Hainan island in the South China Sea says it will become China’s first region to ban sales of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars to curb climate-changing carbon emissions.
Sales of fossil fuel-powered cars will be banned by 2030 and electric vehicles promoted with tax breaks and by expanding a charging network, the Hainan provincial government said in a “Carbon Peak Implementation Plan.”
The announcement comes as China struggles through its hottest, driest summer in decades, which has wilted crops and shrunk rivers and reservoirs used for generating hydropower.
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“By 2030, the whole province will ban sales of fueled vehicles,” according to the plan, which was released Monday.
A deputy Chinese industry minister said in September 2017 that Beijing was working on a plan to stop making and selling gasoline- and diesel-powered cars, but the government has yet to release details.
Hainan aims to have electric vehicles account for 45% of its vehicles by 2030, the plan said. It said cities would develop “zero-emissions zones” where fossil fuel-powered vehicles would be banned.
The ruling Communist Party is promoting electric cars to help clean up China’s smog-choked cities and gain an early lead in a growing industry. China accounted for more than half of last year’s global electric car sales.
Source: United News of Bangladesh