Diesel ban? Clean Air Zone expansion could see diesel cars charged to come in UK cities

The Government has announced the sale of petrol and diesel cars will be banned by 2040, but the tide has been turning against diesel cars for some time as local authorities are already encouraged to set up clean air zones which would place driving limitations on some vehicles, likely aimed at older, more polluting diesels.

The latest air quality plan released by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) encourages local authorities to increase the number of ‘clean air zones’, particularly in most polluted areas. The plans include a broad range of measures, such as: switching the road layout to decrease congestion, encourage uptake of low-emissions cars, and encourage the use of public transport.

However, DEFRA also says: “If these measures are not sufficient, local plans could include access limitations on vehicles, such as charging zones measures to prevent certain vehicles using particular roads at particular times.”

DEFRA also announced that it will need to reconsider how diesel vehicles will be taxed in the future. It said: “Measures to improve air quality will therefore be funded through switches to the tax treatment for fresh diesel vehicles, or through reprioritisation with existing departmental budgets.”

It said further details on switches to the tax regime will be announced later in the year.

With the legislative knives rigidly out for diesel, we look at the roots of the problem and whether the demonisation of our former favourite fuel is fair. Scroll down to explore the issues surrounding the possible diesel ban.

Why did the UK Government very first promote diesel to car buyers?

In 1998, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said diesel cars should be taxed less than petrol cars as they pollute fewer grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometre on average. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) estimates diesel cars emit twenty per cent less CO2 per kilometre than their petrol counterparts.

At the time, the Government was focused on cutting CO2 emissions, as these were linked to climate switch, so diesel cars seemed the visible mode of transport to promote. In 2001, Brown introduced the fresh Vehicle Excise Duty rates that taxed cars with low CO2 emissions less, and in doing so made the diesel option that bit more appealing compared to petrol.

As a result of the fresh VED bands diesel car ownership surged from 13.8 per cent in two thousand one to around fifty per cent today. In two thousand fifteen there were around 11.9 million diesel cars on UK’s roads, making ours one of the fattest diesel fleets in Europe.

What caused the shift against diesel?

Tho’ broadly correct about the CO2 emissions benefits diesels have, ministers took almost a decade to admit they had overlooked the health consequences of loacl air polloution from diesel cars. Former science minister Lord Drayson said that regulators at the time didn’t have a clear idea on the health effects from diesel emissions and that promoting the vehicles “in retrospect was the wrong policy.”

Studies have since shown that particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from diesel vehicles are detrimental to health. One of the most prominent studies linked air pollution to 40,000 premature deaths, stating that diesel cars play a major role in releasing toxins to the atmosphere.

Both NOx and particle matter emissions, the latter little microscopic particles that can penetrate lung tissue, have been linked to respiratory and circulatory diseases by doctors and researchers.

Almost three hundred doctors, nurses and other health professionals from campaing group Doctors Against Diesel recently signed a letter urging the Government to do more to liquidate the current fleet of diesel cars due to their adverse health effects.

Greg Archer, clean vehicles director at campaign group Transport & Environment, said that the Volkswagen Dieselgate emissions scandal was also a big wake up call to the public, as it highlighted that real world emissions from cars are far above the quoted figures obtained under laboratory testing.

The VW emissions scandal along with latest studies displaying the health consequences of diesel cars has put pressure on legislators to budge the public away from buying diesel cars.

But before diesel is crucified on the emissions altar, it’s worth bearing in mind that diesel vehicles aren’t the only source of NOx and particle matter pollution. The European Environmental Agency points out that almost a quarter of all NOx emissions comes from coal and other energy plants.

Cargo ships are another source of pollution. A latest report found that just fifteen of the largest cargo ships presently pollute more nitrogen and sulphur oxides than all of the world’s cars put together. The paper by environmental consultancy Carbon War Room said that the shipping industry would need $400billion (£330bn) investment in green tech to meet the two thousand twenty one air targets for the industry.

Even zero-emissions cars won’t be pollution free, as a previous examine by the University of Edinburgh and engineering company INNAS BV found the extra weight from the battery packs results in higher particle matter emissions.

Because EVs are on average twenty four per cent stronger than their petrol or diesel counterparts, the examine said their tyres will be under greater stress and wear out quicker, releasing particle matter emissions hidden in the rubber particle into the atmosphere at a quicker rate.

Diesel ban in London and other cities?

The prevailing consensus that diesel emissions are bad for health has led to many cities looking to ban them from their centres. The mayors of Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens have said they’re looking to ban diesel cars from their centres by 2025.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, recently introduced a fresh £10 ‘toxicity’ charge, dubbed the ‘T-Charge’.

The fee will apply to drivers of petrol and diesel cars with pre-Euro four engines, broadly those registered before 2005, and will work alongside the existing £11.50 congestion charge during the same 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, window. The charge will run from twenty three October two thousand seventeen onwards and is expected to affect up to Ten,000 vehicles.

Khan’s plans to reduce pollution levels in the city also include expanding and expediting the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, as well as a swifter roll-out of low-emissions double-decker buses.

The London mayor is proposing to introduce the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone a year earlier than planned in 2019, and extend it beyond central London from two thousand twenty onwards to the North and South Circular. Cars, vans, lorries and buses which fail to meet the emissions criteria would be charged from £12.50 upwards.

Scrappage scheme for diesel cars?

Back in 2009, the Government introduced a £300million plan called the Vehicle Scrappage Scheme. Owners of old cars and vans were encouraged to scrap their old vehicles in comeback for £1,000 payment from the Governments towards the purchase of a fresh car.

The idea was that older, more inefficient and higher polluting vehicles would be eliminated from the roads and substituted with fresh, environmentally friendly vehicles. The plans drew criticism from a number of motoring and financial organisations who questioned the economics and environmental gains.

There were hints that the Government may have implemented a scrappage scheme for diesel cars in the Spring two thousand seventeen budget, then again before the publication in May two thousand seventeen of the consultation document by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs. No rock-hard commitment to introduce a scrappage scheme has emerged but the consultation did go as far as indicating that the Government would support local authorities choosing to introduce a scrappage scheme for older diesel cars.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has been more forthcoming, urging the Government to introduce a scrappage scheme for diesel cars and vans in London. Transport secretary, Chris Grayling, meantime, recently told the Daily Mail that people considering buying diesel cars should “take a long, hard think.” The minister has been said to be in favour of a diesel scrappage scheme.

Grayling also told the House of Commons: “We have to find the right way to migrate the nature of the cars on our roads and the vehicles on our roads to a point where they cause much less of a pollution problem than they do at the moment.”

But what about the future of diesel? Find out more, including comments from car bosses and how they think the longevity of diesel will pan out on the next page.

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