May 25, 2022
The majority of Shell shareholders support the oil and gas company’s plans to reduce its emissions and become climate-neutral by 2050. However, a resolution by activist shareholder Follow This to force Shell to set even stronger climate targets did not get the majority of votes and received less support than last year. The annual meeting […]
May 24, 2022
In an objective to renew the airport of Zaventem into a multimodal hub based on a more environmental-friendly strategy, her CEO Arnaud Feist wants to exchange short-haul flights with high-speed train connections. While pointing at how Brussels Airport was one of the first in Europe with an integrated train station, he also puts the ball […]
May 24, 2022
In the first quarter of 2022, three times more EVs were sold worldwide than last year. With two million battery-powered vehicles registered already this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) sees a substantial increase in EV adoption, especially in China and the EU. Of all new car sales, EVs now represent 10%. According to the […]
May 23, 2022
In 2021, there were 41,1 million trucks, mostly foreign, on Belgium’s roads. Never before has this number been so high. This is evident from the report for its operating year drawn up by Viapass, the organisation that manages the kilometer charge for trucks in Belgium. Consequently, revenues for the kilometer charge are also peaking: 822 […]
May 23, 2022
The district court of Detmold started a historic court trial against Volkswagen on Friday. The accusor is Ulf Allhoff-Cramer, a German organic farmer who claims that the German car giant is responsible for the demise of his farm, with his crops and animals suffering from global warming. Greenpeace supports the court case. Allhoff-Cramer is a […]
May 20, 2022
Road signs warning for crossing toads, ducklings, or deer are a familiar sight on Belgian roads. But in Wetteren, commuters on the cycle highway alongside the railway are now warned of a new species: wall lizards. Their growing population led to a casualty rate demanding precautionary measures. The population of wall lizards living asides from […]
May 20, 2022
The Brussels government has launched a project call to boost the rollout of charging stations for electric vehicles. All owners of private car parks in Brussels have a chance of receiving a subsidy on the condition that their charging stations run on green electricity, are public, and are accessible 24/7. This has been confirmed by […]
May 20, 2022
The European Commission wants the EU to faster accelerate its endeavor to gain energetical independence. Energy use must be more efficient, the energy supply must be diversified, and the energy sources must become sustainable. The whole plan has been presented this week under the REPowerEU name. The war in Ukraine has once again emphasized the […]
May 19, 2022
Mercedes is joining forces with Sila Nanotechnologies, who developed an innovative battery with a much higher density (+30 to 40%) than what we see today in lithium-ion EV batteries. The first of these would be for the future electric G-Class. Alternative to hydrogen Sila Nanotechnologies is a start-up from Silicon Valley in California that uses […]
May 19, 2022
On Wednesday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo announced new plans for the French capital city’s ring road. The ‘périph’, as Parisians call it, will feature an ‘Olympic way’ during the 2024 Olympic Games, reserved for athletes, officials, and emergency services. After the event, that traffic lane will be deleted, and the 10 hectares ‘freed’ will see […]
May 17, 2022
SOLiTHOR, a spin-off of the Leuven-based research company Imec, will develop and market solid-state batteries under the brand name SOLiTHOR. These batteries should also be usable in automotive applications within five to ten years because they are safer, weigh less, and, above all, are cheaper than the current generation of batteries. Ten years of research […]
May 17, 2022
A broad cross-industry coalition is now including Ford of Europe and Volvo Cars. They are appealing to the EU to ensure that all new cars and vans in Europe are zero-emission from 2035 and establish mandatory charging infrastructure targets. The coalition says the deadline for new fossil fuel engines is needed to ensure the last […]
May 13, 2022
The Environmental Committee of the European Parliament has voted in favor of a sales ban on internal combustion engines for cars and vans as of 2035. The Committee dismissed synthetic fuels as a solution and didn’t adopt new interim CO2 targets for the automotive industry. The European lawmakers stayed close to the original proposal by […]
May 13, 2022
Flemish Minister of Mobility, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), wants to know the effect of lowering the speed on the highways around Ghent. She, therefore, ordered a study, the Minister announced on Thursday in the Mobility Commission of the Flemish Parliament. The Minister hopes she will be able to start a test phase based on the […]
May 12, 2022
On Wednesday, March 11th, energy provider Engie inaugurated its 200th wind turbine on Unilin Insulation’s site in Seneffe. Unilin Insulation is a construction company manufacturing thermal insulation materials. And the energy project contributes to the company’s target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The two new […]
