Region’s carmakers will be vital for climate goals
Electric vehicles will be major part of ‘Green Industrial Revolution’
HE West Midlands will play a vital role fighting climate change for decades to come by manufacturing electric vehicles, Boris Johnson’s government said this week.
Ministers pledged to back West Midlands carmakers, as they set out a vision for industry in the region stretching to 2050 and beyond.
The Midlands was identified as the region where electric cars will be produced, as part of a strategy to reduce the carbon emissions linked to climate change.
The Government says its plans for a ‘Green Industrial Revolution’ will create 440,000 jobs by 2030.
A 368-page strategy document states: “We will need tens of thousands of engineers to build and maintain new offshore wind farms off the coasts of northern England and Scotland, construct nuclear power stations in the South of England, and manufacture electric vehicles in the Midlands.”
Setting out how industry will change in future decades, the document states: “Our industrial heartlands are re-invigorated, with innovation and private investment in clean technologies – such as wind, carbon capture and hydrogen in multiple locations across the UK including the North-east; or the manufacture of batteries and electric vehicles in the Midlands.”
The Government announced it would provide an extra £350 million to help carmakers and their suppliers switch to producing electric vehicles, as well as an additional £620 million to be spent on vehicles and infrastructure such as on-street residential charge points.
The sale of new petrol and diesel cars is already due to be banned from 2030.
However, the strategy is a longterm plan designed to last decades.
The aim is for the UK to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, meaning carbon emissions are reduced to as close to zero as possible, with the small amount of remaining emissions absorbed through natural carbon sinks such as forests or new technologies like carbon capture.
West Midlands local authorities and Mayor Andy Street are working on plans for a major car battery “gigafactory” on the site of Coventry Airport, to produce the batteries needed by electric vehicles.
Jaguar Land Rover, the carmaker with plants in Birmingham and Solihull, is expected to be the factory’s main customer.
It comes as the UK prepares to receive world leaders including US President Joe Biden, at a United Nations Climate Change Conference called COP26, taking place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The UK’s path to ending our contribution to climate change will be paved with well-paid jobs, billions in investment and thriving green industries – powering our green industrial
revolution across the country.
“By moving first and taking bold action, we will build a defining competitive edge in electric vehicles, offshore wind, carbon capture technology and more, whilst supporting people and businesses along the way.”
Birmingham University academic Steven McCabe suggested much more must be done to help smaller businesses switch to environmentally sensitive production.
He said: “Though welcoming this strategy, the accelerating rate of emissions, particularly as we return to normal after the pandemic, means that we need to be far more ambitious than the contents of this document suggest.”
Other key proposals in the document include building a large-scale nuclear power plant, and making more use of offshore wind and solar energy.
The Government says it has an “ambition” that no new boilers will be sold after 2035, with homes fitted with heatpumps instead, but the strategy stops short of a firm pledge to end the sale of boilers.