The European Union (EU) on Tuesday approved a landmark law to ban the sale of new CO2-emitting cars by the year 2035.
The law will require all cars sold past 2035 to produce zero CO2 emissions, according to Reuters. Cars will have to lower their emissions by 55% compared to their 2021 numbers from the year 2030 as part of an effort to phase in the total elimination five years later.
The approval passed after weeks of objections from Germany to allow a legal loophole for cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) to continue being sold if they run on e-fuels, the outlet reported. E-fuels are created from synthetic compounds of captured CO2 emissions. Although not produced on a large scale, e-fuels offer a lifeline to traditional combustion engine cars. Advocates still consider e-fuels to be carbon-neutral because they recreate fuel from emissions already in the air, and can therefore be exempt from the EU’s law, according to Reuters.
The European Central Bank (ECB) is pictured behind EU flags, prior to a press conference on the eurozone’s monetary policy, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany on March 16, 2023. (Photo by Daniel ROLAND / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images)
Poland voted against the law, while Italy, Bulgaria and Romania declined to voting, Reuters reported. Polish infrastructure minister Andrzej Adamczyk warned the law was “too ambitious,” arguing the EU needs to “take into account the capabilities of individual economies.” (RELATED: EU Approves Use Of ‘Cricket Powder’ In Food, Pledges Funding For ‘Insect-Based Proteins’)
Transportation accounts for roughly 25% of the EU’s CO2 emissions, according to German news outlet DW. Porsche and Ferrari have come out in support of the e-fuel exemption, while others car makers such as Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are proponents of battery-powered cars to help decarbonize, DW reported.
The EU is the latest governing body to pass such laws. In August 2022, California became the first U.S. state to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by the year 2035. In March, newly elected Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore became the seventh state to join the initiative.
Maryland joined California along with Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington.