September 16, 2024
The European Commission has approved Belgium’s state aid mechanism of 682 million euros, paving the way for auctioning the first wind farm in the Princess Elisabeth zone in the North Sea. This auction, planned on October 28th, marks a crucial step toward the country’s energy independence and climate neutrality. Wind farm developers will be invited […]
September 16, 2024
In response to the (unofficial) ACEA proposal to the European Commission to delay the 2025 emission targets for two years, Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares said, “It would be surreal to change the rules now.” “Everyone has known about the rules for a long time and has had time to prepare, and so now it’s time […]
September 11, 2024
The European Space Agency (ESA) warns in a report published on Tuesday that global methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas, continue to rise. The report reveals that human activities are responsible for at least two-thirds of global methane emissions.“The trends are going in exactly the opposite direction of what is needed to maintain a habitable […]
September 11, 2024
Denmark’s subsea CO2 storage facility is ready to receive high volumes of CO2. So reports British chemical company Ineos after receiving a positive final report for the pilot project. Ineos said Denmark now has “a safe and functioning underground storage facility in the North Sea, where CO2 can be permanently stored to combat climate change.” […]
September 10, 2024
From October 1st, only 50 km/hour may be driven on the Paris Ring Road. The news was already announced last year, but Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has officially confirmed the speed limit. Remarkably, for the measure intended to reduce pollution for more than half a million inhabitants, Hidalgo is not awaiting the advice of the […]
September 09, 2024
During the upcoming Matexpo-powered Demo Days, a two-day event with over 100 building construction machines (6-8 September 2024), Fimatec will install a state-of-the-art ‘mobile’ charging park to offer visitors and participants a unique charging experience. This charging park, equipped with ten Emoss site charging poles and 40 charging points, is powered by the Atlas Copco […]
September 09, 2024
According to Copernicus Climate Change Service’s latest publication, the summer of 2024 was the warmest ever recorded worldwide and for Europe. August 2024 was the second warmest August globally (along with August 2023), with an average surface air temperature of 16.82°C, or 0.71°C above the August average from 1991-2020. August 2024 was 1.51°C above pre-industrial […]
September 05, 2024
It must be no coincidence: just when three French-speaking parties involved in the formation of the Brussels government decided on their own to present a proposal in parliament to postpone the tightening of the emission standard for the low-emission zone (LEZ) in Brussels from the beginning of 2025 to 2027, the non-profit organization Chercheurs d’Air […]
September 04, 2024
The new Swedish government, a right-wing minority government with tacit support from the radical-right Sweden Democrats, will abolish the ‘flyswatter’, or flight tax, introduced by the previous red-green government on July 1st next year. “Sweden depends on competition in the airline industry,” says Sweden Democrats group chairman Linda Lindberg. “Companies and individuals need air travel, […]
September 03, 2024
Cyclis Bike Lease, the Belgian bicycle leasing company, has decided to partner with the German JobRad Group. The Hasselt-based company was founded in 2014. Ten years ago, the company was one of Belgium’s first bicycle leasing companies. Cyclis has been the market leader Belgium for years, with 37,000 bicycles under contract. Among them are all […]
September 02, 2024
MR, Les Engagés, and the PS, the parties negotiating a new Brussels government on the French-speaking side, want to present a proposal in the Brussels Parliament that would postpone the introduction of the stricter low-emission zone (LEZ) emissions standards from early 2025 to early 2027. The parties report this in a joint press release. Groen, […]
August 30, 2024
Europe’s largest battery park, which the Giga Storage company plans to set up in Rotem/Dilsen-Stokkem (Belgium), will have a capacity of 700 megawatts, 100 megawatts more than initially planned. The battery park’s name is Green Turtle. In the meantime, the construction team has been assembled. Giga Storage agreed with Tractebel for technical support, and Stadsbader […]
August 30, 2024
If anyone hoped the zero tax policy for EVs the Flemish government is offering to lure more people into electric driving was a never-ending story, it is time to wake up. Around the negotiating table for the next government, all parties – N-VA, Vooruit, and CD&V – agree that the ‘zero tariff’ will no longer […]
August 30, 2024
Several environmental organizations are suing the European Commission for not imposing sufficiently strict CO2 standards on member states under the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming. First and foremost, they are calling for fossil-fuel-powered planes and ships to be removed from the EU’s list of sustainable investments, which they say is an example of greenwashing. […]
August 29, 2024
The ministerial instruction of outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) preventing the use of Boeing 777 aircraft at Brussels Airport at night has been suspended. The Minister said this in the Parliamentary Committee on Mobility. If consultations with the Flemish government come to nothing, it will be up to the next federal government to resolve […]
