Royal Dutch Shell Plc expects the U.K. to end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles in only a decade, as the nation attempts to get rid of emissions by the middle of the century.
The prohibition can be brought forward to 2030 with “the right policy and incentives,” Sinead Lynch, the head of oil giant Shell’s operations in Britain stated on LinkedIn. That’s five years before the deadline set by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February, and also beats the 2032 date that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps stated may be possible to achieve.
Johnson’s government is looking forward to banning the sale of new cars powered by fossil fuels by the middle of the next decade as it aims to ensure net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. That oil companies, which have been built on the back of demand for automobile fuels for more than a century, are predicting the end of gasoline cars in the near future is a pivotal moment for the market.
Europe’s biggest oil companies have been getting ready for a slowdown in fuel demand, and are progressively turning their attention to electricity production, mainly from renewable sources. Shell and rivals BP Plc and Total SA have all set their own net-zero emission targets.
Nonetheless, there are hurdles for the U.K. achieving the prohibition on oil-fueled car sales. The government needs to keep providing incentives to help consumers use of electric vehicles, Lynch said. Infrastructure for charging these needs to be constructed, and investments are required in electricity networks to meet the extra demand, she stated
