Electric-only car plan would require 10,000 new wind turbines

PLANS to end the sale of all diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040 started to unravel yesterday as it emerged 10,000 wind turbines would need to be built to power their electric replacements.

National Grid, which manages the UK’S power supply, said in a report that peak demand for electricity could increase by 50 per cent if and when the nation switches to electric vehicles.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary who formally announced the ban, hinted that wind or nuclear power were the only clean energy sources the Government would consider to bridge the energy gap.

The 269-page air quality plan that Mr Gove’s department published yesterday sets out how it will bring down emissions but gives no details of how the extra electricity needed to charge the national fleet of 26 million vehicles will be generated, or how much it will cost.

Richard Harrington, the energy minister, said he was “certainly planning for a significant increase in demand” but was not specific on how Britain will generate up to 30 gigawatts (gw) of extra power on top of the 61gw currently needed at peak periods. The Automobile association warned that National Grid would come under immense pressure if it had to cope with “a mass switch-on after the evening rush hour” while independent energy experts said the Government would struggle to build the infrastructure needed.

Meanwhile, diesel drivers must brace themselves for a potential tax rise in the autumn budget as the air quality plan said it “will continue

to explore the appropriate tax treatment for diesel vehicles ... ahead of making any tax changes at autumn budget 2017”.

Mr Gove told the BBC: “We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars, not just because of the health problems that they cause, but also because the emissions that they cause would mean we would accelerate climate change, do damage to our planet and to the next generation.”

Asked if there was no alternative to more wind farms and nuclear power stations, Mr Gove said: “There is no alternative to embracing new technology.”

When it was pointed out that the Conservatives promised in their 2015 manifesto to halt the spread of onshore

‘We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol ... we would do damage to our planet and to the next generation’

wind farms, Mr Gove replied: “The Conservatives had a manifesto promise to ensure by 2050 there would be no diesel or petrol vehicles on our roads. We’re confirming that should mean no new diesel or petrol vehicles by 2040.”

National Grid’s estimate of the power supply needed would mean 10,000 more wind turbines; there are around 7,600 in the UK. The extra power could also be generated by building 10 more nuclear power stations like the new generation reactor at Hinkley Point, at a cost likely to exceed £200 billion.

Rob Doepel, energy partner at EY, said the process of approving major new schemes such as nuclear power stations would have to be speeded up.

The Government report also offered no explanation about how the thousands of extra car-charging points that will be needed would be funded or installed. Neither did it contain any proposals for making up the £30billion in fuel duty that the Treasury will lose.

SIR – You report (July 26) that diesel drivers face new pollution taxes, and that these plans “ultimately herald the end of the traditional car”.

It has been obvious for the past 20 years that diesel emissions are dangerous to health.

Even late-model, high-value cars churn out black smoke profusely. The particulates have always been known to be carcinogenic, and we are just beginning to learn the extent of their effect on public health. Childhood respiratory illnesses caused by diesel engines near school gates and the shortening of life expectancy are just the start of the revelations.

Our children are going to be paying for this for decades. Politicians and car manufacturers have a lot to answer for. Don Edwards

Lawford, Essex

SIR – While I feel proud that my country has volunteered to give up its petrol and diesel cars to help save the planet, I must confess to wondering who else is going follow. When will the Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Russians and Americans follow suit?

And another thing: will all those nasty aeroplanes that spray their mists of avgas over runways and beyond every time they take off now have to propel themselves on battery power?

Then there are the thousands of yachts and motor cruisers in the world’s marinas. Will their owners, too, be compelled to install electric motors and banks of batteries? Richard Shaw

Dunstable, Bedfordshire

SIR – If the Government is to ban traditional vehicles by 2040, it must explain where the extra electricity will come from. It needs to bear in mind that Hinkley, a single power station, will have taken many decades from conception to power-production. Geoff France

Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

SIR – Can politicians please stop taking a one-dimensional perspective on this issue? After all, that is why so many people now drive diesel cars. Electric cars do not yet offer the solution. They are heavier than their equivalent diesel models and, with losses in electricity distribution and storage too, need more energy.

Until battery technology catches up, the most viable options are to remove old diesel lorries and buses, improve traffic flow along key through-routes and consider other forms of energy such as liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. Dinsdale Barton

Tetbury, Gloucestershire

SIR – How ironic that in the week the Government announced the future ban on sales of diesel and petrol cars, it also abandoned plans to electrify the rail network between and into major northern and Midland cities, and into London.

There is compelling evidence that pollution can be reduced by providing cheap, clean public transport.

Dr John H F Smith

Sheffield, South Yorkshire