No more gasoline or diesel cars sold in France by 2040 — that is the ambitious goal set on Thursday by France’s environment minister as part of far-reaching efforts to wean the world’s No. 6 economy from fossil fuels.
Some manufacturers and drivers met his proposals with skepticism, but others viewed them as a welcome riposte to US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.
French Minister of Ecological and Solidary Nicolas Hulot, unveiling a five-year government plan to encourage clean energy and fulfill France’s commitments under the Paris accord, said French car manufacturers have projects that “can fulfill that promise.”
Photo: Reuters
His appeal comes a day after Sweden’s Volvo became the first major automaker to pledge to stop making cars powered solely by the internal combustion engine.
The Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to ban diesel vehicles by 2020, blaming them for pollution that often chokes the French capital. However, Hulot’s plan would cover the whole country and also target gasoline-powered cars.
Hulot proposed aid for poorer families to buy cleaner cars.
PSA Group said the environment minister’s pledge fits with its goal of offering hybrid or electric versions of 80 percent of its cars by 2023.
Yet even if France eventually bans sales of diesel and petrol vehicles, the company will continue making such cars for foreign markets, PSA spokeswoman Laure de Servigny said.
“We are a global player,” she said. “You have to take into account the situation globally.”
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association argued that electric and hybrid engines are not the only options for the future, and that automakers are still investing in upgrading gasoline and diesel technology.
“Improving the internal combustion engine and clean diesel technology will continue to play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions,” it said in a statement.
Greenpeace cautiously welcomed the French plan, but urged a clearer time frame, concerned that it would be easy for subsequent governments to abandon the generation-long effort.
Hulot also proposed a ban on new oil and gas drilling on French territory, and said France will stop producing power from coal — now 5 percent of the total — by 2022.
The country wants to reduce the proportion of its power from nuclear energy to 50 percent by 2025, from the current 75 percent.
The government’s plan aims to encourage green energy and technologies, notably through taxing polluting ones.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS