Petrol- and diesel-powered boats face being phased out of use on the Norfolk Broads, as the area's authority aims to reach carbon-zero status within the next two decades.
The Broads Authority (BA) has outlined its goal to reduce emissions to zero by 2040 in its latest five-year plan. It hopes to achieve carbon neutrality ten years earlier, by 2030.
While the targets relate to the organisation and its activities, rather than to the waterways themselves, the document does emphasise how the BA intends to encourage boaters to switch from petrol and diesel vessels to electric craft.
The number of electric boats, both in the hire fleet and in private hands, is expected to grow sharply in the next few years.
A BA spokesman said the organisation would be working “with the tourism industry and wider public to reduce carbon emissions in the area”.
“This presents a significant challenge both for the authority, its partners and our local communities, and only by working together will we be able to achieve these goals," he said.
“We are in the process of transitioning our operations to use clean fuels and are working with the boating sector to ensure that green alternatives are a viable/attractive option for the future.”
He stressed that there was no intention to 'ban' the use of fossil fuel boats.
The government has pledged to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, but similar plans have not yet been set out for boats that use fossil fuels.
It is expected however that it will become harder over the coming years to get fuel and components for petrol- and diesel-powered vessels, and the Broads Authority’s spokesman said the organisation recognised the need to support people making the transition to using cleaner fuels in their boats.
He added that the authority had been working with the hire industry towards zero emissions - as they account for the majority of use on the Broads - as well as with private boat owners, to find out what they see as barriers to switching to more eco-friendly fuels.
The organisation has also been working with researchers and businesses on its 'Electrifying the Broads' project to explore what infrastructure might be needed to transition the Broads boating industry to electric, for example by increasing the number of charging points.
In 2019, when the authority was looking at increasing the toll it charges people to use vessels on its waterways, it decided to charge diesel and petrol vessels a higher increase of 2.9pc, while users of unpowered, hybrid and electric boats were only asked to pay an extra 1pc.
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