Their battery pack will have to be replaced in the next couple of years, around the point when the storage capacity has dropped to around 80% of the original level;   (there is already a second-hand market developing for these still good battery packs -- where they are being re-purposed for household storage cells in solar cell arrays..).

WHILE the running costs will still look good when annualised over a 5-->7+ year period, the new owner will still need to have the requisite $5,000 ->$10,000 available (depending on the particular model of car..), when renewal eventually becomes necessary..      

nicko wrote:What happens when there's no sun and no wind?

My personal opinion is Wave power,    always there twice a day.

LIKE other "renewables" such as geothermal or hydro' generation, though --  you have to look at the local conditions, and such mitigating factors as :

Availabilty of the actual power source (get a few miles inland, and tidal/wave power becomes irrelevant;  geothermal needs "hot rock" formations close enough to the surface;  hydro' power needs sufficient water flow;  solar energy needs sufficient sunlight averaged out over the year;  wind turbines need sufficient wind;  and so on..).

Possible local effects on the environment, wildlife, local communities  ???

How clustered or spread out the local user base will be --  higher population densities may favour one alternative over another --  or maybe a combination of 3 or 4 different sources will be more efficient ?

How will power be stored for idle periods, base loads, downtime ?

What will the whole life cycle costs for the project be --  after factoring in construction, maintenance, dismantling and replacement, pollution cleanup..

Ben Reilly wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:All energy supplies was the claim...


That is not true.

All the electricity, then -- you get the point. Stop being a dickhead.

Still not true... because I'm sure there would be plenty of smaller generators going providing electricity too...

Tommy Monk wrote:

Ben Reilly wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:All energy supplies was the claim...


That is not true.

All the electricity, then -- you get the point. Stop being a dickhead.

Still not true... because I'm sure there would be plenty of smaller generators going providing electricity too...

Wow, you take so many stupidity prizes around here that there's little left for anybody else. The amount of energy produced by small generators across an entire country in a single day is such a small percentage, it's statistically insignificant.