Latest news with #Transport&Environment
Spectator
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- Spectator
It's time to ban the Chelsea tractor
City dwellers across Europe will have noticed an ominous and growing presence on our streets, nudging cyclists onto pavements, looming over pedestrians crossing the road, and generally spoiling the view. It is gratifying to learn that we are neither going mad nor shrinking in the wash: cars really are becoming huge. The bonnets of newly-sold cars across Europe now average 83.8cm in height, up from 76.9cm in 2010 – coincidentally the perfect height for caving in a toddler's head. That's according to a new report from Transport & Environment (T&E), an advocacy group for clean transport and energy that is campaigning against what it calls 'carspreading'. A resident of Zone 3 has no business owning a car that can trace its lineage to the Jeep Ironically for a vehicle so closely associated with mums doing the school run, the Chelsea tractor is a clear danger to primary-aged children, making it much likelier that the driver will squish them into the tarmac. A similar fate awaits adults, though the lucky ones will merely absorb the impact in their torso, where they keep their vital organs. This shows there's only one thing for it: it's time to ban four-wheel drives from Britain's cities. Bluntly put, a resident of Zone 3 has no business owning a car that can trace its lineage to the Jeep, a vehicle literally built to fight Nazis. Whatever the shortcomings of Sadiq Khan, no London street is sufficiently dangerous that you need a light utility vehicle to navigate it – or at least, no street that a man who could afford a Land Rover might live in. The yummy mummies of Clapham, the financial bros of Hampstead, or the international wealth treating Chelsea as their playground – none of them should be allowed a four-wheel drive. The growing height of car bonnets is partly down to an increasing number of SUVs, to use the American term for a four-wheel drive. T&E reckon they account for a little over half of new cars sold in Europe, with many 4×4 bonnets sitting more than a metre off the ground. Four-wheel drives are therefore likely to account for a growing proportion of the nearly 30,000 people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain each year in road collisions. While the bulk of the roughly 1,600 deaths are car or motorcycle users, about a quarter are pedestrians. Such incidents are sufficiently commonplace that we don't normally read about them. One noteworthy exception, however, did catch public attention in July 2023. Driving through Wimbledon, Claire Freemantle lost control of her Land Rover Defender and ploughed through the fence at The Study Prep school, killing eight-year-old Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau. Initially arrested for dangerous driving, Freemantle was eventually let off without charge on the grounds she had suffered a seizure. The case has since been reopened. Unsurprisingly, Europeans have alighted on the old standby to any problem: more regulation. The heads of various worthy causes have written to the European Commission urging them to commit to months of fruitful work to create limits on how big new cars can be. Their suggested implementation date is a decade hence, by which point we will presumably all be driving SUVs. The response from Brussels has been wholly inadequate, a predictably timid European disappointment. But free from the EU's clutches, the British should act decisively: we should outlaw the Chelsea tractor on our own. Four-wheel drives are no doubt safer for their passengers. Analysis by The Economist of American road accidents last year concluded that the fatality rate of occupants in a Ford F-350 Super Duty pickup truck was about half that of those travelling in a Honda Civic. But such safety comes at the expense of everyone else. As cited in the same report, a 2004 paper by Michelle White of the University of California estimated that for every deadly crash a 4×4 avoids, there are 4.3 more among other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. The negative externalities pile up from there. Larger vehicles generally pollute more, consuming more fuel to move more weight and emit more CO2. Their tyres leave more particles in the air, water and soil. They also create more potholes in the roads, such damage often being cited as a reason to own a 4×4 in the first place. That's alongside the sheer intimidation of a small tank driving down streets built for horses and carts, as well as the inconvenience to others when you try to park. When they aren't running you over or polluting your lungs, Chelsea tractors make cities uglier and unpleasant for everybody else. Yes, there should be exemptions. Any man in possession of an actual tractor may legitimately be in want of a SUV. Just as we allow farmers to shoot vermin, we should allow them to haul equipment in a four-wheel drive. Jeremy Clarkson need not return to the barricades over this policy. But as for the rest of us, there is simply no need. Get the urbanites off their tractors and back in their hatchbacks.
