Interesting Ideas

Novel forms of CO₂ removal must expand at ‘highly ambitious rates’ if world is to limit global heating to 1.5C, says study

Humanity must suck carbon out of the atmosphere with new technologies even faster than the breakneck speed with which it has deployed solar panels if it is to limit global heating to 1.5C, a report has found.

Novel forms of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) must grow at “highly ambitious rates” to bridge the gap between what governments have pledged to clean up and what is needed to comply with the Paris climate agreement, according to researchers. They said the next five years were critical to establishing the technologies’ role in limiting climate damages.

Understanding whale sounds could help prevent strikes from ships and even aid in search for extraterrestrial life

If you stand on certain shorelines and listen carefully you might just hear deep rumbling noises. Sharp-eared fishers, lighthouse keepers and sea kayakers have been haunted by these late-night sounds for centuries and now, for the first time, scientists have recorded these thrums and pinpointed them to humpback whales, proving that whales have a far larger vocabulary than previously thought.

Fred Sharpe from the Alaska Whale Foundation and his colleagues set up land-based microphones to tune in to the mysterious ocean noises. Tip-offs from Alaskan coastal communities helped to narrow down the best recording locations. Along with the previously documented trumpets, blows and shrieks that humpback whales make, the researchers recorded very low frequency rumbles, a bit like distant thunder, and new sounds including pizzle, howl and hooting noises. The night thrums travelled through the air and could be heard up to 6 miles (10km) away.

Kielder in Northumberland is balancing commercial production with conserving peatland and rare plants and animals

Driving through part of Northumberland, you might look around at the tall Sitka spruce and imagine yourself in Canada’s evergreen forests, or perhaps, on a sunny day, in northern California. Instead, you are in England’s largest forest, Kielder, often heralded as a success story that balances commercial production with ambitious conservation.

The first trees of this 60,000-hectare forest were planted 100 years ago with one aim: increasing Britain’s timber reserves. Much has changed since then. From a single-use plantation, Kielder Forest has been transformed into a haven for nature and an invaluable environmental asset.

Pauline Hanson wants the government to take a stake in resource operations. While experts say this may sound reasonable, the devil’s in the details

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In September 2022, Pauline Hanson stood up in the Senate to berate the chamber – but she wasn’t fired up about immigration or the latest battle in the never-ending culture wars.

The One Nation leader was arguing for gas and oil exploration laws to change “to make the benefit of the Australian community a guiding principle in the interpretation of the act”.

Physical and psychological impacts of a tap water parasite outbreak continue to be felt in south Devon

• South West Water fined £1.85m over parasite outbreak in Devon

Most of the tourists milling around the busy fishing harbour or visiting Agatha Christie’s riverside holiday retreat have probably forgotten what South West Water euphemistically calls the “Brixham incident”.

But for residents at the centre of the “incident” – a parasite outbreak that caused perhaps hundreds of people in south Devon to fall ill after they drank contaminated water – the physical and psychological impacts are still keenly felt.

It’s been a long time coming, but Waymo is finally rolling out the Ojai, a Zeekr-produced robotaxi model, for passenger trips. It definitely looks more rider-friendly than a typical SUV like the Jaguar I-PACE Waymo has been using. And it’s got a fun, inviting look to it. It does look ... [continued]

The post Waymo Rolls Out the Ojai! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Scientists believe they may now have found the cause of Fair Isle’s pollution – and warn that it should be ringing alarm bells in other coastal areas

When the wind picks up on Fair Isle, Britain’s most remote inhabited island, puffs of seafoam start to drift across fields like tumbleweed. The pale yellow blobs are ubiquitous enough to hold their own place in the island’s mythology: known as the butter churned by a local troll, Lukki Minni.

“When the Atlantic gets going, foam covers the whole island,” says Tommy Hyndman, an artist who moved to the Fair Isle from upstate New York two decades ago. “Your windows get caked and your plants all die from the salt.”

From cliff sides, coastal lookouts, kayaks or boats, people counted every dolphin they saw for at least 15 minutes to aid research into NSW’s populations

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Looking down the barrel of a telephoto lens, Dr Elizabeth Hawkins tells the dolphins circling the research boat to work it for the camera.

