Singapore will no longer allow the registration of diesel – powered cars and taxis from 2025, five years ahead of previously scheduled. This serves as part of the republic’s plan to reduce emissions and encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.
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What is Happening?
- According to a statement by Land Transport Authority, about 2.9% of passenger cars in Singapore run on diesel, while this is as high as 41.5% for taxis. Most good vehicles and buses however, run on diesel and won’t be affected by the new rule.
- Singapore plans to install 60 000 electric vehicle charging stations by 2030, two-thirds of which will be in public car parks and the remainder on private premises.
- The implementation of these measures will be led by a new National Electric Vehicle Centre (NEVC), set up under the LTA and consultations will be held later this month over private sector participation in these measures.
The LTA statement says, “These measures will support Singapore’s targets to cease new diesel car and taxi registrations from 2025, require all new car and taxi registrations to be of cleaner-energy models from 2030, and have all vehicles run on cleaner energy by 2040.”
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- It adds that new public housing developments will have capacity to support EV charging for 15% of their parking lots. This extends to new private buildings and existing buildings undergoing major redevelopment.
- The government has announced a slew of other measures to reduce carbon emissions, including greater emphasis on solar energy, planting 1 million more trees, expanding rail and cycling networks and reducing waste sent to landfill by 20% over the next five years.
- Renewable energy capacity has expanded, but natural gas remains the dominant energy source in the power sector, accounting for 96% of electricity generation, and will continue to do so for at least the next 50 years.
- In 2019, Singapore began implementing a carbon tax for industrial facilities of $5 SGD/tonnes CO2-equivalent (USD3.7 USD/ tCO2e). This low starting price is not high enough to generate the incentives for a large-scale switch to low-carbon generation technologies. The carbon tax will remain at $5 SGD/ tonnes CO2 equivalent until 2023. The government has indicated it plans to increase the tax to $10-15 SGD per tonne by 2030. However, according to Climate Action Tracker, based on even the most conservative estimates for a 1.5°C compatible pathway, the carbon tax needs to be considerably higher.
Featured image by: Flickr