Irish Examiner
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Examiner
Higher bonnets in SUVs 'a clear and growing threat' to children, report finds
The bonnet height of new cars across Europe is rising relentlessly, a report has found, bringing a 'clear and growing threat to public safety, especially for children'. Higher fronts on cars significantly increase the death rate when pedestrians are struck. The analysis also found drivers in the tallest cars could not see children as old as nine at all when they were directly in front of the vehicle. In crashes, high-bonneted SUVs are more likely to strike the vital organs in the core of adults' bodies and the heads of children. Hitting pedestrians above their centre of gravity means they are more likely to be knocked forward and down and then be driven over. In contrast, low bonnets tend to hit pedestrians' legs, giving them a greater chance of falling on to the vehicle and being deflected to the side. The report, by the advocacy group Transport & Environment, found the average bonnet height of new cars sold in Europe rose from 77cm in 2010 to 84cm in 2024. The rise matches booming sales of SUVs, from 12% to 56% of all cars over the same period, with the increasing size of vehicles being described as 'carspreading' or 'autobesity'. SUVs are also 20% more polluting on average and this rise in sales is cancelling out the reduction in climate-heating CO2 due to electric vehicles and fuel efficiency improvements. There is no legal limit to bonnet height across Europe. The researchers said a limit should be introduced for 2035 and set at about 85cm. The report used data from Euro NCAP, the safety rating programme for new vehicles, and sales data to assess the growth in bonnet heights. Transport & Environment also commissioned Loughborough University School of Design to test the visibility of children from high-fronted cars. It found a driver of a Ram TRX was unable to see children aged up to nine who were standing directly in front, while a Land Rover Defender driver could not see children aged up to four and a half. A 10cm increase in bonnet height, from 80cm to 90cm, raises the risk of death in a crash by 27% for pedestrians and cyclists, according to a Belgian study involving 300,000 casualties. The Guardian Read More Family of Clare boy killed by van challenge decision to bring no charges over death
The Star
31-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Star
Lessons from big cities that cut back cars
CITIES around the world trying to limit driving have faced objections – namely that the measures would limit personal freedom, cost too much, destroy commerce or have negligible effects on air quality. Now the first data from these experiments in New York, London and Paris has trickled in. They offer some clues about whether cutting speed limits, charging traffic for entering a city centre and penalising drivers of the most polluting cars can reduce congestion and improve air quality, without causing too much disruption. These lessons are helpful because cities, where problems with traffic and poor air quality are frequently more severe than in less urban areas, are often moving more quickly in restricting vehicle emissions than countries or states. In Europe, cities are outpacing laws and national regulations to cut traffic pollution, according to the think tank Transport & Environment. As of April this year, 35 cities have committed to introducing 'zero emissions zones' – where diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles will be banned. Still, early results from some cities show reducing traffic is not enough. Take Oslo, which has pioneered lower speed limits, car-free zones and improvements to public transport, walking and cycling. Norway's widespread adoption of electric cars has also helped reduce smog. But the city still suffers from high levels of particulate pollution from tire wear, wood-burning stoves and dust from gravel and salting on icy roads. While restricting fossil-fuelled vehicles won't solve those problems, there is evidence that it helps clean the air and has other benefits too. Here's what policy makers and city dwellers can learn from other early adopters. > New York The city introduced a policy on Jan 5 charging cars up to US$9 (RM38) a day to enter certain parts of Manhattan. Travel time data from the first three months of the charging zone suggests commuting times are down on some of the busiest routes, in particular the bridges and tunnels that connect Manhattan with New Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens. A site run by student brothers Joshua and Benjamin Moshes has been tracking travel times based on Google Maps traffic data on various routes affected by the New York congestion pricing since the policy was introduced in January. They found travel times have also dropped during weekends, while there's been little change on other routes going from one part of Manhattan to another. That suggests people are choosing to take