August 29, 2024
Record wildfires in 2023 pushed Canada into the world’s top four greenhouse gas-emitting countries that year. This is evident from a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. In 2023, wildfires burned about 15 million hectares – about four percent of Canada’s total forest area – and more than 200,000 people had to be […]
August 29, 2024
Driveco, a French operator of charging stations for electric vehicles, wants to install 1,500 charging stations in Belgium by 2030 and will allocate 15 million euros for this purpose. The company is already present in Belgium, with 70 charging stations in fifteen different stations, but the goal is to increase that number considerably in the […]
August 28, 2024
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a ‘global SOS’ on climate change and sea level rise on Tuesday while visiting Tonga (Polynesia) for a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, where the leaders of a group of 18 countries are meeting, including Australia and New Zealand. Guterres’ trip coincided with a new report from the […]
August 27, 2024
After thirteen weeks of hard work, the Belgian Solar Team has arrived in South Africa to participate in the world’s most extreme Solar Challenge. In October 2023, they became world champions with their solar car, the Infinite, in the World Solar Challenge in Australia. Now, they’re ambitious to win the world’s most extreme challenge. The […]
August 26, 2024
The planned connection between the Belgian and Danish energy islands will be postponed or canceled. The Danish Minister of Energy, Lars Aagaard, thinks the prestigious project to bring power from Danish offshore wind farms to our country via a submarine cable is too expensive. Denmark plans to create two ‘energy islands’, one in the North […]
August 23, 2024
Brian Niccol, Starbucks’ new top executive, will be provided a jet by the American coffeehouse chain group to fly from his home in California to its headquarters in Seattle. That’s about 1,600 km. Niccol takes office on Monday, September 9th, but so is already under fire, while others accuse the firm of hypocrisy, with some […]
August 20, 2024
The Belgian government introduced a flight tax of two to ten euros for short flights under 500 km two years ago, and that tax raised more than 40 million euros last year, according to the newspaper Le Soir. Last year, more than 800 passenger flights by private jets were conducted over less than 500 kilometers. […]
August 20, 2024
According to a recent survey by Belgian HR service provider SD Worx, in the provinces of Limburg and Antwerp, almost one in five employees already have a company bicycle, and these SMEs also intend to expand their company bicycle fleet by 9% and 8% in 2024 or 2025, respectively. West Flanders currently ranks third, but […]
August 20, 2024
Most airlines still have a long way to go in using sustainable jet fuel, despite their promise to get at least 10% of their fuel from sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, by the decade’s end. That’s according to an analysis by Bloomberg Green. American Airlines does not excel in the use of SAFs, while airlines […]
August 16, 2024
A fire incident with an EV caused the South Korean Ministry of Transport to ask carmakers to disclose the names of their battery suppliers. Earlier this month, a fire broke out in the underground car park of an apartment complex in Incheon, South Korea. The fire was apparently caused by a Mercedes EQE. While the […]
August 14, 2024
Parkwind, a Belgian offshore wind energy company, has installed the first electric ship-charging station at sea. The station runs on wind power and aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from maintenance and transport vessels. The charging system was installed in Parkwind’s third offshore wind energy project, Nobelwind, which is 29 miles (47 kilometers) offshore in […]
August 13, 2024
In an interview with the German newspaper Der Welt, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume has strongly supported the European Union’s planned ban on combustion engines by 2035. Blume affirmed that electric mobility is the clear path forward for the automotive industry and emphasized a niche role for e-fuels. In the interview, Blume aligned himself with […]
August 12, 2024
On Saturday, thousands of people demonstrated in Belgrade against Rio Tinto’s controversial mining project to extract lithium in western Serbia. Serbia has massive lithium deposits near Loznica, in the country’s west. Still, the controversial mining project, developed by British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, has been causing a political rift for several years. The demonstrators fear […]
August 09, 2024
Cruise ships are getting bigger and bigger. According to environmental organization T&E’s latest report, today’s biggest ships are more than twice as big as in 2000. At the current growth rate, the organization predicts that the biggest cruise ships in 2050 could amount to a staggering 345,000 gross tonnage, making them almost eight times bigger […]
August 08, 2024
New technology at the NASA space organization allows us to see in great detail where in the world CO2 is released and how the substance moves across the Earth. NASA’s animation lets us watch how carbon dioxide moves through the Earth’s atmosphere, driven by wind patterns and atmospheric circulation. Because of the model’s high resolution, […]
