September 08, 2023
A recently conducted test on 24 engine families within the Stellantis group has convinced the car giant of the longevity of combustion-engined cars. The company believes that the CO2 benefits from the fuel will keep these cars on the road until 2050. After the European Commission opened the backdoor for e-fuels after 2035, several car […]
September 07, 2023
On Wednesday, Avery Dennison, a leading global packaging and materials manufacturer, commissioned Europe’s largest Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) platform and thermal storage unit at its production plant in Turnhout, Belgium. The project collaborates with Limburg-based Azteq, an organization that builds, develops, and maintains CST facilities. The renewable energy project contains a CST platform with 2 […]
September 06, 2023
German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB will launch a new night train connection from Berlin and Vienna to Paris and Brussels in December. Öbb’s ‘Nightjet’ already connects the Austrian capital Vienna with Brussels. The company intends to launch a nighttime connection between Brussels and the German capital Berlin in December. […]
September 04, 2023
This Monday, one of the biggest projects of this legislature is officially starting: the two-way layout of Avenue Van Praet, the northern gateway to the Belgian capital. The companies along the canal fear the worst. “Having a single entry lane to Brussels instead of three is impossible,” they say. The road works come on top […]
August 31, 2023
The so-called ‘ecozone’ introduced in Louvain in 2022 is a success and will be expanded. Since its introduction, parcels, newspapers, and letters have been delivered emission-free, reducing CO2 emissions by 88% per parcel compared to 2018. The ecozone in Louvain officially started in April 2022 as an initiative of the city and the Belgian Post […]
August 30, 2023
Next summer, Ghent wants to organize Velo-city, a significant cycling festival and congress. The city council has set aside 180 000 euros for it. The highlight should be a bike ride with 2 000 participants. From 18 to 21 June 2024, Ghent will briefly be the epicenter of international cycling. The major cycling conference Velo-city […]
August 30, 2023
More and more experts warn that European countries struggle to persuade people to switch from ICE cars to EVs. Europe sells ten times more electric cars today than it did six years ago (source: IEA), but its fleet is cleaning up too slowly to meet the agreed climate goals. “What we have learned is that […]
August 29, 2023
As earlier announced, London is expanding its environmental zone. Almost all of London will become an ultra-low-emission zone (ULEZ) as of today. The measure is intended to tackle pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve the air quality for residents and visitors. But not everybody is happy with the new ultra-low-emission zone because it will […]
August 25, 2023
Swedish lithium-ion battery manufacturer Northvolt and world-leading metal recycler EMR have built a battery recycling facility in Hamburg (Germany). The brand-new site will recycle the vast number of EV batteries that will reach their end of life. The site was officially inaugurated on August 24 by the First Mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher. The 12 […]
August 24, 2023
On Wednesday, Norway opened the world’s first floating wind farm explicitly built to power offshore oil and gas installations and is now supplying electricity to oil and gas fields Snorre and Gullfaks in the Norwegian North Sea – 140 km off the Norwegian coast. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway gave the symbolic green light by […]
August 24, 2023
According to an analysis commissioned by Greenpeace, twelve of Europe’s leading fossil fuel companies are deceiving the public about their willingness to curb their climate-damaging impact by transitioning to renewable energy sources. Greenpeace calls for strict regulation of fossil fuel companies to prevent even more fossil-fuelled climate destruction. The report, titled “The Dirty Dozen: The […]
August 21, 2023
Since local authorities in London decided to expand the ultra-low-emission zone (ULEZ) to improve the air quality, 387 ULEZ cameras have been destroyed, obscured, or stolen between April and mid-August. The majority was vandalized in outer London, where the zone was expanded. A shadowy group called the ‘Blade Runners’ is believed to be responsible for […]
August 17, 2023
27% fewer cars in the Brussels Pentagon and also 36% more cyclists: these are the striking figures the City of Brussels can present after exactly one year of Good Move, the Regional Mobility and Circulation Plan for the Brussels Capital Region. “Brussels is thus becoming an even nicer place to be,” says a satisfied Bart […]
August 17, 2023
Porthos, a project for storing carbon dioxide from industry in the port of Rotterdam, has been given the green light. The Dutch Council of State has ruled that the nitrogen released while constructing the infrastructure for CO2 storage does not significantly impact the nearby nature, contrary to what environmentalists claim. So the permits issued by […]
August 16, 2023
After the fire on the car cargo ship ‘Fremantle Highway’ off the Dutch coast, many popular media hastily identified an electric car as the cause. Now it turns out that this is untrue. Many publications used the fire accident to highlight the (real) difficulties of extinguishing a fire on an EV. Still, they immediately concluded […]
