MPs debate greener road transport fuels
Wed 16 October 2013
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The new Conservative Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport , Robert Goodwill, said that the Government is committed to building a low-carbon energy system and transport must play a part in that. The minister was speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on greener road transport fuels.
In the debate moved by John Pugh, Liberal Democrt MP for Southport, MPs heard that the Government must find a balance between producing the fuels needed for a low-carbon future and protecting the livelihoods of the most vulnerable.
Responding to the debate Robert Goodwill said that it is essential that the Government’s aim is that by 2050 almost every car in the UK will be an ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV).
Mr Goodwill said: “As well as cutting carbon, electric cars have the potential to reduce our reliance on foreign energy imports and to clean up the air in our towns and cities”.
He said that the Government is determined to place the UK at the forefront of the design, development and manufacture of ULEVs.
On biofuels, he said that the Government had taken important steps towards “genuinely sustainable biofuels”, and noted that 2011 had seen the introduction of double rewards for advanced biofuels.
He said, however, that the use of biofuels and non-conventional fuels would remain complex and controversial, but that must not stop the Government from finding the right balance between producing the fuels needed for a low-carbon future and protecting the livelihoods of the most vulnerable.
Responding for the Opposition, Labour Shadow Transport Minister Richard Burden said that cutting emissions and tackling greenhouse gases was not simply a question of tackling the transport end of the question.
He pointed out that although fuel duty has been frozen for some time, the fact that VAT went up to 20 per cent in 2011 has impacted on the cost of living.
Liberal Democrat MP John Pugh said that travelling presented problems with air quality and emissions, which could be addressed locally through measures such as congestion charging and pedestrianisation.
He suggested that alternative fuels, such as bioethanol, hydrogen and biofuels, could help to remedy the situation, and made the case for LPG, describing the fuel as the “least problematic alternative and the most worthy of Government support.”
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