The transportation ministry of the country sees great potential in renewable fuels.
Germany has voted “no” on the European Commission’s proposal to stop the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars starting in the middle of next decade. Volker Wissing (German Minister of Transport) spoke out during an informal meeting of ministers from other European nations near Paris.
He stated, as quoted by Motor1.com Italy. But there is one important point. Germany should only allow the sale of new combustion cars if they can be powered solely with synthetic fuels.
Synthetic fuels could be compatible with older vehicles. They would enable them to continue to run in the future while reducing emissions. German minister says that there is a way to make sure cars don’t get refueled using fossil fuels.
Volker Wissing stated that “we can’t rely on only electric or hydrogen mobility in the future” and that “we must remain technologically neutral.” He also said that “we don’t have enough electric cars, so we need them to be made more available.”
Side note: Audi just announced that its diesel V6 engines could now be run on renewable fuels. This will reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 70% to 95 percent.
Roberto Cingolani, Italy’s minister for ecological transition, seems to have echoed the idea of an “intermediate solution” to complete decarbonization. Recently, he stated that the future car cannot be fully electric and suggested that we should instead look at “a new generation of ultra-modern hybrids with limited performance to reduce CO2 emissions.
It was announced by Italy in September that it was in negotiations with the European Commission to allow for an exemption from the rule for supercar manufacturers. The proposal to ban the 2035-powered combustion engine in Europe is still at the proposal stage. It is subject to approval and acceptance by EU members.