May 12, 2022
More than a third of Belgian companies will not make the switch to a fully electric car park by 2026, the deadline the government is setting for new company vehicles sold to be electric. This is shown by an online survey by insurer AON and FLEET Magazine. The reasons are diverse, the 200 respondents say. […]
May 11, 2022
Climate change remains a ‘top of mind’ issue. Eight out of ten worry about climate change, and six out of ten Belgian citizens support the Belgian en European target to become climate neutral by 2050. However, only three out of ten feel that also families have to contribute. The figures come from the fifth national […]
May 11, 2022
A new trial involving nearly 400 families living in the area affected by noise pollution from flights of Brussels National Airport is targeting the Belgian government. The civil lawsuit, led by the civic organizations Wake up Crainhem and AWACSS, has been launched at the Brussels Court of First Instance, writes the newspaper La Libre Belgique. […]
May 10, 2022
European and US headquartered global companies are not putting much effort into reducing their business trips for climate’s sake. In the international ranking of the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), companies with an A-score are the most ambitious; those dangling at the bottom get the lowest evaluation, a D-score. The ranking grades 230 US and […]
May 10, 2022
Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has offered 30 decommissioned buses to Cuba. It concerns 20 Van Hool A330 D1 buses and 10 Mercedes Citaro articulated buses. They are Euro 4 buses, which, under the low-emission zone (LEZ), are no longer allowed in the Brussels region from 1 January 2022. According to the newspaper La Dernière […]
May 09, 2022
Taiwanese scooter manufacturer Kymco has plans to bring its range of electric scooters to Europe. The two-wheelers will be sold through the ionex brand and use battery swap. The arrival of an electric scooter of Kymco origin is not big news, as the manufacturer is already present in our market. However, the appearance of an […]
May 09, 2022
Luring more people and companies on the train, with a connection every 15 minutes around the big cities. These are some of the spearheads of Railway Vision 2040, the plan with which Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants to guide the Belgian railway policy for the next 20 years. The Council of Ministers approved […]
May 06, 2022
The new version of the Brussels’Air premium, which has been awarded to motorists who give up their car in the capital since the beginning of March, is a great success. So says the Brussels Minister responsible for Climate Transition Alain Maron (Ecolo). On Tuesday, Brussels Environment handed out the 700th premium, which in two months […]
May 05, 2022
In a television interview, Norwegian Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård has unveiled that the government is reconsidering the EV incentives that helped push electric car sales to almost 90%. Scrapping the benefits must get more people out of their cars. Free municipal parking. No tolls on ferries. Access to bus lanes. No annual road tax. […]
May 04, 2022
The impact of digital technology on the climate is five times more positive than the total digital footprint by 2030. CO2 emissions in Belgium could decrease by 10 to 12% by using digital technologies in the four most CO2-polluting branches of industry. That is the conclusion of a recent study by the technology federation Agoria. […]
May 04, 2022
French automotive suppliers Faurecia and Veolia have announced pioneering cooperation to use recycled plastics in automotive interior modules. They aim to achieve an average of 30% recycled content by 2025. The recycled material will be used in instrument panels, door panels, and center consoles in cars across Europe. “The use of recycled plastics is one […]
May 03, 2022
The Flemish Government wants to continue to focus on alternatives to road transport, with companies choosing the proper mode of transportation for each flow of goods. It is extending the Multimodal Flanders project by five years until 2027. The organization behind the project, the Flemish Logistics Innovation Center (VIL), reported this. Transport via rail or […]
May 03, 2022
Daimler Truck, Europe’s leading manufacturer of buses and coaches, plans to turn the page on diesel-powered city buses by 2030, aiming for a 100% electric offering that will rely, in part, on hydrogen. The German group, which has sold some 600 e-buses out of a total of 18 700 units in 2021, only wants rechargeable […]
May 02, 2022
On Friday, the RATP, the Autonomous Management of Parisian Transport, temporarily removed 149 electric buses from circulation as a precaution. The reason is two recent fires in such vehicles in the middle of the street in the French capital. The vehicles involved are from the Bolloré Bluebus 5SE series. On Friday, an e-bus running on […]
April 29, 2022
The Brussels Government had definitively approved the Master Plan for the Delta-Herrmann-Debroux area. The main ambition of this urban project is to redevelop the E411 axis into an urban boulevard, put an end to highways in the heart of the region, and reconnect neighborhoods that, although neighboring, are very little connected. The Brussels Government had […]
April 29, 2022
