New Zealand: Transport
SPINNING SAILS: Ancient idea to be given a new airing
15 Mar 2017
An ocean-going tanker is to be fitted with a type of “spinning sail” invented almost a century ago in a step that could lead to more environmentally friendly tankers worldwide.
Science is getting closer to sun-powered cars
13 Mar 2017
Scientists are developing a practical method to convert water and sunshine into fuel — a key step in someday powering cars with the sun.
CRUISE CONTROL: Choppy seas for sustainable ocean travel
10 Mar 2017
Not many of the 25 million people enjoying the sea breeze on a cruise ship this year are likely to think about the air pollutants being emitted from the vessel.
Aviation industry acts to reduce aircraft emissions
7 Mar 2017
The aviation industry is the first sector to introduce a global design standard on emissions.
Auckland welcomes e-cars to special lanes
6 Mar 2017
From today, electric vehicles are allowed in priority lanes on Auckland’s roads – but only for two weeks.
Beijing looks to replace entire taxi fleet with electric vehicles
6 Mar 2017
Beijing officials have hatched plans to replace all of the city's 70,000 gas-powered taxicabs with electric vehicles to try to improve the China capital's notorious pollution issues.
KiwiRail puts $4.5b tag on electrifying network
3 Mar 2017
Electrifying the entire North Island rail network would cost more than $4.5 billion, says KiwiRail.
Tesla's China sales triple to more than $1billion
3 Mar 2017
Tesla’s revenue from China last year tripled to more than $1 billion, indicating better traction in the market Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has predicted could eventually become the company’s biggest.
Flight to greener aviation fuel has hit turbulence
1 Mar 2017
When it comes to reducing carbon emissions, one of the biggest hurdles is the world’s addiction to flying.
Liquid hydrogen could fuel future air travel
1 Mar 2017
Liquid hydrogen might be the solution to the thorny problem of sustainable air travel.
E-cars make up 37% of Norway vehicle sales
1 Mar 2017
Plug-in electric vehicles made up 37 per cent of Norway’s new-car sales last month.
Europe takes tough line on shipping emissions
27 Feb 2017
The European Parliament has lost patience with shipping industry inaction over climate change and has outlined plans to include vessels in its Emissions Trading System.
Six states propose new electric vehicle fees
27 Feb 2017
Six US states have proposed legislation this year that would add to the cost of owning an electric vehicle, worrying clean energy advocates who say owning emissions-free vehicles should be incentivised rather than taxed.
Railway stations across India to go solar
24 Feb 2017
India’s railways – the leading consumer of power – are to become the nation’s largest producer of solar energy.
Melbourne streets become living transport lab
23 Feb 2017
Integrated transport has long been the holy grail of transport engineering. Now, a project set up north of Melbourne’s CBD aims to make it a reality.
London to charge polluting vehicles
21 Feb 2017
Older, more polluting cars will have to pay an extra £10 ($NZ17) charge to drive in central London’s congestion charge zone, the city’s mayor has said.
Volvo aims at first all-electric vehicle in 2019
16 Feb 2017
Volvo has announced that its first all-electric vehicle is coming in 2019 with battery packs up to 100 kilowatt hours.
European trains go down renewable route
13 Feb 2017
Renewable energy is helping to power increasing numbers of the world’s road vehicles. Now several European countries are exploring the potential for using renewables to fuel their trains.
Norway spearheads Europe's electric vehicle surge
9 Feb 2017
Oslo, Norway’s capital, like most of the Scandinavian country’s cities and towns, boasts bus-lane access for electric vehicles, recharging stations aplenty, privileged parking, and toll-free travel for electric cars.
UK plans to get rid of diesel vehicles ... and soon
8 Feb 2017
A scheme that would see the scrapping of diesel cars could be introduced in just months as part of a plan to lower emissions and improve air quality across the UK.
US sees electric vehicle sales soar
8 Feb 2017
Following a 5 per cent decline in sales from 2014 to 2015, US electric vehicle sales jumped by 37 per cent in 2016.
Flights to slip under radar of EU emissions limits
7 Feb 2017
International flights in and out of the European Union could be exempted from emissions limits for at least another four years to give the United Nations time to implement a global system to curb pollution from planes.
E-cars and cheap solar could sink fossil fuels by 2020
3 Feb 2017
Falling costs of electric vehicles and solar panels could halt worldwide growth in demand for oil and coal by 2020, a new report has suggested.
Emissions rules unfair, say coastal ship operators
26 Jan 2017
New Zealand shipping companies say it is unfair they are paying for their greenhouse gas emissions but international companies competing with them on coastal routes are not.
EV charging stations to get standard set-up
26 Jan 2017
The Government is standardising public electric-vehicle charging stations.
Electric cars will not stem global demand for oil, says BP
26 Jan 2017
Global demand for oil will still be growing in 2035 even with an enormous growth in electric cars in the next two decades, with numbers on the road rising from 1m to 100m, BP has predicted.
Paris rolls out driverless bus service to fight pollution
25 Jan 2017
Paris has launched its first driverless electric shuttle bus service, aiming to curb congestion and pollution that many Parisians blame for a whole raft of health complaints.
Toyota dealership strikes diamonds
25 Jan 2017
North Shore Toyota has joined Waikato Toyota to become just the second motor vehicle dealer in New Zealand to gain Enviro-Mark Diamond certification.
