As more governments sign on to ban internal combustion cars going forward, some are also pulling forward the dates they plan to implement those bans.
Last week, Britain, which already had a ban on new gas and diesel vehicles without plug-in capability on the books starting in 2040, tightened its anti-global warming rules with a new measure that could require it to move that ban up to 2035, according to a report in Phys.org.
Under the previous rule, passed last July, the country planned to cut its overall carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The new plan signed by Energy and Clean Growth Minister Chris Skidmore ramps that plan up to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.
Such an increase would require the country to accelerate its ban on new internal combustion engines to 2035, rather than 2040, the Committee on Climate Change told Phys.org.
Even the nation's largest utility, National Grid, supports the move to extend carbon free electricity. The plan includes nuclear power as well as renewables.
The new British program mirrors one passed last September in California, which plans to convert to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050 and can the sale of new internal combustion cars in the state by 2035. British Columbia also plans to ban sales of new internal combustion cars after 2040, and Israel plans to do so by 2030.
Perhaps the most influential is China, which has also announced its intention to ban sales of internal combustion cars in the largest car market in the world, though it has not yet set a timetable.