August 15, 2023
The city of Amsterdam has had enough of noisy cars and motorbikes and is taking measures to fight the noise nuisance. The city will introduce an experiment and install noise displays in particular spots in the city center. Later this month, sound meters and noise speed cameras will be added, and finally, noisemakers will be […]
August 14, 2023
More than four out of ten Dutch citizens think their country has to eliminate the idea that everyone has to own a car. Energy provider Zonneplan did a panel survey of 2002 Dutch inhabitants about their views on car possession. The most popular argument against car possession is the high environmental impact of the car […]
August 09, 2023
Of all flight movements recorded at Deurne Airport, near Antwerp, in 2022, 72% were domestic flights. This is according to figures requested by Groen in the Flemish parliament. The airport itself points to the many pilot training sessions in Deurne as an explanation. Groen denounces the total of 30 000 domestic flight movements in Deurne. […]
August 08, 2023
Octopus Electric Vehicles, part of Octopus Energy Group, has launched a second-hand leasing offering for electric cars. “We’re making the switch to electric driving the cheapest it has ever been,” says the press release. Octopus’ ‘Nearly New’ salary sacrifice offer makes EVs more accessible to the mass market by reducing costs. Drivers can access popular […]
August 03, 2023
The German car manufacturer BMW Group sees in the evolution of the car market a confirmation of its credo: an open technology with ample room for BEVs but also attention to other solutions, even (at least for a certain period) internal combustion engines. Frank Weber, BMW’s Head of R&D, said in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: […]
August 03, 2023
Airbus, BMW Group, and Quantinuum, leaders in mobility and quantum technologies, have developed a hybrid quantum-classical workflow to speed up future research using Quantum Computers to simulate quantum systems, focusing on the chemical reactions of catalysts in fuel cells. In a new technical paper, ‘Applicability of Quantum Computing to Oxygen Reduction Reaction Simulations‘, the three […]
August 02, 2023
In May of this year, vehicle lease company ALD Automotive announced that it had successfully acquired 100% of LeasePlan, one of the world’s leading fleet management and mobility companies. More than enough reasons for us to talk with Johan Portier, the new Country Managing Director of ALD Automotive/LeasePlan in Belgium. This transformative acquisition represented a […]
August 02, 2023
Tel Aviv University scientists have succeeded in developing a groundbreaking method to produce green hydrogen. The method, developed by doctoral student Itzhak Grinberg and by Dr. Oren Ben-Zvi, claims to have over 90% efficiency by harnessing the power of green electricity and utilizing a highly efficient biocatalyst. The research is founded upon the rare instances […]
August 02, 2023
Last year, 85 844 tons of used tires were collected in Belgium. This is according to the non-profit organization Recytyre, the Belgian organization responsible for collecting and recycling tires. More than 99,8% of tire waste was recovered, mainly in the form of pellets. This percentage exceeds the minimum target of 85% for material recovery. Flanders […]
July 31, 2023
London intends to expand its ultra-low-emission zone again and, according to the Court, is allowed to do so. In this zone, polluting cars – even with a foreign license plate – must pay a daily surcharge of about 14,50 euros (£12,50). A fine of up to £180 ( more than 200 euros) is imposed if […]
July 28, 2023
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), demand for coal remains at record levels this year. At the same time, extreme weather conditions prove the earth is warming up faster than ever due to C02 emissions. “Climate change is here, it’s terrifying, and this is just the beginning,” said United Nations top man António Guterres […]
July 28, 2023
A Brussels Court of First Instance has ordered Volkswagen to pay damages to those affected by the cheating software scandal in which it is embroiled. The German carmaker must reimburse them 5% of the purchase price of their car. Consumer organization Test Aankoop/Test Achat (TA) had filed a class action or group claim for this, […]
July 27, 2023
The Belgian VUB University (Brussels) is developing a charging technology “to make electric driving more pleasant and efficient”. Researchers at EPOWERS, a research group that works at the VUB MOBI research center, have developed a technology that significantly extends the range of electric vehicles (up to 1 000 km) with a limited number of recharges. […]
July 26, 2023
One of British best-known climate activists and industrialists and founder of Ecotricity, the ‘world’s first green energy company’, unveiled plans to launch by 2024 the ‘first electric airline powered by renewable energy’. Ecojet, as the new airline is called, will operate planes converted to hydrogen fuel cells by 2025 from Edinburgh to start, expanding through […]
July 26, 2023
On Tuesday, a large unmanned passenger drone took off in Sint-Truiden (Limburg) to transport some blood samples – a European first. The aircraft flew for a kilometer through DronePort’s test airspace. The experiment was accompanied by the Belgian Antwerp-based company Helicus, which develops drone applications and technologies for medical transport. The drone’s test flight was […]