Cities unite to price cars for electric fleet
24 Jan 2017
Four of the largest US West Coast cities are asking carmakers whether they can produce "a potentially record-breaking order" of 24,000 electric vehicles.
Big carmakers lead $10b hydrogen investment
24 Jan 2017
Daimler, BMW, and Toyota are leading a group of 13 companies pledging to invest more than $10 billion during the next five years to spur public interest in buying hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
China’s electric vehicles set for bumpy ride
19 Dec 2016
The statistics are impressive: sales of electric vehicles in China are likely to reach 400,000 this year, a more than 150 per cent increase on the figure for 2015.
Hybrid cars join emissions reporting regime
16 Dec 2016
Hybrid cars have been brought into the voluntary greenhouse gas report regime for the first time.
New study reveals shattering effect of roads on nature
16 Dec 2016
Rampant road building has shattered the Earth’s land into 600,000 fragments, most of which are too tiny to support significant wildlife, a new study has revealed.
Vehicles in Paris must have 'clean stickers'
13 Dec 2016
Paris has passed a new regulation which requires vehicles to display a “clean sticker” indicating the cleanliness of the vehicle in high pollution areas.
Takanini joins e-charger network
9 Dec 2016
Auckland’s southern-most public electric vehicle charger has opened in Takanini.
Britain paves way for EVs and green aviation
7 Dec 2016
British transport is set for a significant low-carbon boost with several new Government consultations and funding schemes announced in a bid to drive a green transport overhaul.
Toyota to expand hybrid development
7 Dec 2016
Toyota will expand the development of its gasoline-hybrid technology over the next five years to speed up the introduction of lower-emission engines.
Major cities move to ban diesel cars and trucks by 2025
5 Dec 2016
The leaders of four major global cities say they will stop the use of all diesel-powered cars and trucks by the middle of the next decade.
GM ready to lose $9000 a pop on all-electric Chevy Bolt
5 Dec 2016
General Motors stands to lose as much as $US9000 on every Chevrolet Bolt that leaves a showroom once the all-electric subcompact starts rolling out.
Toyota likes sales of luxury hybrid SUVs
2 Dec 2016
Sales of luxury hybrid sport vehicles are on the rise in New Zealand.
Copenhagen boasts more bicycles than cars
1 Dec 2016
Denmark's capital city, Copenhagen, is now home to more bikes than cars.
MAKE SOME NOISE: E-vehicles must turn up the volume
29 Nov 2016
US authorities have ruled that all hybrids and EVs must emit an artificial noise by the year 2019.
PAIN IN SPAIN: Fast train, but what about the birds?
29 Nov 2016
The European Court of Justice has ruled that Spain forgot about the birds when it built a high-speed train link between Seville and Almería.
Why faster roads don't sit with our plans for electric cars
25 Nov 2016
Increasing the speed limit will negate the climate benefits of the Government’s electric vehicle policy, says an expert on climate change and transport.
VW shifts gear to e-cars and US market
23 Nov 2016
Volkswagen said it wants to be the world leader in electric cars by 2025 as it unveiled a major shift to clean-energy vehicles in the wake of the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal.
Cars use much more fuel than manufacturers let on
22 Nov 2016
Cars consume much more than makers claim they do and the gap between lab and real-world performance can reach up to 42 per cent, according to a new study.
Alaska flies first jet powered by local forest biomass
22 Nov 2016
Alaska Airline passengers have taken to the skies in a world-first commercial flight running on sustainable alternative jet fuel made from forest residuals from the Pacific Northwest.
Air NZ flies high at sustainable business awards
18 Nov 2016
Air New Zealand is the supreme winner in this year’s Sustainable Business Network Awards, announced in Auckland last night.
Bike to work ... and get yourself a tax break
11 Nov 2016
People should receive £250 ($NZ425) a year in tax breaks if they cycle to work, according to a proposal to improve public health and business productivity backed by some of the UK’s biggest companies.
US designates e-vehicle charging corridors
7 Nov 2016
The US government is designating 48 electric vehicle charging corridors along 25,000 miles of major highways as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and make it easier for drivers to switch to electric cars.
Govt signs NZ up for carbon credit co-operation with Philippines
Today 12:00pm
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand has signed an agreement with the Philippines to establish a framework for Paris Agreement co-operation allowing offshore mitigation, including on Article 6 credits – despite the Coalition Government repeatedly telling the voting public they wouldn’t send “billions overseas”.
Greens want one-year pause on AI datacentres
Today 12:00pm
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Datacentre opponents have welcomed the Greens' call to press pause on new operations, while others say the energy-hungry facilities will bring jobs to the regions.
Study outlines methane-cutting options for NZ livestock
21 Jul 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Breeding, feed and forage strategies could play a key role in reducing methane emissions from New Zealand's grazing livestock, with researchers concluding that a combination of approaches will be needed to achieve meaningful cuts.
'Terrible result': Emissions barely budged in 2024
5 Jun 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions were virtually unchanged in 2024, falling by 0.03%, despite the economy shrinking by ten times that amount during the same period, according to new data.
National deer management strategy urgently needed to halt 'catastrophe' for native forests
Mon 27 Jul 2026
Scientists are calling for an urgent national deer management strategy, with deer numbers now at unsustainable levels and decimating native forests.
Business leaders say climate report ‘wake-up call’ for NZ
Thu 23 Jul 2026
By Liz Kivi | CEO-led organisations representing 42% of GDP are calling the Climate Change Commission’s latest report “a significant wake-up call for New Zealand.”
