May 11, 2023
After a large consulting round, the Walloon government has approved an upgraded and comprehensively altered version of the Walloon car taxation scheme. The most important change is that the scheme only applies to the registration tax, not the yearly road tax. The new system will be introduced in July 2025. “This tax reform aims to […]
May 10, 2023
The Dutch asphalt sector can reduce emissions by 30% to 60% by using biobased asphalt, in which the fossil bitumen has been replaced by lignin and other components from residual vegetable flows. That is what figures from Wageningen University indicate. The potential savings are enormous because, in the Netherlands alone, 10 million tons of asphalt […]
May 09, 2023
The province of Limburg (Belgium) has applied for an environmental permit to construct the ‘Kolenspoor’ (coal track) bicycle highway between Genk and As. The project represents a €13 million investment. The old coal track connects Maasmechelen with Beringen and runs via Heusden-Zolder, Houthalen-Helchteren, Zonhoven, Genk, and As. The construction of the first 12-km-long stretch, from […]
May 05, 2023
Car manufacturers are not allowed to extol the virtues of their products by using terms like ‘sustainable’ or ‘eco smart’. Greenwashing is forbidden. This is what the Belgian Federal Service for Economy says, following checks at the latest motor show in Brussels. During that motor show in January 2023, inspectors checked whether exhibitors at the […]
May 04, 2023
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has voted unanimously to start phasing out trucks with internal combustion engines (ICE) by mandating zero-emission vehicles in fleets with the so-called Advanced Clean Fleets regulation. The first phase is set to start in 2025 in harbor environments, followed by a sales stop for combustion box trucks, vans, buses, […]
May 03, 2023
Centrica Business Solutions, a British multinational energy and services company headquartered in Windsor, Berkshire, has started the construction of its first 24 MW battery storage facility outside the UK. The first installation will be built in Ostend. The site is set to be at full capacity by early 2024. Later, the company plans more similar […]
May 02, 2023
Flemish Minister for Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open Vld) would like to reintroduce a premium for electric or zero-emission cars. This premium is only part of the proposals the minister is putting on the table within the Flemish government during the discussion about the climate objectives. In 2020, the Flemish government decided to scrap the premiums […]
May 02, 2023
Wallonia is finally delivering its car tax reform after much bickering. It will take effect from July 20th and apply only to registration tax (TMC), the tax that must be paid when a new vehicle is purchased and thus registered before it’s allowed on the street. The annual circulation tax will remain unchanged, but the […]
May 02, 2023
An electric taxi parking on a particular ‘hotspot’ and fast charging at 40 kW while waiting for the next customer. It’s already a concept proving in its first year the practical feasibility. No wires to plug in. Just park and charge for 30 minutes for an extra 100 km of range. Swedish carmaker Volvo has […]
April 28, 2023
In Flanders, speed pedelecs are only allowed on towpaths being part of a bicycle highway. However, according to the new policy vision on towpaths, Flemish Mobility Minister Lydia Peeters Open Vld) has agreed with the Flemish Waterway (Vlaamse Waterweg), those fast-riding e-bikes will get access to all towpaths in Flanders, provided they respect the maximum […]
April 27, 2023
On Wednesday, the Dutch government unveiled a €28 billion climate plan to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% (or even 60%) by 2030. The plan includes 120 different proposals. For example, in the car sector, new EVs will lose part of their subsidies; second-hand EVs, on the contrary, will get €600 million in subsidies, while €90 […]
April 26, 2023
As of Saturday, 1 July 2023, new tariffs for the kilometer charge will apply in Flanders, Brussels, and Wallonia. In Flanders and Brussels, this is an index adjustment. The tariffs for the kilometer charge were indexed in Wallonia on 1 January, and Sofico (Société wallonne de financement complémentaire des infrastructures) will implement a tariff adjustment […]
April 26, 2023
On Tuesday, waste processing company Renewi officially inaugurated its new plastics sorting line in the port of Ghent (Belgium). A 20-million-euros investment to increase European recycling rates and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Present at the inauguration were, among others, Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) and Ghent Mayor Mathias De […]
April 26, 2023
Maritime contractor Jan De Nul has been indicated to pull the cables for the Thor project, Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm. The company announced the news on Tuesday. Jan De Nul was awarded the contract together with partner Hellenic Cables. The latter will design and manufacture all cables in Greece; Jan De Nul will perform […]
April 25, 2023
Nine European countries signed a joint declaration on Monday in Ostend at the second North Sea Summit to make the North Sea the “green power plant of Europe”. The nine aspire to produce some 300 gigawatts (GW) of energy by 2050 through the massive construction of offshore wind farms. According to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander […]