“That’s it,” she says, joking to her crew. “Show us some fin. Don’t be shy. How about some tail? Oh that’s good. The camera loves you.”

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UN agency predicts phenomenon that supercharges weather extremes has 80% chance of forming before September

The world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the supercharged weather extremes it brings, the UN has warned.

The powerful natural weather pattern, which raises global temperatures and worsens some rainfall, has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

The massive Hornet solar power plant hosts sheep and sheepdogs, and it is getting a new 201-megawatt companion array on adjacent land.

The post Giant Solar Power Plant In Texas Gets A New Neighbor appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Net zero industry accounts for more than a million jobs and benefits whole country, according to CBI Economics

More than a million jobs, higher wages, nearly half a trillion pounds in investment in the pipeline – the UK’s green economy is powering ahead, according to research by the country’s leading business organisation.

The net zero economy, which is worth more than £100bn a year, benefits all of the UK, according to the CBI Economics analysis commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank, despite critics who want to abolish the UK’s net zero targets.

NORTHEAST — Today, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont sued the Trump administration over the U.S. Department of the Interior’s $1 billion buyout of TotalEnergies’ offshore wind leases, a move that led the company to abandon its U.S. offshore wind projects in exchange for doubling down on ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Applauds Northeast States for Challenging Trump Administration’s Illegal TotalEnergies Offshore Wind Lease Buyout appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Hogshaw, Derbyshire: We’re up to 27 spotted orchids in our garden, and every one is a miracle

When we moved to this house, we didn’t need the encouragement of No Mow May – the ecological campaign advocating restraint in the garden. Our old lawnmower was designed to tackle your average handkerchief and leaving nine-tenths of the new place uncut was a matter of necessity as much as self-control.

The highlight of last year’s non-labouring efforts addressed directly the whole meaning of no-mow gardening. Who knows what lies hidden in a uniform shorn expanse, unless it is allowed to express itself? A slender pink flower among the green swathe turned out to be a spotted orchid, the commonest, most widespread of our 54 UK species. With this as a search image, I eventually climbed to 16 spikes last year. That alone felt like a triumph.

Offshore wind projects can bring hundreds of new jobs to their host states, as illustrated by the Sunrise Wind project in New York.

The post TotalEnergies On The Hot Seat Over Offshore Wind Deal appeared first on CleanTechnica.

As we’ve reported month after month, BYD sales have been down all year in 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. There are some obvious negative causes, like modest subsidy cuts in China. However, there are actually some strongly positive reasons for it as well. BYD has launched some ... [continued]

The post BYD Stops Sales Bleed — Turning Point? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

BYD’s passenger vehicle sales may be in a transitionary moment, going from year-over-year drops in the beginning of the year to a big sales rise in the second half of the year. In May, they were basically flat year over year. However, on the commercial vehicle side of the business, ... [continued]

The post BYD Commercial Vehicle Sales Jump in May appeared first on CleanTechnica.

South Africa’s electric vehicle market has reached a pivotal moment, with commercial fleets proving substantial economic advantages and consumer interest surging, according to industry leaders speaking at a webinar hosted by energy analyst Chris Yelland. Industry leaders recently participated in a webinar titled “State of the Electric Vehicle Industry in ... [continued]

The post Commercial Electric Fleet Operators In South Africa Prove 27% Cost Advantage — Infrastructure Scales To Meet Demand appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The irony of the energy transition is sometimes found not in a showroom, but on a siding track. While putting the BYD Shark through its paces on the dusty backroads of Laguna, I found myself face-to-face with another hybrid machine — one that predates the Shark by nearly a decade ... [continued]

The post A Tale of Two Hybrids appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Electric vehicle adoption is much further along than most people a decade ago thought it would be. Perhaps not in the US, where adoption has been quite meh, but globally, in China, in South America, and in Europe, electric vehicle uptake has been quicker than conventional wisdom presumed it would ... [continued]

The post Volvo: Still Focused on 100% Electric Vehicles, Even If World Drags Its Feet appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Energy transition analysis is littered with evidence that is real and stories that are not. A pilot exists, therefore the market is forming. A government grant lands, therefore the technology has been validated. An offtake agreement appears, therefore customers must be willing to pay. A large company issues a press ... [continued]

The post A Pilot Is Not Proof Of A Market appeared first on CleanTechnica.