Skip to main content

UK Government Air Quality Plan – call for funding for FCEVs

Following the release of the UK Government’s final Air Quality Plan, in which it announced that it will ban all petrol and diesel vehicles (including hybrids) from 2040, ITM Power says this represents an historic first step towards cleaner and greener transport in the UK. However, it is calling on the UK Government to provide equivalent financial support for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) infrastructure as it has already provided for plug-in battery electric vehicle (BEV) infrastructure. The company, wh
July 27, 2017 Read time: 3 mins
Following the release of the UK Government’s final Air Quality Plan, in which it announced that it will ban all petrol and diesel vehicles (including hybrids) from 2040, ITM Power says this represents an historic first step towards cleaner and greener transport in the UK.

However, it is calling on the UK Government to provide equivalent financial support for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) infrastructure as it has already provided for plug-in battery electric vehicle (BEV) infrastructure.

The company, which manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions, claims equivalent funding would satisfy the UK Government’s stated position of being technology agnostic.  It also calls on the Government to implement its announced plan to provide 65 hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK, to be operational by 2020.  Current proposed levels of funding for hydrogen infrastructure would not achieve OLEV’s stated target.

The UK is one of 17 EU countries breaching annual targets for nitrogen dioxide, a problem which has been made worse by the failure of the European testing regime for vehicle emissions.

The UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations produced by Defra and the 1837 Department for Transport outlines how councils with the worst levels of air pollution at busy road junctions and hotspots must take robust action.

The announcement focused on delivering nitrogen dioxide (NO2) compliance at the roadside in the shortest amount of time. This is one part of the Government’s programme to deliver clean air; next year it will publish a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy which will address other sources of air pollution.

Air quality in the UK has been improving significantly in recent decades, with reductions in emissions of all of the key pollutants, and NO2 levels down by half in the last 15 years. Despite this, an analysis of over 1,800 of Britain’s major roads show that a small number of these - 81 or four per cent - are due to breach legal pollution limits for NO2, with 33 of these outside of London.

To accelerate action local areas will be asked to produce initial plans within eight months and final plans by the end of next year.

The Government will help towns and cities by providing US$335 million (£255 million) to implement their plans, in addition to the US$3.5 billion (£2.7 billion) it is already investing.

Local authorities will be able to bid for money from a new Clean Air Fund to support improvements which will reduce the need for restrictions on polluting vehicles. This could include changing road layouts, removing traffic lights and speed humps, or upgrading bus fleets.

The government will also issue a consultation in the autumn to gather views on measures to support motorists, residents and businesses affected by local plans - such as retrofitting, subsidised car club memberships, exemptions from any vehicles restrictions, or a targeted scrappage scheme for car and van drivers.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Nissan and Ecotricity call for signs to put EVs on the map
    October 23, 2015
    Nissan, manufacturer of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (EV), and Ecotricity, which operates one of Europe’s rapid charging network, the Electric Highway, have called on the UK government to introduce official road signage for the UK’s growing number of standard and rapid EV charging points. Despite there being more than 9,000 EV charging points nationwide, there is still no official, recognisable signage available to direct motorists to them. Nissan and Ecotricity claim the time is right for the ne
  • Netherlands combats city emissions 
    February 16, 2021
    17 Dutch cities and municipalities will introduce zero-emission zones by 2025
  • Google monitors Hamburg air quality
    October 13, 2021
    Google is using an electric vehicle equipped with sensors to measure air quality in Hamburg to aid decisions on sustainable urban and transport planning
  • Reducing climate impacts starts at the intersection, says Inrix
    September 11, 2023
    The tools to identify and reduce unnecessary delays at intersections are here – and traffic signal performance improvement is also eligible for US government funding, points out Rick Schuman of Inrix