Germany threatens to hold up EU’s combustion-engine car ban

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s transport minister says his country won’t back a planned European Union ban on the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035. Volker Wissing said Tuesday the bloc’s executive Commission needs to ensure synthetic fuels are exempted. EU lawmakers and member states reached a preliminary deal last year that would force carmakers to cut new car emissions by 100% in 2035. This effectively means that the sale of new cars which burn hydrocarbon-based fuels such as petroleum would be banned. Wissing argues synthetic fuels can be produced using renewable energy and carbon captured from the air, so they wouldn’t add further climate-changing emissions to the atmosphere.