The Brussels Government is raising its ambitions to reduce greenhouse gas from 40 to 47% by 2030 compared to 2005. To this end, subsidies for gas-fired condensing boilers will be abolished in 2023, and the move away from fossil fuels will be accelerated without waiting for the next legislature. This emerges from the policy guidelines […]
April 29, 2022
The new Port of Antwerp-Bruges, a fusion of the harbors of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, wants to become “the green entry to Europe”. Its ambitions are not to be sneezed at: Port of Antwerp-Bruges wants to become Europe’s largest international export harbor, and at the same time reconcile economy and climate. Port of Antwerp-Bruges is determined […]
April 26, 2022
British iconic sports carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda says it’s pushing the accelerator with its new ‘Racing.Green‘ strategy to become a ‘world-leading sustainable luxury brand’ with a fully electric line-up from 2030. It touts a ‘clear roadmap to electrification’ with the first hybrid electric car commencing deliveries in 2024, the first Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) targeted […]
April 22, 2022
Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment states in a new analysis report that the charging infrastructure in Europe will keep pace with the uptake of electric vehicles by 2035, when the combustion engine would be banned. T&E forecasts 10,4 million public chargers for 131 million EVs in Europe by 2035. It counters the persistent warnings by […]
April 22, 2022
In its first study on life cycle assessment, Green NCAP, the sustainability branch of safety organization Euro NCAP, has examined the environmental impact of 61 popular models on the European market. Though the electric Fiat 500 showed the smallest carbon footprint, the Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI made a case for the combustion engine. Life cycle […]
April 22, 2022
Flemish transport company De Lijn will order 99 electric buses worth 66,5 million euros next year. The delivery of the new buses should allow the old diesel buses, Euro 3 and 4, to be put aside by 2025. The Brussels transport company MIVB/STIB must also renew its fleet of buses that run on thermal engines: […]
April 21, 2022
According to the latest report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Belgium still is far too dependent on fossil fuels. And after the partial nuclear phase-out in 2025, this reliance will probably only increase. But unfortunately, it also means the country has hardly made any progress in reducing its CO2 emissions. In 2020, 71% of […]
April 21, 2022
From 1 January 2023, Belgium will ban smoking on station platforms of railway company NMBS/SNCB. On Wednesday, the Chamber’s Mobility Committee approved a bill proposed by the green fraction for this purpose. According to the authors, a similar measure is already in place in the Netherlands, with success. NMBS/SNCB supports the decision to make platforms […]
April 20, 2022
Belgian logistics player BD Logistics has asked Antwerp University to develop a tool to calculate the CO2 emissions of its urban delivery activities using a standardized calculation method. The calculation tool perfectly estimates the carbon impact of a specific delivery or shipment. This technology would also allow consumers to compare different players or means of […]
April 20, 2022
The Council of State has decided to stop the works of the Antwerp Oosterweel connection for a second time after receiving complaints from environmental organizations Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL) and Greenpeace. Both contest the restart of the earth-moving activities on the left bank of the river Scheldt. It’s the second time that the Council of […]
April 20, 2022
Thirty days without using your car. Quite a challenge. But is it feasible? The Belgian Network for Sustainable Mobility urges to give it a try. The goal of the ’30 Dagen Minder Wagen’ campaign is to change our travel habits and experiment (more) with more sustainable mobility solutions. The initiators hope to motivate people to […]
April 19, 2022
Young start-up E-Load has inaugurated its first powerful public charging station in the industrial zone ‘Europark’ in Houthalen. The Limburg-based company plans to install at least five similar charging stations in the province and is already negotiating with the cities of Genk and Hasselt. The official inauguration took place on Saturday in the presence of […]
April 15, 2022
The Belgian marine service provider, Jan De Nul, has started the construction works of the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm project in France. It will be the first offshore wind farm on French territory. For Jan De Nul, it’s the first offshore assignment in France. De Nul’s jack-up vessel ‘Vole au vent’ will transport the 80 […]
April 15, 2022
Dutch start-up Lightyear, the manufacturer of the world’s first commercial solar car, is starting production of its first batch of customer vehicles. At the same time, the company announces a price hike of nothing less than 100 000 euros for the One. With 250 000 euros, their solar car is now more costly than some […]
April 14, 2022
D’Ieteren, Ginion Group, Valckenier, and finance&invest.brussels have joined forces and resources to promote new mobility trends via the D’Ieteren Lab Box scale-up MyMove. They want to make car-sharing (inside or outside organizations or companies) more accessible and popular internationally. The car business is moving fast forward, as is mobility in general. New trends like ride-hailing, […]