public transport or cutting out less urgent travel, they say. In Boston and Chicago, which the Moshes use as a control, traffic levels have not changed significantly. > Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo introduced 50kph speed limits on the city's outer ring road in October 2024, despite opposition from France's transport minister and conservative opponents. A report from the city's urban planning department found that the new, lower speed limit, introduced on Oct 1 last year, has already had some positive effects. In the following five months, air quality improved by 12% and traffic accidents dropped by 17%, compared to the same period in the previous year. There are also signs that congestion is lower. Hidalgo, who has said she won't seek re-election next year, isn't finished with her plans to reduce car traffic and encourage walking and cycling in Paris. Her office also banned motorised through-traffic from the city centre in November. Local workers, residents and taxis are still able to drive into the zone, but anyone passing through to go somewhere else will be fined €135 (RM651) once enforcement begins. > London The city's ultra-low emission zone has been in place for over five years. The restrictions, which place a daily charge on driving old gasoline or diesel vehicles, initially covered a small area of the city centre. It was subsequently expanded to cover an almost 1,554km square area, making it the largest in the world. London has had a separate congestion charging zone, which means almost everyone who drives into the city's core must pay, since 2003. When London mayor Sadiq Khan announced the expansion in 2022, the decision was met with warnings that high street shops would wither away and small businesses would struggle to survive. ULEZ, as the area is known for short, became a contentious topic in local elections, and Khan's opponent, from the right-wing Conservative Party, made it a central part of her pitch to voters in the mayoral election last year. (Khan won). In March, the mayor's office released data suggesting that ULEZ had a positive impact on air quality, while causing little disruption to shops in the outskirts of London, an area which was only included in the zone in August 2023. In particular the change has cut emissions of nitrogen oxides, air pollutants linked to lung problems, asthma and inflammation, by between 33% and 39%, while footfall and spending in shops has not dropped, according to data from Mastercard Inc. Almost 97% of vehicles driven within the zone are now compliant with the emissions standards, the report said. Vans, which were much more likely to be caught up by the changes, have been slower to switch, but over 90% are now compliant, compared with just 12% in 2017, before the zone was introduced. 'Everyone in the capital is now breathing cleaner air because of ULEZ,' said Christina Calderato, Transport for London's director of strategy, commenting on the report. — Bloomberg News/TNS
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Future flights could be powered by thin air — but there are big hurdles
Imagine boarding a flight from Seattle to London, but instead of burning fossil fuel, your plane's engine runs on fuel created — quite literally — from thin air. It sounds like science fiction, but research labs are already working on making it happen. So far it's on a very small scale. A new class of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) pulls carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air and turns it into jet fuel, offering a glimpse into a future where aviation could be virtually emissions-free. The catch? The price tag for these e-fuels is still sky-high. Sustainable aviation fuel prices vary depending on how they're made, and none of these fuels are widely used yet. There are two main types: bio-based SAF, made from organic materials like used cooking oil and agricultural waste, and e-SAF (also known as electrofuels, e-kerosene and e-fuels), made with renewable hydrogen and CO₂ captured from the air. E-fuels are the most expensive option, largely due to the high cost of carbon capture and electrolysis. But they hold immense promise: they could be genuinely carbon-neutral. 'Among all alternatives to fossil jet fuel, e-kerosene offers the most promising path to decarbonize the aviation sector,' says Camille Mutrelle, aviation policy officer at Transport & Environment, a European nonprofit focused on sustainable transport. 'Unlike bio-based SAF, which is limited by feedstock availability and land use concerns, e-kerosene can be sustainably scaled up to meet aviation fuel demand without competing with food production.' Lifecycle emissions for e-SAF can approach zero — especially when it's made using CO₂ captured directly from the air and powered by renewable electricity, Mutrelle adds. Though the market is still nascent, the first commercial flights using e-fuels, at least in part, are expected by 2030, Mutrelle says. More than 30 industrial-scale projects are already underway across Europe, and major airlines including United Airlines and IAG are beginning to invest. 