Low emission zones for taxis - only electric allowed
It was a shock for Leipzig taxi drivers and a harbinger of things to come for the taxi industry: in mid-October, the city of Leipzig announced the goal of converting the city's taxi fleet completely to electric or at least hybrid by 2025. The quick fix backfired, but it shows what we can expect in the near future.
Berlin's air is getting cleaner and cleaner
Berlin's air has been sung about, but that was a long time ago. And back then it was far from dirty. But there is reason for hope. As has now been measured, it has never been so clean since measurements began in 1975. New limits, however, could prove to be a challenge.
Attention heavy goods vehicles! Brenner motorway closed!
Today, Tuesday, driving bans are in force on the Brenner motorway in Austria and Italy. In Austria the holiday driving ban applies, in Italy they want to avoid traffic jams.
ULEZ in London 15x bigger
From today, Monday 25/10/2021, the Ultra-Low Emission Zone in London is significantly expanded. London has a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Temporary Low Emission Zones in France explained
In France there are both permanent and temporary environmental zones. The temporary zones are only activated when pollution levels are particularly high. They are called air protection zones (Zones de Protection de L'Air = ZPA). As with permanent zones, you have to stick the appropriate sticker on your windscreen for temporary zones. When temporary zones are activated, the rules of "differentiated traffic" come into force, in French "circulation différenciée".
Natural gas more polluting than cars
When natural gas is extracted and processed, a lot of escaping gas is burnt. This releases more CO2 into the air than the C02 emissions produced by all cars in the EU.
6 billion euros for dirty company cars
Dirty company cars are being subsidised too much, complain the Öko-Institut in Freiburg and the think tank Agora Verkehrswende. According to the institutes' calculations, the subsidies paid by German taxpayers for privately used company cars amount to up to six billion euros annually. Since it is mainly fuel-guzzlers with high engine power that are purchased by companies for their employees, this unnecessarily complicates the transport transition.
Noise cameras in Paris
Cities are gearing up in the fight against noise. After the introduction of a general 30 km/h speed limit in almost the entire city and the establishment of many cycle paths and zones with priority for pedestrians, Paris now wants to bring more peace to the city.
Bio-CNG as an alternative to electricity?
Electricity only has a good carbon footprint as long as it is not produced from fossil fuels. The situation is completely different with biogas, which is produced from renewable raw materials and therefore always has a good carbon footprint. Is biogas ultimately the better alternative to electric?
Portuguese Low Emission Zones explained
In Portugal, the environmental zones are called Zona de Emissões Reduzidas (ZER) (Emission Reduced Zone). There are only two of them, the smaller and stricter one being within the larger one. Both are located in Lisbon and are bordered by the River Tagus to the south.