April 14, 2022
Together with Portuguese oil firm Galp, Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt wants to construct and exploit the biggest factory for lithium conversion in the EU. The two partners have set up the Aurora joint venture to reach that ambition. According to both companies, the lithium conversion process will be the most sustainable in the industry. When […]
April 14, 2022
The Belgian-Dutch port company North Sea Port, a fusion of the harbors of Ghent, Terneuzen, and Vlissingen, wants to become a hydrogen hub on a European level. The port company, therefore, developed a hydrogen strategy, it announced this week. North Sea Port and the industry are facing the challenge to make the transition from fossil […]
April 13, 2022
Hyundai plans to make the onboard charger from the Ioniq 5 suitable for bidirectional charging, enabling V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) technology. In addition, Hyundai will soon introduce a new electric model equipped with V2G technology from the beginning. The new vehicle is probably the Ioniq 6, which will be presented soon. The electric sedan will be the […]
April 12, 2022
As the number of electric vehicles (EVs) is growing, the need for clear charging rules is rising too. For example, in Arnhem (north of Holland), a court has condemned an EV owner to finally pay the fine he got in 2020 for occupying a charging point for too long. The EV owner had refused to […]
April 11, 2022
At Ford’s Otosan production site in Turkey, production of the 100% electrically powered Transit will get started. Ford has big plans to electrify its commercial vehicle fleets, and the market is also responding positively, with 5 000 orders already in the Ford Pro order book. Ford is running a broad pilot project with pre-production models […]
April 11, 2022
An increasing share of newly purchased electric cars in the Netherlands goes to private consumers. More than half (52%) of the 12 385 new EVs registered were for private use in the past three months. In this first quarter, 4 327 EVs were bought by private individuals, 2 181 through a private lease. In the […]
April 08, 2022
The British government has revealed its new energy policy and strategy, given the recent events in the energy market and the Ukrainian war. The UK wants to accelerate nuclear power again, and besides pushing for more wind and solar power, it will also stay developing its fossil fuel winnings in the North Sea. At the […]
April 08, 2022
There’s a big chance that in 2026, F1 race cars will also be driven by Audi and Porsche engines/motors. If all goes as predicted, Porsche will be delivering to Red Bull and Audi to McLaren; other racing teams may follow. This is excellent news for the new owner of the ‘F1 circus’, American Liberty Media, […]
April 07, 2022
Porsche has invested an additional $75 million in the international developer of electric fuels, HIF Global. The German carmaker wants to import climate-neutral e-fuel from their plant in Chile to keep the internal combustion engine alive in the 911 and make racing sustainable. There’s no denying it. While Porsche is at the forefront of developing […]
April 07, 2022
German ‘green’ energy supplier RWE Renewables intends to build Europe’s biggest grid backup battery with a 200 megawatts capacity in Rotem (Dilsen-Stokkem) in Belgium. To compare: Belgium’s largest backup battery so far is the Terhills ‘Virtual Power Plant’ (VPP) in Eisden, delivering 18,2 MW with 140 big Tesla batteries. RWE initially was going to build […]
April 06, 2022
Up until corona times, aviation was the fastest-growing carbon polluter in the European Union. Still, it is one of the top receivers of free pollution permits relative to their emissions under the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS in short). The EU ETS is a cornerstone of the EU’s policy to combat climate change […]
April 05, 2022
The chance that global warming remains limited to 1,5 degrees Celsius has pretty well gone by unless the world comes up with far more ambitious plans to reduce CO2 emissions. That is the devastating conclusion of the latest IPCC report. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations earlier warned that the […]
April 05, 2022
More than eight out of ten cars sold in Norway are now fully electric. With PHEVs added to the mix, the figures even surpass 90%. Best-sellers are the Tesla Model Y and Model 3. Norway is paving the way for Europe more than ever, where electric cars accounted for a little lower than 10% last […]
April 04, 2022
Car rental giant Herz is buying 65 000 fully electric Polestars in the next five years and will start offering them in Spring 2022 in Europe and end this year in America and Australia. It’s a massive deal for Polestar, as the latter reached its global sales target of 29 000 vehicles in 2021 and […]
April 04, 2022
The [email protected] project, the brainchild of BASF Antwerp and Air Liquide in the harbor of Antwerp for the capturing, transport, and storage of CO2 emissions in the empty gas field in the North Sea, will receive 356,9 million euros support from the European Innovation Fund (EIF). On Friday, the agreement for the subsidy was signed. […]