July 24, 2023
Belgian Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet’s (Ecolo) proposal to ban all air traffic at Brussels Airport at night continues to evoke resistance. Now the industry federation IATA (International Air Transport Association), which represents some 290 airlines comprising 82% of global air traffic, is also coming out with a predictably dismissive response. It argues that Gilkinet’s proposal […]
July 24, 2023
The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimatschutz, or BMWK in German) will increase the budget for the environmental bonus this year. It had initially earmarked €2,1 billion for this purpose in 2023. That will now be increased to at least €2,5 billion. The information comes from a report […]
July 20, 2023
The Belgian Seavolt project, announced earlier this year, is taking concrete shape. The consortium will soon launch its first floating solar panels in Ostend. If the initiators succeed in making solar energy profitable at sea, they hope to turn it into a new Belgian export product. In March, the Belgian marine engineering companies DEME and […]
July 19, 2023
The Flemish government decided to slack off the future ban on Euro 2 gasoline cars and Euro 5 diesel cars in the Low-Emission Zones of Antwerp and Gent, the sole cities in Flanders that actually have a LEZ besides Brussels. Initially due to be effective from January 1st, 2025, the ban will be postponed by […]
July 18, 2023
Cutting battery sizes, improving chemistries, and reducing private car journeys can cut the expected consumption of critical materials in BEVs by 36-49% by 2050, says the NGO Transport & Environment based on a new analysis of a study ordered and conducted by the green group. Demand for battery raw materials in Europe will increase rapidly […]
July 17, 2023
Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants a total ban on night flights from 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. for Zaventem airport. As expected, many political parties, concerned companies, and interest groups reacted sharply and negatively to Gilkinet’s striking proposal to do away with the 16 000-night flights that currently take off from Brussels Airport. […]
July 14, 2023
More European cities are fighting against heavy ‘obese cars’ like pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Paris, among others, is moving ahead with a plan to make overweight cars pay more parking fees. Other cities are also growing exasperated by the impact of SUVs. Amsterdam and Brussels, among others, are examining measures to discourage […]
July 13, 2023
The aviation sector benefits from unjustified tax exemptions that, if left unaddressed, will rise in value by 38% in the next three years. If Belgium were to tax aviation ‘fairly’, this would yield 700 million euros for the state treasury. This was calculated by the European environmental umbrella organization Transport & Environment (T&E). Today, aviation […]
July 13, 2023
The Port of Brussels terminal will expand from 1,67 hectares to an area of 6 hectares. It has concluded a service concession for the container terminal and the development of a logistics zone with Van Moer Logistics. The agreement is part of the regional strategy to supply the Brussels service economy with goods in a […]
July 12, 2023
The discussions within the consultation platform on Zaventem airport did not lead to a consensus. This is according to the final report of the platform, which included representation from residents, municipalities, Brussels Airport, trade unions, and governments. Meanwhile, the bill the Belgian government must pay victims of noise pollution for overflying aircraft is running into […]
July 10, 2023
The international shipping industry is going to reduce emissions from cargo ships. An agreement to this effect was reached between 175 countries at the International Maritime Organization headquarters in London last Friday. The sector, which accounts for almost 3% of global CO2 emissions, aims to cut polluting emissions by at least 20% by 2030 to […]
July 07, 2023
French railway company SNCF plans to earmark 1 000 hectares of solar panels by 2030 to cover 15 to 20% of its own electricity needs. The plans would make the railway company one of France’s largest green power producers. The SNCF is making this switch to secure supplies and control costs (between 2022 and 2023, […]
July 06, 2023
The new bicycle highway – F24 – between Louvain and Boutersem was officially inaugurated on Wednesday. Plans and preparations for the project were launched eleven years ago, and now the bicycle connection is finally ready. The new section is 4,5 km long, and 4 meters wide, and follows railway line 36 between Louvain and Tirlemont. […]
July 05, 2023
Vilvoorde’s city council is giving negative advice to the plans to redevelop the Brussels Ring Road. Mayor Hans Bonte (Vooruit) is unhappy about the heavy mobility and environmental impact of the works on the city and the region. Several ecological and mobility organizations also side against the plans of the Flemish government. At the end […]
July 05, 2023
Former Audi boss Rupert Stadler got off with a suspended prison sentence and a fine after his involvement in the so-called ‘Dieselgate’ scandal. The Munich Regional Court had sentenced Stadler to 21 months of suspended imprisonment and a fine of €1,1 million. Stadler has now appealed against the sentence, just like its two fellow convicted […]
July 05, 2023
