August 12, 2022
Dutch fast-charger network company Fastned has tripled its turnover in the first two quarters of this year to €12,6 million, a 188% increase compared to the same period in 2021. This is due to the fast expansion of its European network and the growing fleet of electric cars. In Belgium, Fastned opened four new fast-charging […]
August 11, 2022
Nippon Express (NX) Italia has launched an ‘eco-friendly’ last-mile delivery service in Venice, Italy, using hydrogen-powered boats to navigate the canals. Venice just got its first public hydrogen filling station in June 2022, only the second in the whole of Italy, one of the laggards in Europe regarding this alternative zero-emission fuel. Nippon Express Group […]
August 11, 2022
On Wednesday, the new Willems quay in Balen along the Dessel-Kwaadmechelen channel has been officially inaugurated. “The installation of such quays has to promote inland shipping and inspire other companies,” said Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) at the inauguration. Inland shipping has the capacity to remove another 160 000 trucks from the […]
August 09, 2022
In France, sites and apps providing road guidance will have to inform their users about the negative impact of their trip on the environment and their health. In addition, they will have to propose less polluting routes and possible alternatives to the car for their voyage. When a user searches to plan a route, the […]
August 09, 2022
Natuurpunt, a volunteer organization protecting nature, calls citizens to register dead animals on the road via an app. This way, the organization wants to collect and analyze data about animals run over and killed in traffic. With more than five km of road per square meter, Belgium has the densest road network in Europe. But, […]
August 04, 2022
Brussels Minister of Mobility Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) is not in favor of increasing the number of lanes on the Brussels Ring Road. She is reacting to the plans of the Flemish government presented last week. Van den Brandt does advocate more bicycle and tram connections to Brussels. According to her spokesperson, increasing the […]
August 03, 2022
The German airline group Lufthansa and its Belgian subsidiary Brussels Airlines are testing a new environmentally-friendly ticket fare on the Scandinavian market. In addition to the classic Light, Classic, and Flex fares, a so-called ‘green fare’ has also been available since Tuesday in the booking process for European flights from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. With […]
August 01, 2022
Germany’s largest nuclear power plant in Bavaria, the Isar 2 in Munich, might remain operational next year, if necessary. That is what the German Minister for the Environment, Steffi Lemke (Die Grünen), told the Frankfurter Allgemeine. Germany decided to exit atomic energy following the accident in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011. But since the Russian invasion […]
August 01, 2022
Energy provider Eneco Belgium has been refused a permit to build a battery storage site in an industrial park in Ville-sur-Haine. The municipal council of the Roeulx commune has blocked the demand. This seems to be the newest example of the growing straddle between local and regional or national authorities. According to Eneco, the council’s […]
August 01, 2022
The Flemish government has a design ready to reconstruct the northern part of the Brussels Ring Road. In Zaventem, the Ring Road will be given a parallel structure, where through traffic will be separated from local traffic. In Wemmel, a fourth lane will be added. In addition, the slip roads and exits will be relocated […]
July 28, 2022
Germany is going to phase out the eco-bonus for electric vehicles. From 2023 onward, incentives for PHEVs will disappear and support will focus mainly on cheaper electric cars bought by private customers. The support measure would continue until 2024, but the subsidy pot will also be reduced yearly. Germany is currently very generous with eco-bonuses […]
July 28, 2022
This summer, the inner city of Hasselt will transform into a residential area with reduced traffic and a speed limit of 20 km/hour for cars and bicycles. Through traffic will be banned, but cyclists and pedestrians will be allowed to use the entire width of the public roads. In addition, parking places in the city […]
July 27, 2022
The French government has abolished the decree imposing technical control for motorbikes over 125 cc from 2023. President Emmanuel Macron is thus fulfilling his promise, even though the measure should be compulsory from this year according to a European directive. According to the French Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, “other methods can effectively achieve the […]
July 27, 2022
In January this year, the Brussels Minister for Mobility, Elke Van den Brandt (Groen), announced that the Brussels Region would get its own bicycle junction network. Now, the project is entering a new phase. The fieldwork is finished, and signposting is ready to begin. If all goes well, all road signs – some 2 000 […]
July 26, 2022
Belgian wind park company Storm has applied for a building and operating permit for a large-scale battery park in Genk (Limburg), on the former site of the power station in Langerlo, the last coal-fired power generating plant in Belgium that shut down in 2016. The latter was revealed by Het Belang van Limburg on Tuesday. […]
