NFB welcomes Government strategy on low and zero carbon emissions
National Federation of Builders
As the UK looks set to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2040, Chris Grayling has unveiled the ‘Reducing emissions from road transport: Road to Zero Strategy’ report, which expects at least 50% of new cars to be ultra-low emission by 2030.
Among other promises, the strategy announces a £400 million ‘Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund’, an increased grant level for workplace charging schemes, £4.5 million for on-street residential charging, and a drive for all new homes to have charging points.
The Government is also investing in research and development to trail innovative, low-cost wireless charging and public on-street solutions.
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) welcomes this approach, but it also expresses concerns that changes must be both practically deliverable and universally accessible.
Charging points must be future-proof, sub-stations should be able to handle extra capacity requirements and the Government needs to understand how renewable energy can be harnessed to decrease the existing network load.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said: “The construction industry is perfectly placed to inspire and sustain consumer sales of electric vehicles, but it must not be asked to pay for infrastructure upgrades that will benefit the power companies in perpetuity.
“The increased demand for electricity must be met with sustainable access to supply and more thought is needed to achieve this.”
