Drone research and development centre to be built in Hungary!

The city of Zalaegerszeg, in western Hungary, plans to set up a drone research and development centre with a 20 billion forint (EUR 52.3m) investment, Mayor Zoltán Balaicz said on Thursday.

Research and development of civilian and state-operated drones

The investment will create 200 jobs, he told a press conference. The centre dubbed Dronemotive is planned to be set up at the 110-hectare privately operated Zalaegerszeg-Andrashida airport, the mayor said. It will carry out research and development of civilian and state-operated drones, as well as certification and testing, he said.

The investment also aims to ensure that the airport can handle small domestic planes and helicopters,

Tóth said.

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Hungary ranks 13th in meeting European carbon neutrality goals

Hungary ranks 13th in terms of meeting the European goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics said in Zalaegerszeg, in western Hungary, on Thursday, citing international studies.

Just a few years ago, experts saw the future of mobility in pure electric vehicles, but the question is more nuanced now,

Palkovics said at the signing of research projects on alternative fuel and carbon sequestration being carried out by the University of Szeged, the University of Győr and Audi Hungária.

Vehicles on the roads today need to be made more environmentally friendly and the use of hydrogen as fuel and energy storage must also be explored, he said.

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The creation of a greener transport sector is among the main goals of the climate and environmental protection action plan launched by the government two years ago, the minister said. The government has supported the procurement of more than 15,000 electric vehicles in the recent period, he said, adding that

the number of environmentally friendly vehicles on Hungary’s roads had increased to 43,000 from 28,000 in barely a year.

Hungary aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy mix of its transport sector from the current 11 percent to 14 percent by 2030, Palkovics said.