'We expect broader deployment in the 2030s as production ramps up and costs fall,' Mutrelle adds. According to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, e-fuels currently average 7,695 euros (about $8,720) per ton. Bio-based SAF is cheaper, at 2,085 euros (about $2,365) per ton, but still far more expensive than conventional jet fuel, which averages 734 euros (about $830) per ton. This massive price gap explains why SAF adoption — especially e-fuels — has been slow. So what's the science that could power a 280-ton Dreamliner across the Atlantic — using nothing but air, water and renewable energy? Carbon capture fuels avoid the environmental pitfalls of traditional biofuels, which often rely on monoculture crops like sugarcane that can damage biodiversity and compete with food production. Instead, e-fuels use CO₂ from the atmosphere (or industrial emissions), plus hydrogen extracted from water via electrolysis using renewable electricity. The result is a synthetic jet fuel that can be used in existing aircraft engines, recycling carbon instead of adding more to the atmosphere. Among the companies pioneering this approach is Twelve, a California-based startup developing low-temperature CO₂ electrolysis. It's an energy-efficient method of turning CO₂ and water into syngas, the foundation of fuel that's synthetic, or simply made of something other than natural fossil resources. 'Our way is the electrochemistry way, where we're doing CO₂ electrolysis at the front end — and we're doing it at low temperatures,' says Ashwin Jadhav, Twelve's vice president of business development. 'There's not many folks out there focused on that.' This low-temp process uses less energy than traditional high-heat methods and integrates easily with wind and solar, making e-fuel production more efficient and scalable. These 'air-based fuels' can reduce emissions by up to 90% compared to fossil jet fuel, without the drilling, refining, and transport pollution of oil, according to representatives at Twelve. Twelve's first production plant, called AirPlant One, is opening this year in Washington state and the company plans to make 50,000 gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually. United Airlines is one of the major supporters helping to make this first round of mass-scale production possible. Twelve has also signed a major deal to supply 260 million gallons of SAF over 14 years to Europe's International Airlines Group (which owns Vueling, Iberia, Aer Lingus and British Airways). And while Twelve's fuel hasn't yet powered a commercial flight, the company aims to supply e-fuel for flights within the next year. Microsoft is part of a three-way partnership with Alaska Airlines and Twelve, whereby Microsoft will offset business travel emissions resulting from employees flying on Alaska Airlines. For now, the expectation is to blend e-SAF with fossil fuels until production of e-SAF is scaled up to fill tanks. Under Europe's ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, flights within Europe must use 2% SAF by 2025 and 70% by 2050 — with specific targets for e-fuel adoption along the way. While the technology for green skies already exists, shifting from fossil fuels to truly sustainable aviation is a long, complicated journey. Existing, longstanding investments in oil, political considerations and the pace of regulation all play a role in how quickly the transition takes flight. 'Economies of scale are needed to lower prices, but the high upfront costs discourage airlines from adopting SAF widely,' says Marina Efthymiou, a professor of aviation management at Dublin City University. 'Without strong policy interventions — such as subsidies, tax credits, and mandates — the financial gap is simply too large to overcome.' She notes that e-fuels have the highest emissions-reduction potential of any SAF — but also the steepest startup costs. So far, most SAF usage by airlines has involved bio-based fuels, especially HEFA-SPK (Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids), which are more commercially available. In November 2023, Virgin Atlantic flew the first transatlantic flight powered entirely by sustainable fuels — made from waste fats and plant sugars. No fossil fuel. No e-fuels either. It showed that clean aviation is possible, though next-generation options like e-fuels are still too expensive and difficult to scale. Airlines including Emirates, Cebu Pacific, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have all flown using SAF, though details are often vague. 