August 08, 2024
German car rental company Sixt is going to rent out fewer electric cars. It is a remarkable reversal for Europe’s largest car rental company, which has always prided itself on significantly reducing the carbon footprint of its rental fleet by achieving a 70-90% share of EVs in Europe by 2030. According to the listed company, […]
August 05, 2024
The Ghent start-up and non-profit organization Straal refurbishes neglected boats to give them a second life. Straal’s initiators want to do something with the many neglected boats left along the banks of the Ghent and European waterways. They focus on the numerous polyester pleasure boats because polyester creates a lot of waste. Refurbishing those boats […]
July 30, 2024
German meal delivery company HelloFresh wants to make the middle mile, the transport between the central distribution center and the hubs, even more sustainable with a pilot project in the Benelux. To do so, it will deploy a refrigerated electric truck, the company’s first. With the initiative, the meal box supplier will save some 191,000 […]
July 25, 2024
The average car on the Belgian market is getting longer, wider, and heavier, reducing available space on roads and in cities. This trend has been going on for some time now. In 2023, the Belgian automobile fleet represented about 6 million vehicles, occupying a space corresponding to 9,787 football fields. Ten years ago, it would […]
July 25, 2024
The latest edition of Ayvens’ Mobility Guide 2024 provides a comprehensive country-by-country analysis of EV readiness and electrification pace. Belgium (4) and Luxembourg (5) are joining the top five countries despite a general negative feeling among mostly private buyers. Norway remains number one, with the Netherlands and Finland following close by. The annual guide draws […]
July 24, 2024
Despite nearly 6,000 submitted objections, the airport in Deurne, also known as Antwerp Airport, has been granted a new environmental permit by Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA). The open-ended permit does come with “strict conditions.” For example, there will be a ban on night flights, noise standards will be established, a noise wall must […]
July 24, 2024
The Californian Monarch Tractor wants to conquer the European market from Belgium and, therefore, intends to build a new head office there. The pioneer in self-driving electric tractors is counting on the financial support of Flemish government investor PMV. With the Welfare Fund established as a recovery vehicle, PMV invested substantially in the American company. […]
July 22, 2024
The European Union and Serbia have signed an agreement to cooperate on lithium extraction and the production of batteries for electric cars. On Friday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed a partnership agreement with the EU to supply strategic raw materials. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also present. Serbia wants to allow carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and […]
July 19, 2024
As of October, the Ghent City Council will be able to collect traffic fines in 22 additional European countries, from Spain to Italy to Poland. Previously, this was limited to a few neighboring countries. A European cooperation and the involvement of two Dutch companies makes the fine policy possible. It involves violations of parking policies, […]
July 19, 2024
Ursula von der Leyen, reappointed on Thursday by the European Parliament as president of the European Commission, wants to make train travel more accessible by creating a standard reservation system at the EU level. She said this in the political guidelines for the next legislature for 2024-2029, just before the vote for her reappointment. “We […]
July 19, 2024
Serbia wants to allow carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Stellantis to buy lithium from the large lithium mine in the west of the country that mining group Rio Tinto is building there. Barely a week after a Serbian court decision allowed the resumption of the controversial lithium mining project, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the German […]
July 12, 2024
Serbia’s highest court opened the way on Thursday to authorize a lithium mining project by mining giant Rio Tinto after a government decision that suspended it while many activists remain firmly opposed. Rio Tinto welcomed the court’s decision. At the same time, project director Chad Blewitt wanted to be reassuring by telling AFP that the […]
July 12, 2024
On Thursday, the construction of the Pukkelpop festival village started in Hasselt. This year’s edition will be greener—or rather bluer—thanks to the use of so-called ‘blue diesel’. For the first time, all forklift trucks, off-road buggies, and generators used on the site – from now until the end of the festival = will run on […]
July 11, 2024
Kalmar Automotive, a Danish enhancer and restorer of bespoke sports cars and special-purpose adventure vehicles, is breathing new – electric – life into the 35-year-old Porsche 911 (type 964) with a beefed-up Tesla S hart in new lightweight factory fiber bodywork. The 7-97 E-Volt is engineered to produce more power and torque than any road-going […]
July 10, 2024
The municipality of Flobecq, in the province of Hainaut in Belgium, and the Materia Nova research center have started a pilot project on a farm in Flobecq. The project’s goal is to convert pig urine into hydrogen via electrocatalysis. The process has already been tested in the laboratory with synthetic urine and will now be […]
