Ban Ki-moon “Sales of internal combustion locomotives should be banned from 2035 after rising diesel prices”

The National Climate Environment Conference, a committee under the direct control of the president, proposed to the government medium to long-term climate environmental measures, including a ban on the sale of internal combustion locomotives in 2035 and the suspension of power generation. of coal before 2040. As the pressure of international trade on climate change intensifies, it is necessary to implement the ‘net zero 2050’, but in this process, there are concerns that national industrial competitiveness will weaken and the invoice of electricity inevitably increase.

On the 23rd, the Environment and Climate Conference announced a national medium and long-term policy proposal at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. The National Conference on Environment and Climate is a policy body under the direct control of the President. The government will prepare a concrete action plan based on the contents of this proposal, and it is very likely that most of the contents of this proposal will be reviewed positively.

The proposal of the day included a large-scale transformation in the medium and long term in countermeasures against fine dust and climate change. First, a plan emerged to reduce the concentration of ultrafine dust to 15㎍ / ㎥ by 2030 and a plan to promote ‘Net Zero’ by 2050. NetZero plans to reduce the net carbon emission, which is the sum of the emissions of carbon (+) and reductions (-), to zero.

To this end, the National Conference on Climate Environment proposed the prohibition of the sale of cars with internal combustion engines from 2035 or 2040. In this process, the contents of strengthening support for small freight car operators were included. , support for industrial reconversion and granting of exceptions to the sale of internal combustion locomotives, but it is expected that it will be difficult to avoid damage to the ecosystem of the national automotive industry, which is mainly composed of internal combustion locomotives.

The power generation system also proposed a quick change. A proposal was made to completely phase out coal-fired power plants, which account for 40% of total power generation last year, by 2045 or before 2040. It’s about stopping coal-fired power generation and changing the mix of energy by adding nuclear energy and natural gas focused on renewable energy. In this process, an increase in power generation costs is inevitable, which is why a proposal was also included to reflect more than 50% of environmental costs in electricity rates by 2030.

In the field of transport, a plan has also been proposed to reduce the use of diesel vehicles with high emissions of fine dust and greenhouse gases. The climate and environment conference proposed raising diesel prices below those of developed countries. As of 2018, diesel prices were formed at 88% of gasoline prices, and it was proposed to increase them to the OECD average of 95% or to the OECD-proposed level of 100%. Since most of the trucks driven by truck operators are diesel vehicles, in this case, the service use prices for consumers will inevitably increase, regardless of long or short distances, due to increased costs for companies of trucks.

The Ministry of the Environment plans to review the policy proposals made by the National Conference on Environment and Climate that day and decide whether it is reflected in future government plans.

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