Europe's green progress: electric cars save 20 million tons of CO2!

Europe's green progress: electric cars save 20 million tons of CO2!

Europe is on the verge of a remarkable breakthrough in the fight against climate change! According to analysis by Transport & Environment (T&E), the introduction of electric vehicles will result in the continent saving around 20 million tonnes of CO2 in 2025. However, this remarkable progress is being counteracted by the continued increase in air traffic, warn T&E experts. The current “State of European Transport” report shows that transport emissions in Europe were 1.05 billion tonnes of CO2 in 2024 and were therefore reduced by 5 percent compared to 2019. This development is primarily due to the increasingly popular electric cars, of which almost nine million are expected to be on Europe's roads by the end of 2025. T&E emphasizes: Without these vehicles, an additional 20 million tons of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere, equivalent to the emissions from seven coal-fired power plants econews reported.

Challenges posed by aviation and shipping

Despite this positive news, Europe remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, with around 96 percent of crude oil and 90 percent of natural gas imported. This dependence is exacerbated by the high emissions of air travel: in 2024, European airlines emitted an impressive 143 million tons of CO2, an increase of almost 10 percent compared to the previous year. In addition, emissions from shipping are also at a high level at 195 million tons of CO2 equivalents. To address this, T&E expects to raise €5 billion in revenue from including shipping in the EU Carbon Market (ETS) by 2024, which will be used to close the price gap between green e-fuels and conventional fuels.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union are significant, as shown by data from the Federal Environment Agency. In 2022, the EU-27 produced a total of approximately 3,375 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, with Germany, France, Italy and Poland accounting for over half of these emissions. Germany alone was responsible for more than 22 percent. These high numbers illustrate the challenge that Europe faces: in order to achieve its climate goals, emissions must be sustainably reduced in all sectors. The report also shows that CO2 emissions accounted for eighty percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, a warning sign that cannot be ignored Federal Environment Agency reported.