July 26, 2022
Mercedes-Benz Trucks started at its Wörth am Rhein plant in Germany, producing the eEconic, its second fully battery-electric truck next to the eActros. The key technical specifications of the eEconic are mainly identical to those of the eActros, but aimed at municipal use or last-mile delivery, in particular, the truck builder says. The eEconic was […]
July 25, 2022
A Brussels resident had just obtained the 1 000 signatures needed to set up a participatory commission dedicated to the nuisances generated by motorized two-wheelers. “This shows that this is an important issue for the people of Brussels and that I am not the only one who suffers from these nuisances,” says initiator Marc Escudeiro […]
July 25, 2022
The Vivaldi government has finally come to ‘an agreement in principle’ with energy provider Engie to keep Belgium’s two youngest nuclear power plants – Doel 4 and Tihange 3 – open for ten more years. Both plants will restart their activities in November 2026. That is what Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld), and […]
July 22, 2022
The number of low-emission zones (LEZs) in Europe has increased by 40% over the past three years. The statement comes from the European Clean Cities Campaign, a coalition of NGOs whose goal is to achieve emission-free mobility in major European cities by 2030. In Belgium, only Brussels has announced a complete phase-out of fossil fuels […]
July 22, 2022
Last year, more than one-third (36,08%) of Flanders’s electricity came from renewable energy sources. That was slightly more than one year earlier (35,8%), the Flemish energy regulator VREG calculated. The VREG report shows that about 45% of all green electricity in Flanders is produced locally (in Belgium), and more than half (55%) abroad. In Norwegian […]
July 20, 2022
The Netherlands leads the overall ranking in sustainability. That is the Green Transition Index‘s conclusion after a European country survey. The index is published by the international counseling agency Oliver Wyman. The authors compared 29 European countries and focused on 28 indicators, like the amount of renewable energy produced or the rate of air pollution, […]
July 20, 2022
In Camargue, in the delta of the Rhone, an osmotic power plant will be implanted in 2023. The National Company of the Rhone (CNR), the leading French producer of 100% renewable energy, announced this on Tuesday. Osmotic energy is generated naturally by the difference in salinity between the freshwater of rivers and the salt water […]
July 20, 2022
Europe’s second biggest low-budget airline, British-based Easyjet, will work with British aerospace giant Rolls Royce (not the carmaker) in developing jet engines running on hydrogen. Both parties announced at the Farnborough aerospace fair that they will start ground tests this year, aiming to get the technology airborne by 2030. H2ZERO, as the cooperation is baptized, […]
July 19, 2022
Bilmo and Octave, two Brussels start-ups, have launched two innovative projects. Both companies were winners of the competition project organized by Bebat and Leefmilieu Brussel. Octave’s first circular stationary battery was commissioned on Tuesday at Terranova Solar, one of the biggest solar parks in the Benelux. Bilmo provides cargo bikes with energy using recycled bicycle […]
July 18, 2022
The Antwerp-based private aircraft company Flyinggroup has ordered 50 e-VTOL VX4 airplanes from British Vertical Aerospace (Vertical), a pioneer in electric aviation. Delivery is expected by 2025. Flyinggroup, headquartered in Deurne (Antwerp), manages a fleet of more than 45 private planes in Europe and the Middle East, of which 15 are stationed in Antwerp. Now, […]
July 18, 2022
Belgian telecom operator Proximus is planning to roll out 15 000 new EV charging points in total, of which 8 000 at 4 000 existing cable distribution boxes in the public domain and the remaining 7 000 at semi-public parking lots with selected partners. EV charging-as-a-service will now become part of its business model. The […]
July 15, 2022
Despite Flemish Minister of Energy Zuhal Demir’s call to postpone the closure until spring, the nuclear power plants of Doel 3 is closing end of September. Thihange 2 will follow a few months later. According to energy provider Engie, keeping both plants operational for a longer time is impossible for technical and safety reasons. The […]
July 15, 2022
Volkswagen adapted its software to limit the consequences of the so-called dieselgate scandal. The problem is now that the new software is as illegal as the previous one. This has been confirmed by the European Court of Justice, which has been asked for advice by the Austrian Court of Justice. Dieselgate concerns a software fraud […]
July 14, 2022
A new report, titled ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs 2021’, published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), shows that almost two-thirds of newly installed renewable energy in 2021 had lower costs than the world’s cheapest coal-fired option in G20 countries. In 2021, costs for renewables continued to fall. For example, the cost of electricity from […]
July 13, 2022
