Commissioner Valean expounds on roadmap to decarbonize EU’s transport sector
BRUSSELS, July 15– The European Commission’s roadmap to decarbonizing the transport sector across the European Union is expected to provide the regulatory predictability needed to unlock investments to achieve the emissions reduction targets, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said here on Thursday. “We need to act with ambition for the…
BRUSSELS, July 15 (Xinhua) — The European Commission’s roadmap to decarbonizing the transport sector across the European Union (EU) is expected to provide the regulatory predictability needed to unlock investments to achieve the emissions reduction targets, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said here on Thursday.
“We need to act with ambition for the planet, but without punishing our citizens and businesses who rely on transport for their deliveries and supply chains,” she told a news conference.
Valean said the FuelEU Maritime proposal is the first legislative initiative of its kind for maritime transport. Through that the EU expects renewable low-carbon fuels to reach close to 90 percent of the maritime energy mix by 2050.
The requirement for the most polluting ships to use onshore power supply or other zero-emission technologies will significantly reduce air pollution in ports and coastal, she said.
The RefuelEU Aviation proposal is designed to significantly decarbonize the sector. The aim is to reduce CO2 emissions from aviation by five percent by 2030 and 60 percent by 2050. Harmful air pollutants would be cut by nine percent by 2050.
The proposal is for all fuel available to airlines at EU airports to contain at least five percent sustainable aviation fuels in 2030, increasing gradually to 63 percent by 2050 as industry is progressively able to deploy and scale up production, Valean said.
The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive will introduce clear binding targets on recharging capacity linked to the electric vehicle fleet size in EU countries and along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) to boost uptake and to ensure that the necessary recharging stations are deployed by 2030.
“I believe we have three solid proposals setting out a gradual, realistic approach to decarbonizing the transport sector,” Valean said.
The proposals are included in a massive package of legislative updates, dubbed “Fit for 55,” that was unveiled on Wednesday with the EU’s ambitious target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent from 1990 levels by 2030 and to become climate-neutral by 2050. Enditem