July 10, 2024
The kilometer charge for trucks offsets the Flemish Region’s loss of revenue due to the greening of traffic taxes. This is according to an analysis of 15 years of Flemish fiscal policy by SERV, the consultation and advisory body of Flemish employers’ and employees’ organizations. Over the past three legislatures, traffic taxes in Flanders have […]
July 09, 2024
ArcelorMittal has started a pilot project at its Ghent plant to convert captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide (CO) for reuse in the production process. For this, the steel giant is teaming up with D-CRBN, an Antwerp-based climate technology company that developed a plasma reactor that breaks down CO2 into CO and oxygen (02). […]
July 09, 2024
French truck manufacturer Renault is electrifying its in-house logistics flows with its own electric trucks. The first stage of this project will focus on electrifying the axle transport between its two production sites in Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse. This electrification of logistics will allow 440,000 kilometers to be driven by e-vehicles, saving 375 tons of CO2 […]
July 08, 2024
The first-ever electric NASCAR racer debuted at the Chicago Street Race last week. It was eventually set to debut earlier, in Los Angeles on February 4th, but it took a few months longer than intended. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) worked with the Swiss electrification and automation multinational ABB in what […]
July 05, 2024
French mining group Eramet and its Chinese partner Tsingshan have inaugurated a major lithium mine site in Argentina. Lithium is the white metal essential for the energy transition, particularly in most automotive electric batteries. The plant in Centenario in Salta’s northwestern province represents an 870 million-dollar investment. Eramet, of which the French state is one […]
July 04, 2024
According to the environmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E), the number of dangerous Dodge Rams on European roads is “disturbingly high and continues to rise”. In 2023, about 5,000 new Dodge Rams were imported into Europe, up 20% from the previous year. There are now at least 20,000 Dodge Rams on European roads. The EU […]
July 03, 2024
European cities are still much better connected by air than by rail, according to research by Greenpeace. From Brussels, for example, 41 of the 44 cities studied can be reached by direct flight and only 11 by rail. Greenpeace analyzed 990 routes between 45 major European cities. Only 12% of those routes are served by […]
July 03, 2024
Oil giant Shell has temporarily halted the construction of a biofuel factory in Pernis, near Rotterdam (Netherlands) – one of Europe’s largest biofuel plants. The pause should give the company space to assess the best commercial path forward for the project. It is the latest low-carbon energy project to be shelved by an energy giant […]
July 02, 2024
Cargo transporter DHL Express at Brussels Airport is leading the way in electrifying its ground-handling equipment. The company’s crew buses and tarmac cars are already 100% electric, and over the past days and weeks, the company has put eleven electric tractors and thirteen electric container lifts, belly loaders, and pushbacks into operation at Brussels Airport. […]
July 02, 2024
The Flemish public transport company De Lijn has served the first of the new e-buses from supplier VDL from its depot in Destelbergen, East Flanders. These are the first five of 24 e-buses from VDL to reinforce the electric fleet in the Ghent region. In the coming weeks and months, the Destelbergen depot will receive […]
June 27, 2024
The Belgian federal authorities will only buy or lease electric service vehicles from July 2024. The Council of Ministers approved a plan by Minister of Civil Service Petra De Sutter (Groen) in March last year, which is now in effect. One consequence of the measure is that by 2030, most service vehicles within the federal […]
June 26, 2024
German airline group Lufthansa, to which Brussels Airlines also belongs, is launching an environmental surcharge of 1 to 72 euros for all flights departing from Europe and the UK, Norway, and Switzerland. For Brussels Airlines, the surcharge will be a maximum of 36 euros per flight. The surcharge will be charged on bookings starting today […]
June 26, 2024
According to a study by HR service provider Acerta, the average CO2 emissions from leasing cars have fallen by almost 20% in one year and 40% in ten years. The study analyzed a database listing more than 270,000 workers and employees in Belgium. Tax deductibility for fossil fuel cars purchased between July 1, 2023, and […]
June 25, 2024
Electra, a French startup in fast charging stations, will open and operate 23 fast charging stations over the next two years at the Belgian fast-food chain Quick’s existing and future restaurant locations. The charging stations will have a fast charging capacity of 400 kW and will be accessible to everyone at any time of the […]
June 24, 2024
That is a shame and bad for the climate because tall forests are critical for storing carbon and hosting biodiversity. Moreover, old trees absorb more carbon dioxide than young ones. This is the conclusion of the World Resources Institute (WRI), which conducts worldwide research into climate and natural resources. Over the past 20 years, the […]
