The Government plans to legally prohibit the sale of diesel, gasoline, and hybrid cars by 2040.

The Government will propose to legally ban the sale of combustion cars by 2040 in the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law that it has committed to present to Congress. “From the year 2040, the registration and sale in Spain of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles with direct carbon dioxide emissions will not be allowed,” according to sources from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

The proposal is included in a working draft of the law that the Government is required to present to meet its commitments regarding emission reductions. The objectives set by the draft law for 2030 are to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% and ensure that by then, electricity generation comes from at least 70% renewable sources.

According to the ministry, the proposal to ban the sale of combustion vehicles (diesel, gasoline, and hybrids) by 2040 is similar to that of the United Kingdom, which has already announced it will prohibit the sale of diesel and gasoline cars by 2040 and ban their circulation by 2050; or France, which has also announced it will ban the sale of combustion cars by 2040. Denmark, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands aim to do so by 2030, and Norway by 2025.

The Government understands that with these dates “it sends clear signals to direct vehicle production” towards emission-free technologies, in line with what has already been announced by manufacturers such as Volvo (which has already announced that from 2019 it will only sell electric cars) or Toyota, a pioneer in hybrid development, which will stop selling diesel vehicles in Europe by the end of the year.

3,000 MW of renewables per year

In terms of renewable energy, the ministry’s working draft foresees the development, during the period 2020-2030, of competitive bidding procedures to promote the installation of a minimum of 3,000 megawatts (MW) of power per year in electricity production facilities from renewable energy sources and urges the Government to establish “a stable, predictable, efficient, and clear regulatory framework.”

Regarding transport networks, the Government is authorized “to exceptionally modify specific aspects of the electricity transport network planning when situations arise that prevent achieving the objectives of implementing generation from renewable energy sources.”

It thus picks up the challenge recently thrown by Red Eléctrica, owner of the high-voltage network, whose president, Jordi Sevilla, recently asked the Government for “exceptional, extraordinary processing and shortening deadlines for everything related to investments linked to the Energy Transition,” in light of the new renewable power that will be installed in Spain in the coming years to meet its decarbonization objectives.

The draft also proposes to ban fracking activities and that existing extensions for hydrocarbon exploitation “cannot continue beyond 2040.” Additionally, “the establishment of new subsidies or other economic incentives that favor the consumption of fossil fuels will be prohibited.”

A report will be prepared on the tax regime applied to them, identifying the aids and measures that favor their consumption and establishing “a proposed timeline for their review, in line with decarbonization objectives.”

On the other hand, “the General State Administration will not make new investments in shares or financial instruments whose activity includes the exploitation, extraction, refining, or processing of fossil fuels.”