'Airlines aren't always transparent about how much SAF they're using, the blend percentage, or which type of SAF they rely on,' Efthymiou says. Across the energy, technology, and aviation sectors, a growing number of companies are investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Airlines like United, Delta, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, and Air France-KLM have committed to scaling up SAF usage, while energy giants like Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies are funding SAF production facilities. Tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have pledged SAF purchases to offset business travel emissions. However, investment in electrofuels (eSAF) — produced by combining captured CO₂ and renewable electricity — is still far more limited. Early adopters like United Airlines, Lufthansa Group, IAG (British Airways' parent company), and Japan Airlines have signed partnerships with companies like Twelve, Infinium, and Synhelion. Because eSAF is significantly more expensive and energy-intensive to produce than bio-based SAF, corporate investment remains cautious, and large-scale deployment will depend heavily on regulatory support and technological breakthroughs. E-fuels are hard to make and even harder to scale. The required infrastructure — carbon capture units, electrolysis systems, fuel synthesis plants — is costly to build. Production also demands huge amounts of renewable energy. Electrolysis, which entails using electricity to isolate hydrogen in water, alone requires large-scale green hydrogen generation, which is still developing in most regions. 'E-fuels have the potential to be the most sustainable form of SAF because they can be produced without land use, agricultural input, or waste feedstocks,' says Efthymiou. 'But that depends on the source of electricity and CO₂. The sustainability promise only holds if the inputs are truly renewable.' In short, e-fuels will only be as clean as the grid that powers them. Still, a major upside is that e-fuels work with existing aircraft. 'Most estimates suggest e-fuels could become more cost-competitive by the mid-2030s,' Efthymiou says, 'depending on renewable electricity prices, carbon pricing and technological improvements.' Small-scale demo plants are already running — like Ineratec and Atmosfair in Germany, and Infinium and Twelve in the US. But volumes remain tiny, and costs are high. 'Without a solid regulatory push, airlines just aren't motivated to switch,' says Mutrelle. Still, with continued investment, policy support, and technological advancements, experts believe that the idea of flying on fuel made from air could become a reality. Though pragmatic about the challenges faced, many experts are optimistic. Jonathon Counsell, head of sustainability at International Airlines Group, is one. 'Of course the ultimate goal is to take CO₂ directly from the atmosphere,' Counsell says. 'At first, we're capturing CO₂ from industrial plants to prevent it from entering the air. But the next step is direct air capture — sucking carbon out of the atmosphere itself. That's where we really want to get to.' He points out that SAF production has already grown from 100 tons to over a million tons in just a few years — evidence that scaling is possible. While carbon capture fuels remain a long-term solution rather than a present reality, if governments, airlines, and innovators align, the idea of flying on fuel made from air could take off sooner than we think.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Palm oil in disguise? Fake 'green' diesel allegedly sold in Europe
European drivers are being conned into buying a so-called renewable diesel found to contain a sludgy spin-off generated when palm oil is produced. Palm oil mill effluent "is being blended into European biofuels," according to Transport & Environment, which describes itself as "Europe's leading advocates [sic] for clean transport & energy." In other words, a type of diesel known as HVO, which is being marketed as green by big oil companies, is likely "fraudulent" due it being "palm oil in disguise." "Data indicate that more palm oil residues are being reported than is actually possible, suggesting a high likelihood of fraud," Transport & Environment warns in a report published on April 9. "After a decade of biofuel policies contributing to global deforestation, the EU began shifting toward waste-based alternatives like used cooking oil, animal fats, but also palm products, and residues," according to Transport & Environment, which warns that the shift to "so-called waste materials" has led to knock-on concern about what it calls "questionable imports." The findings follow attempts by some European countries and the European Commission to reduce imports of palm oil, said to be the world's most widely used and most versatile vegetable oil, due to it being grown on deforested land in Indonesia and Malaysia. An ingredient in a wide range of foods and cosmetics, palm oil is also made into a fuel and used in Asia for cooking. The EU's campaign to reduce palm oil use has led to tensions with Indonesia and Malaysia, source countries for most of the world's exported palm oil, who argue in turn that the land needed to produce palm oil is far less than what is needed to grow enough other crops to produce the same amount of alternative oils.
