William Todts – Transport & Environment

The Green Deal is dead. Long live the Green Deal!

Sam Hargreaves — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 09:19:51 +0000

At times it felt like the story of 2023 was an endless tale of climate backlash and green fatigue. The battle over London’s ultra low emissions zone (ULEZ) became part of the country’s culture war, a coalition of EU politicians sought to derail the phase-out of fossil cars, and the heat pump ‘debacle’ almost brought down the German government. Meanwhile, right-wing parties appeared to be on an...

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Europe’s politicians are desperate to tackle e-scooters, why aren’t they bothered by monster SUVs?

Sam Hargreaves — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 09:34:17 +0000

In September the world’s first democratically backed floating e-scooter ban came into force in Paris. Malta has also just banned e-scooter rentals. E-scooters can be a nuisance. So it is only fair that they are regulated with mandatory safety features and maximum speeds. Yet, if space and safety are the issue, micromobility is not cities’ biggest problem. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris...

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Accelerating and democratising the electric car for the 80%

Diane Vitry — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 09:32:23 +0000

Less than a month ago, Executive Vice-President Šefčovič and Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra committed to a minus 90% emissions cut by 2040. Transport is the key to achieving this goal as by 2030 it could account for 45% of the EU’s total emissions. The mobility sector profoundly impacts Europeans’ everyday lives. Most EU citizens rely on cars and need access to affordable emissions free mobility if...

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Less is more – time for a hydrogen reality check

Sam Hargreaves — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 10:12:50 +0000

Despite sky high ambitions and unprecedented political support, Europe’s hydrogen industry is struggling. The EU’s goal to produce and import 20 million tonnes of clean hydrogen by 2030 is now widely seen as completely unrealistic. For hydrogen to take off, the EU needs to dial down its ambitions dramatically. Even a more achievable 4 million tonne goal would require an 80 fold increase in...

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How German auto arrogance brought about Europe’s Kodak moment

Sam Hargreaves — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:54 +0000

Earlier this month Ursula von der Leyen sent shockwaves through the European and Chinese car industry by announcing a probe into illegal Chinese subsidies for electric vehicles (EVs). The Commission president is cleaning up the mess the German auto industry created. The probe is a fateful step. If tariffs on Chinese imports are enacted, it could set in motion a sequence of escalation and...

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Three tests for global shipping as the sector reaches point of no return

Sam Hargreaves — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 17:08:30 +0000

As the exams season draws to a close, the global shipping industry faces its biggest climate test so far. The high seas are a lawless place. From modern slavery to tax evasion on steroids, global governance of the industry has fallen short time and again. This is certainly the case when it comes to tackling the environmental and climate impacts of shipping, where the shipping sector already emits...

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Airbus, show us the money

Diane Vitry — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 22:01:48 +0000

In September 2020, Airbus took many by surprise, announcing a hydrogen plane by 2035. Their pledge was to revolutionise the aviation industry as we know it. Planes would go from fossil-guzzling to zero-emission in just 15 years. The announcement was made in the midst of the COVID pandemic, not long after 37€ billion of government bailouts were handed to the European aviation industry. Yes...

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Inventing the €100 a month electric car

Sam Hargreaves — Wed, 31 May 2023 08:21:02 +0000

Electric cars are the future. They’re clean, fun to drive and cheap to own. One day all of us will drive electric. And yet, it is undeniable that today EVs are unaffordable for many people. This will change as EV and battery production scales up, but this simply isn’t happening fast enough. Fast forward five years and many rich people may have made the shift to solar, heat pumps and EVs.

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David versus Goliath: a fossil fuel fightback

Nele Parje — Wed, 31 May 2023 07:17:11 +0000

There are now stories across a mix of obscure, tabloid and serious media trying to answer that question. The context for this is the aftermath of the Qatargate scandal where a petrostate, in the guise of a fake NGO, bribed EU politicians. T&E too is now attracting scrutiny. Enquiring or explaining how we are funded is entirely legitimate; being accused of being “worse than communists” in the pay...

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How Europe can avoid becoming the dumping ground for Sino-US cleantech (without becoming protectionist)

Sam Hargreaves — Tue, 02 May 2023 08:11:19 +0000

Polestar is not the world’s biggest or most important carmaker. But its story does epitomise the choice Europe faces. Polestar used to be the performance brand of Swedish carmaker Volvo. Today, just like Volvo itself, it is owned by Geely, a Chinese carmaker. Last year 32,000 all-electric Polestars were shipped from China to Europe. These accounted for 40% of Volvo-Geely’s battery electric vehicle...

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