April 25, 2023
The Belgian government wants to conclude an agreement with Norway on a CO2 pipeline that connects Belgium to the Norwegian CO2 storage facilities. That is what the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) discussed with his Norwegian colleague Jonas Gahr Støre during their visit to the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ghent. Ghent already […]
April 24, 2023
Every year, air pollution causes more than 1 200 premature deaths among minors in Europe. That is what the European Environmental Agency (EEA) states in its latest report. The report relates to about 30 countries on the continent, including the 27 member states of the European Union. The results show that the still high air […]
April 21, 2023
From 2026, Flemish public transport company De Lijn risks paying an estimated 30 million euros in fines because Euro 6 buses will then no longer be allowed in the low-emission zones (LEZ) in Antwerp and Ghent. To avoid that scenario, Flemish Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters (Open VLD) is in a crisis meeting with her […]
April 17, 2023
The reconstruction of the Schuman roundabout, located in the heart of Brussels’ European district, should begin by the end of this summer. To that end, a new public inquiry has been launched, and a new permit has also been requested, considering objections made earlier. However, according to Brussels Mobility, this new public inquiry is no […]
April 13, 2023
On Wednesday, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new tailpipe emission limits that could require as much as 67% of all new vehicles sold in the US by 2023 to be fully electric. “A very ambitious proposal,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan called it. The proposed limits are considered the country’s most aggressive climate regulations, […]
April 13, 2023
Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB is behind schedule for the electrification of its bus fleet. So reports the newspaper La Capital. However, that time is short may be clear because, in 2025, a series of buses of MIVB/STIB will no longer meet the standards of the low-emission zone (LEZ). Delays in construction or transformation of […]
April 12, 2023
In Germany, Freudenberg e-Power Systems and the MEYER WERFT shipyard are working to equip a new 728-passenger cruise ship with a huge fuel cell and battery system that will support all the hotel functions of the ship, promising zero emissions. A world first, sponsored with €15,6 million by the German government. Now under construction in […]
April 12, 2023
Last year, wind and solar energy generated 12% of electricity worldwide – a new record. Still, the share of renewables remains smaller than that of coal. That is the conclusion of the global energy think tank Ember. The organization recently published its fourth ‘Global Electricity Review’ based on the open data of the electricity sector […]
April 11, 2023
Ralf Herbrich is a German computer scientist at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam just outside Berlin. He previously investigated the role of artificial intelligence in the daily operations of big companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and Zalando. Herbrich now wants to use his experience to increase battery pack life in electric cars – and […]
April 11, 2023
The greening of the van fleet is progressing slowly. That is why Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter (Groen) wants to make electric vans more tax-efficient. De Sutter pleads for a temporary increase of the tax deductibility from 8 to 40 percent. In other words, a self-employed person or SME buying an environmentally friendly van […]
April 06, 2023
Dredging and marine engineering companies DEME and Jan De Nul, and Aertssen Group in JV Terranova, specialized in infrastructure works, join forces with energy providers Luminus and Nippon Gases to build and exploit a production unit for green hydrogen in Zelzate. The companies have established a new partnership Terranova Hydrogen NV. The three companies will […]
April 06, 2023
Five years ago, with much ado, the so-called ‘beer train’ was launched, a train between the AB InBev brewery in Jupille, Liège, and the distribution center of the supermarket chain Delhaize in Ninove, East Flanders. That train was supposed to take 5 000 trucks a year off the road. Now it turns out that it […]
April 06, 2023
The Belgian safety institute VIAS has confirmed with an independent study what several others, among which some leading leasing and HR service companies, claimed for more than a year: the electric car is the cheapest option today and in the long term compared to vehicles with a combustion engine (ICE). Except for the smallest city […]
April 05, 2023
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, one of Europe’s largest air hubs, will, from 2025-2026, ban night flights and private jets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution. Aircraft will be banned from taking off between midnight and 6 a.m. and will not be allowed to land before 5 a.m., the airport’s CEO Ruud Sondag said in […]
April 04, 2023
Planes at Brussels Airport cause strong annoyance to 220 000 residents. As a result, the cost of health damage would amount to more than 1 billion euros annually. This emerged from a new study by Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL), the Flemish federation for a better environment. The study, carried out by study agency ENV-ISA at […]