The recently voted parking plan of the Brussels Minister for Mobility, Elke Van den Brandt (Groen), has to pool the available parking spaces in urban areas. By doing so, Van den Brandt is actually following a general tendency in a growing number of large European cities. Van den Brandt wants to see fewer cars in […]
July 12, 2022
Flemish public transport company De Lijn has decided to opt for the PSI eBus charging and depot management system from the German PSI Transcom. The PSI software package will control the charging processes of the electric buses and monitor all movements of the buses in De Lijn’s depots. The contract represents an amount of € […]
July 12, 2022
The Flemish government does not agree with the environmental impact statement about the noise nuisance of Brussels Airport. That is what the newspaper De Standaard wrote on Monday. The study was ordered in 2017 by then Minister of Mobility François Bellot (MR). The French consultancy agency Envisa finally suggested nine scenarios to spread the nuisance […]
July 12, 2022
The Belgian materials technology and recycling group Umicore is investing in a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell catalyst production facility in China. Located in Changshu, northwest of Shanghai, the plant is expected to be operational by the end of 2024. It will be scalable to adapt to the growth of the H2 commercial vehicle […]
July 11, 2022
The Brussels government has validated the first version of Good Living, the future bible of urban planning in the Brussels Region. Open spaces, urbanity, and liability are the three principles of Good Living, which will be the guiding principle for the transition of Brussels to a future-oriented city on a human scale. It foresees a […]
July 08, 2022
The number of newly registered speed pedelecs increased spectacularly in the year’s first six months. Between January and June, 8 219 units were sold, an increase of 26,2%, and 1 709 units more than during the same period last year. In June alone, 1 706 of the popular vehicles were sold, 43,7% more than last […]
July 08, 2022
On Thursday, the European Parliament agreed to set a roadmap for the sector to fly on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from food waste, animal fat, or hydrogen, and CO2 instead of pure fossil kerosine. The MEPs went further than the EU Commission, setting the bar to 85% added SAF by 2050 instead of the […]
July 07, 2022
The Members of the European Parliament (MEP) no longer object to the controversial proposition of the European Commission to give some investments in nuclear energy and natural gas a green and sustainable label. From now on, they will get a green label in the classification system for investors. According to the European Commission, gas and […]
July 07, 2022
In total, 188 km of new cycle paths will be built in Belgium, costing 144,1 million euros. An extra 261,6 million euros will be spent on renovating 950 kilometers of tracks. This was announced by the Secretary of State in charge of Economic Recovery, Thomas Dermine (PS), on the occasion of the Tour de France’s […]
July 07, 2022
With a market share of 18% or 1 744 520 newly registered cars in Europe, the ‘electrically chargeable’ car uptake has multiplied tenfold in the last five years. That means almost one in five cars sold has a plug (BEVs and PHEVs), compared to one in ten (10,5%) the year before. It’s one of the […]
July 06, 2022
On Tueday, the EU agreed on the Commission’s updated proposal to toughen emission ratings for plug-in hybrids (PHEV) by 2025 to mimic better the actual amount of CO2 they emit on the road, being sometimes three times higher than assumed. The so-called ‘utility factor’, used to calculate the share of electric driving in estimating CO2 […]
July 04, 2022
The first production models of the new 7 Series have now rolled off the production lines at the BMW plant in Dingolfing, including the all-electric i7 offshoot. Meanwhile, BMW seems also to consider producing the future ‘New Class’ models in its plant in Mexico for the American market. The BMW Group has invested more than […]
July 01, 2022
The Brussels Government has finalized the ‘Low-Emission Mobility Brussels’ roadmap with accompanying measures for gradually phasing out diesel and gasoline engines. In addition, the social support measures were also strengthened. The measures taken are also designed to respect the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement of the EU. 2030 is a turning point As previously […]
June 30, 2022
The Belgian gas net manager Fluxys and the Norwegian energy company Equinox are analyzing the feasibility of an undersea pipeline for the transport and storage of CO2 in the Norwegian gas fields. The pipeline would connect Zeebrugge and Norway and cover a distance of 1 000 km. Industrial CO2, captured in Zeebrugge, could then be […]
June 30, 2022
Norwegian battery-maker Freyr has received approval from its board to expand its plans for a Gigafactory in the country’s north. Called Arctic Giga, the plant is projected to raise its annual capacity to 29 GWh. The clearance for the larger-than-planned scale was announced simultaneously with Norway’s first official battery strategy. Giga Arctic is Freyr’s – […]
June 29, 2022
Early in the morning on Wednesday, the 27 member states of the European Council approved the ‘Fit for 55’ climate plan of the Commission, reducing CO2 emissions for cars by 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2035. Despite the last-minute maneuvers of car-producing countries like Italy to postpone the date, the 27 stick to 2035 […]
