All New Cars To Be Emission Free In Germany By 2030

In an effort to make good on a pledge to cut its carbon output anywhere from 80 percent to 95 percent by 2050, Germany is mandating that new cars registered there will have to be emissions-free by the year 2030.

Deputy Economy Minster Rainer Baake said that the country has not seen any reductions in its CO2 output from transportation since 1990.

Baake also said that while Germany can't do anything about truck emissions at the present, it can take steps to mitigate CO2 emissions from cars. Germany's Environment Ministry has declared that the transportation system must cut approximately 10 million metric tons of CO2 over the next five years, and that vehicle emissions account for approximately one-fifth of the country's carbon dioxide emissions.

Last year Germany's emissions totaled about 165 million tons.

Germany has committed to lowering emissions by 40 percent by the year 2020. The country, however, has not enthusiastically embraced electric cars as a means of lowering its emissions output. Baake noted that on average, cars have a 20-year lifespan. Because of that, the country needs to slash the number of registrations for cars powered by gasoline and diesel over the next decade and a half. Related: How Far From An Electric World Are We?

The government under Chancellor Angela Merkel is planning to provide subsidies that it hopes will boost the sale of electric cars. In a plan similar to those in other countries, people who buy electric or hybrid cars would be eligible for cash incentives. The Environment Ministry is hopeful that the move will help to sell around 500,000 electric cars by the year 2020. Cars powered solely by electricity are anticipated to account for 8 percent of cars on German roads by 2025. To foster this, the government is still working to install battery and hybrid plug-ins around the country.

By Lincoln Brown for Oilprice.com

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