Indian trains to go 100% electric by 2024, but Customs duties raised for EVs

All of the Indian Railways network will run on electricity by 2024, according to the government’s latest announcement, and will be run on clean energy by 2030. The previous plan was to electrify the full network by 2022, but has since been pushed back. However, 700 – 1,000 diesel engines may still ply along border areas. 

On the other hand, though, the Centre has jacked up customs duties on imported EVs by 15%, to 40%. This may be a measure to ask foreign EV makers, such as Tesla, to set up shop in India, but for now it creates a higher barrier for any customer willing to import a high-end EV. 

Germany working on “green kerosene” to power clean aviation 

A team of german scientists is working to perfect the process of manufacturing “green kerosene” — which is derived from water and works with CO2 (or carbon) pulled from the air. The fuel was first experimented with during Nazi Germany times, and needs to be powered by renewable energy to be carbon-neutral, as during combustion it releases carbon. The nation’s flag carrier, Lufthansa, says it expects clean burning fuels to power up to 5% of its flights by the next five years.   

UK commits to zero emissions aviation by 2050

The UK’s aviation sector has declared that its emissions will be reduced to zero by 2050. The country’s Sustainable Aviation Coalition has released its ‘Decarbonisation Road-Map: A Path to Net Zero’, in which it outlines measures such as the use of sustainable fuels, new propulsion technology and the smarter use of UK’s airspace to scale emissions down to zero — while also growing its passenger numbers by 70% at the same time. 
A key step towards the target are also the efforts being invested by EasyJet’s partner Wright Electric, which is developing electrical systems and a motor capable of enabling the airline to fly short distances with full capacity (up to 186 passengers). The goal will be to eventually have electric planes fly regional routes as long as 500km.

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