June 29, 2022
This summer, the Belgian energy platform Bolt will provide three festivals – Rock Werchter, Sfinks Mixed (Boechout), and Boomtown (Ghent) – with green electricity. After a first experiment last summer with Werchter Parklife, the company decided to extend the idea to three other festivals. “The organizers of festivals put great efforts into making their projects […]
June 29, 2022
Rail freight company Lineas will fit more than 5 000 wagons with silent brake blocks with the support of the Belgian federal government. The investment of 2,18 million euros is part of the ‘Retrofit Project’ and should give rail freight a much-needed boost. The government’s ambition is to double the freight transported by rail by […]
June 28, 2022
A new study on the cost of decarbonizing European shipping shows that running ships on green hydrogen-based fuels would hardly make consumer goods more expensive. On the contrary, green shipping would add just a few cents to most consumer goods. “Green shipping would add less than 10 cents to a pair of Nikes,” says Faig […]
June 27, 2022
The European Commission calls on all partners in the aviation sector to join forces in an alliance on zero-emission aviation. Over the next two decades, the Commission says, more than 44,000 new aircraft are expected to be on the market. It estimates the potential market volume for zero-emission aircraft at 26 000 by 2050, with […]
June 24, 2022
More and more Belgians are convinced that the (night) train is the ideal mode of transport for trips abroad. According to the Federal Mobility and Transport Agency’s survey, most travelers consider the train the perfect solution for a trip to Paris, London, or other popular European destinations like Amsterdam, Berlin, and Vienna. In the proper […]
June 24, 2022
The Esso fuel station at the Antwerp Noorderlaan, run by Belgian family-owned G&V Energy Group, is the first in the country where the fuel pumps have been replaced by High Power Chargers (HPC) with 300kW capacity. A sign of the times coming, as G&V and Dutch Allego plan to do the same on 12 other […]
June 23, 2022
More than eight out of ten Dutch drivers (86%) prefer their own car above a shared car. What’s more, almost half of all drivers in the Netherlands (46%) will never use a shared car. Not for all the tea in China. These are only some of the surprising conclusions of a survey of MisterGreen Electric […]
June 22, 2022
Sibelga, the manager of the Brussels gas and electricity distribution network, plans to use hydrogen by 2050 to heat old, poorly insulated buildings. According to the newspapers De Tijd, L’Echo, and La Libre Belgique, the company has had a study carried out for this purpose. As the availability of biogas is limited, green hydrogen could […]
June 22, 2022
An earlier EU phase-out date for cars and vans with internal combustion engines would net significant savings for European drivers and hugely reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to new calculations by Greenpeace Germany. “An end to sales of new gasoline, diesel, and hybrid cars in 2028 would reduce oil use enough to save drivers €635 […]
June 21, 2022
Sevic? Never heard of it? Well, that might change as the German EV engineering start-up has its first V500e vehicles delivered by Bulgarian contract EV manufacturer Milara International to Bochum for internal testing and client approval. And it’s ready to take the European cities. The compact light utility EV with a unique cargo swap system […]
June 17, 2022
This summer, the Belgian national railway company NMBS/SNCB launches a special ‘off-peak summer subscription’ that allows passengers unlimited access to all train transport. The subscription ticket costs 59 euros (or €99 for two) and can be used on weekdays (from 9 a.m.), weekends, and holidays (all day). This new formula, however, is only available for […]
June 16, 2022
From 1 July, the emission measurement for diesel cars in the Belgian annual technical inspection will be changed. From then on, diesel cars will have to pass a new test procedure to map out the emission of particulate matter in the exhaust gases. The new system counts the particles that are present, making it possible […]
June 16, 2022
In April, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo installed an expert committee to battle inflation and study ‘buying power and competitiveness’. Yesterday, Pierre Wunsch, chair of the committee and Governor of the National Bank, presented its intermediate conclusions. Among them, clear recommendations were to gradually reduce the highway speed limit to 100 kph and reduce […]
June 16, 2022
On Tuesday, Hyundai Belux officially delivered ten units of its hydrogen-driven Nexo to the European Parliament’s professional drivers. Within the framework of the EU Research and Technology Development Project, there is already a fleet of ten Nexos operational since May last year. That fleet is now doubled. MP’s can use the hydrogen cars when they […]
June 15, 2022
The Flemish public transport company De Lijn launched a new campaign on Tuesday to convince people to travel more by bus and tram. The campaign specifically focuses on sustainability and reducing CO2 emissions and does so under the slogan “Join us on the journey toward less CO2”. For the campaign, De Lijn’s electric buses, of […]