The Swedish/Chinese car manufacturer Volvo Cars switches to renewable fuels for ocean freight. The company claims that this will cut fossil CO2 emissions by 84%. “Every year, tens of thousands of containers of production material destined for Volvo Cars factories are carried across the world’s oceans on container ships. From now on, most seafaring journeys […]
July 04, 2023
Energy consumption in Belgium dropped last year to its lowest level since 1995. This is according to the most recent Federal Government Agency Economy data. In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, high energy prices meant that Belgians consumed less energy than in the corona year 2020. The share of renewable energy in […]
July 04, 2023
According to the latest Clean Cities Campaign, comparing emission-free mobility in 42 European cities, Brussels (11th place), Antwerp (12th), and Ghent (18th) have achieved a place in the top twenty rankings. Liège, on the other hand, sits in 36th place. Still, all four Belgian cities could step up their game toward a zero-emission future, especially […]
July 04, 2023
The Meiser Square in Schaerbeek, a major traffic junction in the neighborhood where public broadcasters VRT and RTBF offices are, will be redesigned completely. Brussels Mobility has applied for a permit. The large roundabout is to make way for two intersections and more green space. The Region hopes to start construction works by 2025. Specifically, […]
June 29, 2023
Denmark will review the energy island project in the North Sea because of the high costs. That is what the Danish government announced on Wednesday. “The project is challenging, the costs are too high, and the risks are too great,” the Danish Ministry of Energy explains in a press release. “The island would cost the […]
June 28, 2023
The Flemish administration has issued a permit for a link road between the Brussels Ring Road and Parking C at Heysel, according to the business newspaper L’Echo. The link road is considered essential for NEO, the Heysel redevelopment project. However, according to the Flemish Environment Department, the link road has a purely logistical function and […]
June 28, 2023
Avesta Battery and Energy Engineering (ABEE), a Brussels-based start-up specializing in battery and energy technologies for e-mobility, plans to build a large-scale battery factory for electric vehicles in the Romanian city of Galați. That is what the ABEE founder and CEO Noshin Omar announced on Tuesday during a press conference in Ninove (Belgium), where Prime […]
June 27, 2023
Apart from dieselgate, there was another conflict of interest between consumers and manufacturers of diesel cars, the so-called ‘thermal window’ software. For the first time, the German Federal Court (Bundesgerichtshof or BGH) has considered that customers, having bought a car with the device, can claim compensation. The software permits controlling the air pollution equipment on […]
June 27, 2023
It is by no means certain that the European Union will achieve its ambitious climate and energy targets for 2030 with the current measures, warns the European Court of Auditors in a new report. Moreover, the foundations of the member states’ climate plans are not transparent, so it’s unclear whether they are feasible. The Auditors […]
June 26, 2023
The Antwerp city council doubts the further tightening of the low-emission zone (LEZ) from 2028 onward. So write the Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Laatste Nieuws. A study on the impact of existing and future air quality measures should provide the answer. In Antwerp, diesel cars will normally no longer be allowed from 2031. From […]
June 22, 2023
More than 20 European consumer organizations have filed a complaint to stop what they call misleading greenwashing claims by a series of airlines. The complaint is filed with the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC). It is directed against 17 airlines, including those in the Lufthansa Group (among which Brussels Airlines), Air […]
June 22, 2023
Brussels Mobility has launched a campaign to get the Brussels expat community on bikes. Ambassadors from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Botswana, New Zealand, Bosnia, and Slovenia in Belgium are “not influencers, but real ambassadors” and are pulling the campaign. The Brussels Capital Region has the largest expat community in Europe, with 220 000 people making […]
June 22, 2023
Belgian Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen) wants more large battery farms to store energy temporarily. The minister also plans to provide subsidies for it. With the growing amount of energy from solar panels and wind farms, she expects much storage capacity will be needed to maintain balance on the grid. Solar and wind […]
June 21, 2023
On Tuesday, June 20th, global materials technology and recycling group Umicore inaugurated one of the world’s most advanced solid-state battery material prototyping facilities in Olen (Belgium). Solid-state batteries are expected to propel electric mobility and complement Umicore’s world-leading portfolio of battery materials technologies. The new 600 m² facilities with state-of-the-art installations and equipment support the […]
June 15, 2023
The Belgian chemical company Solvay will use its salt caverns in Germany to store energy. In the caverns, compressed air or hydrogen will be stored to be used later again as an energy provider. Solvay has signed an Option Agreement to provide four salt caverns to the Irish company Corre Energy, which will develop a […]
