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We all have some things in life we find it difficult to restrict ourselves from, even if we know they contribute to climate change. For me it’s travelling. Ever since I set off on my first interrail through Europe at 16, travelling and exploring have shaped and enriched my life. Unfortunately, I cannot say that it has always been done by train nor in sustainable accommodation. But now that is changing, and luckily the travel and tourism industries are hard at work to make it possible for people – who like I, cannot imagine a world where they cannot discover new cultures and landscapes – to do so without causing harm to the world they are exploring. In our Sustainable Travel theme, we explore some of the cities and sectors…

“We did it!” says Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG. He goes on to explain that as the VISION EQXX powered through more than 1,000km on a single battery charge, and with a consumption of only 8.7 kWh/100 km in real-world traffic conditions, it is “the most efficient Mercedes ever built”. Considering that many EV critics still argue that the limited range of EVs means they will never truly replace combustion vehicles, the achievement of the VISION EQXX is certainly uplifting. Because, even though the vehicle is a research prototype engineered by Mercedes-Benz to “underpin the company’s Lead in EVs”, the company confirms that the technology components will be deployed in its upcoming MMA (Mercedes Modular Architecture) platform for smaller entry-level EVs. Markus Schäfer, chief…

At the Mercedes-Benz ESG Conference in April, the carmaker presented its ambitious plans to create a “holistic environmental, social and governance concept along the entire value chain”. The Plan includes a goal of going all-electric at the end of this decade and cutting the carbon footprint per passenger car by more than half by 2030 compared with 2020 levels. To achieve this goal, the company will be focusing on electrifying the vehicle fleet, charging with green energy (Mercedes-Benz enables ‘green charging’ at all of the around 300,000 public charging points in the Mercedes me Charge network throughout Europe), and improving battery technology, as well as an extensive use of recycled materials and renewable energy in production. One step in this process is the foundation of a CO2-neutral recycling factory in Kuppenheim,…

Renewable energy analysts have long had trouble working out what to do with China. If wind and solar installation estimates are sketchy in many Asian countries, in China, with a closed administration and massive production capacity, it’s really a matter of guesswork. And then there is what happened in January 2021. Researchers at big analyst firms such as BloombergNEF and Wood Mackenzie had been holding their breath to see if the Chinese National Energy Administration (NEA) would confirm 2020 solar and wind installation figures that the analysts already thought would be on the high side. What happened blew them away. The NEA’s figures were on the high side alright: it said China had installed 48 GW of solar power, a third more than BloombergNEF’s already-generous estimate of 36 GW. But China’s…

“It is about imagining how in a hundred years, we want to live – that’s the principle you, as a designer, have to integrate, you have to be moving towards that,” says Aubel. Indeed, the word ‘futuristic’ does seem highly apt in the description of Aubel’s designs, which utilise, integrate and captivatingly showcase the newest possibilities of solar technology. “We have an abundance of sunlight, but we are not using it enough; there’s so much potential,” she explains. “I want to focus on that and on how we can capture that energy, and turn every surface into energy harvesting, make every object and building harvest its own energy. If you can do that, solar provides a very democratic source of energy, you can have it everywhere, on very big or very small…

After two years of unprecedented crisis, the aviation sector is enjoying its recovery: holidaymakers and business travellers alike are ready to get back in the air and bookings are increasing. But it’s not quite back to business as usual. Those long months of empty airports and silent skies focused minds like never before on the sector’s next big challenge. Cutting carbon dioxide emissions is now a major priority for airlines, airports and manufacturers around the world. “Decarbonising aviation is the challenge of a generation, but we know it can and must be done,” said Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet on 19 May, as the low-cost carrier set out a new interim target of cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by 35 per cent from 2020 levels by 2035. Last year, the global airline industry…