Cheers to Brussels! It’s finally done: We’re becoming a hydrogen economy, a completely decarbonized one. And the hydrogen will also be green, because it can only be obtained from excess electricity from photovoltaics, wind and hydropower. The surplus should be so large that it sustainably feeds our future prosperity.
Not only the steel industry, but also all other industrial processes that require energy will be operated with hydrogen. We even allow the transport industry to make the gaseous hydrogen available as a liquid, for example as e-aircraft fuel and e-ship fuel or even e-fuel for heavy goods vehicles and special vehicles. The range is complete: e-kerosene for jets, e-ship diesel for shipping, e-diesel for trucks and also for the military – all for the benefit of the economy.
And the people? Wasn’t it a prerequisite for the success of the “traffic turnaround” to “take the people with you”? However, Brussels has now banned e-petrol and e-diesel for private cars. Instead of going to the gas station, they should all go to the charging station that is still to be built. Anyone who still wants to operate an internal combustion engine with climate-neutral fuel, for example, has to live with the new Euro 7 emissions standard.
The consequences are clear: Euro 7 cars are getting more expensive, the smaller, the more expensive. The first manufacturers are already cutting back their range of compact and small cars. And the electric car is more expensive anyway. Today, well-known mass manufacturers dream of being able to offer an entry-level model for 25,000 euros soon. There were once two small cars. In addition to the more expensive car, there are also the more expensive fuels or the extremely expensive electricity from the fast charging station, prices that can be adjusted as needed.
All advocates of the traffic turnaround assume that there will be less car traffic in the future. The Brussels decision makes it clear how this will be achieved. Personal mobility with one’s own car is becoming a privilege of the rich. And the bicycle gets back its old role – as a symbol of the underprivileged. (Peter Schwerdtmann/ cen)
