Podcast Special: The future of mobility – low-carbon transport for 2040

What will transport look like in the year 3000? Busted thought we would live underwater, but perhaps we’ll have even figured out zero carbon travelling. This year the government made its own prediction in the form of the ‘Road to Zero’ strategy - new petrol and diesel cars are to be banned by 2040.

Is this another example of the government ‘helping’ unhelpfully? We posed the question to a panel of the leading voices of authority in the debate in a special podcast, sponsored by Shell. The resounding answer was in fact – no, government direction is helpful, in this at least.  

Fraser Nelson spoke to Edmund King, the President of the AA and the voice of British motorists; Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent organisation that reviews government policies on the environment; and Sinead Lynch, Shell’s UK Country Chair. In a incisive half an hour chat, they talk about the big challenges facing low carbon transport today – the appalling lack of infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, the possibility of using hydrogen – yes, really – as an alternative to petrol, and the helpfulness of government targets.

Sponsored by Shell.