It's an interesting idea. It wouldn't work if it meant scrapping all existing cars by then, but it only applies to sales of new cars from 2015 onwards.

The biggest problem could be putting in all the supply infrastructure for any alternate fuel. Especially as a) the majority of cars on the road would still be gasoline fuelled, and b) most likely no single alternative fuel would have emerged as the new standard, so you'd be running parallel systems for gasoline, hydrogen, bio-fuel and all-electric vehicles.

Overall I'm not sure about the 2015 timescale, or introducing a 100% ban at a single point in time.

A lot of countries have recently introduced scrappage incentives to get people to scrap their old cars and buy new ones over the next year or two. I think a better idea than a 2015 outright ban might be to have a long-term incentive like scrappage, but for swapping to a hybrid or alternate fuelled car.

With all these type of policy questions, answers we can come up with on the back of an envelope aren't necessarily going to work. So I don't know the best way to achieve the goal, but the goal itself is a good one.

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