April 03, 2023
D’Ieteren’s shared mobility service, Poppy Mobility, will double its fleet in Antwerp to meet growing demand. By the end of spring, 450 new red cars will be driving around in the city of Antwerp, on top of the 450 shared cars that are already available now. “The expansion of our fleet will allow us to […]
March 30, 2023
Private jet flights in Europe reached record levels last year – most of which were ultra-short journeys. As a result, the number of private jet flights increased by 64% last year, reaching a record high of 572 806. Together, they emitted 3,4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. In Belgium alone, private flights more than […]
March 29, 2023
Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has ordered 70 articulated electric buses from EvoBus GmbH, a German bus and coach manufacturer and a subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, headquartered in Stuttgart (Germany). That is what MIVB/STIB announced on Tuesday. Belgian factories of Van Hool and VDL Roeselare missing the bus in this case… The buses will […]
March 29, 2023
Rupert Stadler, the former top executive of Audi, may receive a suspended prison sentence for his part in late-scale cheat software with the brand’s diesel cars. To qualify, Stadler must admit guilt, says the Munich court. For the past two and a half years, the 60-year-old Stadler and three co-defendants have been facing charges relating […]
March 24, 2023
The Dutch owner of a VW Golf TDI bought in 2010 has to be paid a compensation fee of €3 000 because his car contained fraudulent software. It’s the first judgment in court out of four cases introduced by the Stichting Volkswagen Group Diesel Efficiency (VGDES) and the consumer organization Consumentenbond. Meanwhile, European law has […]
March 23, 2023
Dutch rail is struggling with a badger plague. The animals often nest near and under railway tracks, which today is the case at forty locations, particularly in the eastern part of the country. After acute difficulties in Friesland, the animals are now causing problems between Eindhoven and Den Bosch. Rail manager ProRail fears that the […]
March 22, 2023
Brussels Airlines and sister airlines Lufthansa and Swiss are going to the Council of State against the new system of variable airfares at Brussels Airport. The new fares will take effect on 1 April. The airlines’ appeal is against the Terminal Navigation Charges elaborated by Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo). The charges, which must be […]
March 21, 2023
If it were up to Audi, we would all have a flowerpot in our car. That is why the premium car brand introduces the ‘car plant’, an absolute first for the renewed Audi Q8 e-tron. With this innovation, Audi responds to the needs of almost one in four car owners (24%) who would like to […]
March 21, 2023
To keep global warming below 1,5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must go down immediately. This means no more greenhouse gases may be released than can be restored or removed from the atmosphere. That is the alarming conclusion of the latest report of the IPCC, the climate panel of the United Nations. “The most important message is […]
March 20, 2023
According to a Reuters report, Volkswagen plan to invest in mining with its subsidiary PowerCo to ower EV battery costs. Many car makers have preferential contracts with raw material suppliers in their pockets. Still, the German carmaker wants to go one step further and go directly to the source by absorbing mining activities in its […]
March 17, 2023
Tesla is putting the bricks into place to ramp up production in its Grünheide facility, close to Berlin, to 1 million cars annually. An environmental application has been filed to double the permitted output of today. Currently, the German plant churns out 4 000 units of Model Y per week. But according to the original […]
March 17, 2023
Lithium de France, a subsidiary of the French group Arverne, has raised 44 million in funds for the explorations to build its first well. The company, based in Bischwiller (Bas-Rhin), near Strasbourg, will develop two synergistic projects around geothermal heat and green lithium in northern Alsace. The two main investors in the fund Equinox Ventures, […]
March 15, 2023
Global warming is causing more and more extreme weather conditions. According to the Dutch weather and climate institute KNMI (Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut), 2022 was the driest and sunniest year ever registered since the beginning of the measuring. According to KNMI’s latest report, ‘The State of our Climate’, the summer of 2022 got 17% more […]
March 14, 2023
After Poland and Italy, a third EU member state, Germany, rejected the EU’s Parliament’s decision to ban ICE cars by 2035. Inside the German government, there is a serious disagreement between the liberal FDP party and the Green party, both members of the government coalition. The German Digital and Transport Minister Volker Wissing has blocked […]
March 13, 2023
Flemish Mobility Minister, Lydia Peeters (Open Vld), wants to install solar panels on the unused land of The Agency for Roads and Traffic (Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer, AWV) to generate renewable energy and reduce AWV’s high electricity bill. The last invoice amounted to no less than 45 million euros. The energy will mainly be used […]
