Twelve years ago, the IPCC Fourth Assessment estimated aviation’s total climate impact at two to four times that of its past CO2 emissions alone. This is because aircraft at altitude generate significant additional climate warming – from NOx, the formation of line contrails and cirrus clouds, water vapour, soot, aerosols, black carbon and other factors. [...]
After years of heel dragging and fighting truck fuel efficiency standards, it looks like the world’s biggest truckmaker Daimler might be stepping up its game. Last month they announced that by 2039 all their new trucks and buses will be CO2 neutral. According to Daimler this can only be achieved with battery electric and hydrogen [...]
Nach jahrelangem und schwerfälligem Streit um die Kraftstoffeffizienznormen scheint Daimler, der weltgrößte Lkw-Hersteller, in neue Dimensionen vorzustoßen. Letzten Monat verkündete das Unternehmen, ab 2039 nur noch CO2-neutrale Lkw und Busse fertigen zu wollen. Laut Daimler kann dies nur mit Batterien und Wasserstoff erreicht werden. Diese Ankündigung muss in einer Branche, die noch vor kurzem vor [...]
EU greenhouse gas emissions fell 2% in 2018, according to the European Environment Agency’s preliminary estimates. After four years of stagnation and increases, this is good news especially since 2018 was a year of robust economic growth across the continent. The bad news is that EU transport emissions – road transport plus domestic shipping and [...]
Like the baker who suddenly smells their cake burning, the European Commission has gone running to the proverbial oven to see what can be done about its unambitious climate policies. Belatedly, the EU executive has said it will seriously look into increasing the bloc’s climate ambitions: from a 40% emissions reduction to -55% in 2030. [...]
Ursula Von der Leyen, Europe’s new supremo, certainly did not miss her entrée. Since her investiture over the summer Brussels is buzzing with energy and renewed enthusiasm about European leadership on climate and environmental protection. Not only did she announce a European Green Deal, but she also put Frans Timmermans, a heavyweight in the previous [...]
Are electric cars ‘better’ or not? It’s a question that animate discussions on social media, in the papers or at dinner with friends. Now that wind and solar are really taking off there’s less discussion about whether electricity can be clean. So the focus has shifted to batteries and countless articles debate and question the [...]
Les voitures électriques sont-elles vraiment moins polluantes ? C'est une question qui anime les débats sur les réseaux sociaux, dans les journaux ou encore lors des dîners entre amis. Si depuis l'essor de l’éolien et du solaire, le fait que l’électricité peut être propre fait consensus, l’attention est maintenant portée sur les batteries, remises en [...]
About a week ago Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s defence minister, was nominated to lead the next European Commission having emerged as the compromise candidate after a lengthy European Council meeting. As this op-ed goes to press Von der Leyen, or VdL as she is now known, is busy drumming up support for her candidacy [...]
On 9 May 2019, a new cruise ship, called AidaNOVA called at the port of Barcelona. On the face of it, AidaNOVA was just another massive luxury cruiser. But the industry called it a game changer because AidaNOVA runs on a different type of fuel than its predecessors: liquified natural (fossil) gas, aka LNG. The [...]