March 10, 2023
A small group of defective or fraudulent vehicles is responsible for many harmful emissions in the Belgian port area. This is according to a study by the Port of Antwerp-Bruges that used ‘remote sensing’ to measure emissions from passing vehicles in and around the port. Based on such measurements, the researchers estimated that a truck […]
March 10, 2023
The MIUNIK Salt concept from German design firm ID Design is a lightweight, maneuverable, and practical electric motorcycle. It is built on a modular platform and intended for the urban dweller. The vehicle’s aim is to provide a multi-faceted user experience thanks to a very deliberate design that can be mixed and matched to suit […]
March 09, 2023
The Belgian marine engineering companies DEME and Jan De Nul and engineering office Tractebel have jointly developed new floating solar technology capable of operating in harsh marine conditions. This summer, they will set up a test installation off the Belgian coast for experiments. SEAVOLT, as the project is called, combines the expertise of solar, environmental, […]
March 09, 2023
A survey from RTL/N-TV is throwing more oil on the fire in Germany, as the country is currently obstructing the final vote on the de facto ban for combustion engines as of 2035. With only 14% in favor, national enthusiasm for the European deal is low. The probe unveiled that 68% of the German population […]
March 09, 2023
Brussels Mobility plans to start the redevelopment of Avenue Lambermont and General Wahis in the second half of 2024. Together with Auguste Reyers Avenue, which is being redesigned as a city boulevard, the two avenues form the Schaerbeek section of the Brussels Central Ring (R21). The public service has now applied for planning permission for […]
March 08, 2023
The focus of the Oosterweel works this year will be on the Right Bank of the river Scheldt. The first utility works in Antwerp are underway, but this autumn, both the construction of the bypass, temporarily replacing the Merksem viaduct, and the construction of the channel tunnels under the Albert Canal will start. In recent […]
March 08, 2023
A Republican senator from Florida has suggested limiting the use of electric vehicles during hurricane evacuations, arguing that the charging infrastructure is not ready yet and that EVs with empty batteries could become roadblocks in critical locations. However, others are not as worried or offer alternative solutions instead. Florida is a high-risk area for hurricanes, […]
March 08, 2023
Women’s lifestyles are less polluting than men’s, but the ‘fair sex’ is more often the victim of climate change. That is the remarkable conclusion of an economist consulted by the French international news agency AFP. A nice little tidbit to reveal on March 8th, International Women’s Day, focusing on issues such as gender (in)equality. “Even […]
March 08, 2023
In the port of Esbjerg, the first ship with captured CO2 from Belgium arrived to store the carbons in a depleted oil field in the Danish part of the North Sea. Called the Greensand project, this is considered the first cross-border offshore CO2 storage project in the world. With the incoming CO2 from the port […]
March 07, 2023
Urban.brussels has granted an urban development certificate to Brussels Mobility to create a city boulevard on Auguste Reyers Avenue, an arterial road in Schaerbeek where the public broadcasters VRT and RTBF are located. So reports Brussels State Secretary for Urban Planning Pascal Smet (one.brussels-Vooruit). Reyers Avenue will be reconstructed from facade to facade between Meiser […]
March 07, 2023
Agricultural machine specialist Fendt has presented a prototype of a field tractor equipped with hydrogen fuel cells at the German Hydrogen Summit in Straubing. Two units will be supplied for testing in the region of Lower Saxony as of next month. Fendt participates in the H2Agrar project, which researches the potential role of hydrogen in […]
March 07, 2023
In its Memorandum 2024, a series of recommendations ahead of next year’s elections, Network Sustainable Mobility (Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit, NDM) advocates the abolition of the company car and the introduction of an annual ‘proximity budget’ of 400 euros for every Belgian. “As long as the company car is in front of the door, you are […]
March 06, 2023
Audi has released some preliminary findings of its MaterialLoop project. In the end, this must lead to a closing material cycle used in its production lines. From the pilot, the German luxury brand has learned it can use steel coils to make inner door parts for its A4 model. As European companies are gearing up […]
March 06, 2023
At the end of 2022, Germany’s national car fleet counted more than one million EVs. A meaningful milestone, but it’s still a far stretch to the 15 million full-electric vehicles that Germany eyes for 2030. In one year time, the German zero-emission fleet grew by 68%, so progress is encouraging. The KBA, or Kraftfahrt Bundesambt, […]
March 06, 2023
Following its plan to start recycling electric vehicle lithium-ion battery systems this year, Mercedes has laid the first brick of its dedicated plant in Kuppenheim. If the works keep to the schedule, the first packs from its electrified vehicles, so plug-ins included, will be dismantled by the end of 2023. “This foundation symbolizes the decisive […]
