Interesting Ideas

Plug-in hybrids are the hottest thing in South Africa right now in terms of sales growth. Sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) were up 280% in 2025 compared with sales figures from 2024. naamsa’s quarterly review of business conditions for the South African motor vehicle manufacturing industry during the first quarter ... [continued]

The post PHEV Sales Continue to Record Phenomenal Growth in South Africa appeared first on CleanTechnica.

More than 6.5 million Somalis have been pushed to the brink of severe hunger as the climate crisis, fighting and cuts in aid leave a trail of despair

For three years, Zeynab Ibrahim watched as her little town shrivelled up and died. The rains never came, the reservoirs were depleted and the farms gradually turned to dust. Hunger and sickness swept through the village, claiming the lives of many, including four of Ibrahim’s 10 children.

“We tried every means to survive – selling dried grass and digging up water from the barren earth. Unfortunately, there was nothing left, so we had no choice but to escape to save our children,” she says, sitting in front of her shelter in a camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in the Kahda district of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

High biofuels targets will exacerbate rising global food prices, as well as fertilisers shortages. The current scramble for biofuel feedstocks to combat high oil prices could see biofuel consumption globally rise by 30% this year and a staggering 70% by 2030, a new T&E study shows. This risks putting severe pressure on ... [continued]

The post Global Biofuel Demand Set to Grow by Nearly 70% as Food Prices Rise appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Shaun Hancox has created scores of ponds for rewilding projects across Britain – and he says there’s a lot more to it than digging a hole

He is known as “the Picasso of ponds” but the tableaux being created by Shaun Hancox in a boggy field in Somerset currently looks more like a building site. An orange and black excavator is rhythmically removing lumpy clay soil and sculpting it into brown banks.

The result looks like a scar of bare earth on what was once green pasture – but the magic happens as soon as rain fills the newly created depressions. Plants seed swiftly, invertebrates and amphibians rapidly find the water, and life explodes.

The interesting part of Everllence and Silverstream’s Engine Supported Air Lubrication concept is not that ships can reduce drag by pushing air under the hull. That has been known for decades, and commercial systems are already in service. The interesting part is where the air comes from, because air lubrication’s ... [continued]

The post Air Lubrication For Ships Is Real. The Air Still Isn’t Free. appeared first on CleanTechnica.

GM aims for the Moon as part of the Pegasus lunar rover collaboration, while prepping a fresh round of lower-costing EV battery technology for vehicles on Earth.

The post GM Pitches New LMR EV Battery On Earth, New EV On The Moon appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Experts say increased use of crops for fuel is ‘dangerous game’ that could send food price inflation soaring

Demand for biofuels is likely to leap by nearly a third this year, which could send food price inflation soaring further and push the world closer to a global food crisis.

More countries are opting to increase biofuel use as the price of oil has jumped to nearly $100 a barrel after the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the strait of Hormuz.

The first quarter of 2026 saw plugin EVs take 33.0% share in France, up from 22.9% in Q1 2025. BEV share grew strongly year on year (YoY), while PHEV share was flat. Overall Q1 auto volume was 339,478 units, down some 2.5% YoY. The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling ... [continued]

The post EVs Take 33.0% Share In France — Tesla Model Y Leads appeared first on CleanTechnica.

There’s a little murmuring going on that BYD could buy Maserati. Hmm…. This stems from BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li recently saying to reporters that brands like Maserati are “very interesting” to the company. Hmm…. In case you don’t follow BYD closely, there are two things here that stand ... [continued]

The post Could BYD Buy Maserati? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The UK’s biggest bird of prey has been compared to a flying barn door. So how can one fitted with a satellite tracker disappear in prime grouse-shooting country?

The six police officers arrived at the Snilesworth estate in two pickup trucks last week, according to one account. They asked to go up on the moors, a source said, and “so off they went”.

A vast expanse of spectacularly undulating lands on the western edge of the North York Moors, Snilesworth is globally renowned for its grouse, partridge and pheasant shooting. It is known locally for attracting “rich people from London in helicopters and blacked-out SUVs”.

Migrant insects have been seen in large numbers along east coast thanks to heatwave and benign southerly winds

If you’ve spotted a pale orange butterfly dashing at frenetic pace through streets, fields or gardens, you’ve noticed the new migrants that will add colour to the summer in record-breaking numbers.

What is expected to be the largest arrival of painted lady butterflies in Britain for 17 years is under way after heatwaves and favourable winds ushered thousands if not millions of the insects northwards.

UN report says global meat supply has risen fourfold in last 60 years and is expected to keep rising

• Analysis: Ingredients in place for shift to plant-based diets but meat still dominates

The average person eats about six times as much chicken and twice as much pork as their grandparents’ generation did, data from a UN report suggests, with global meat supply having risen fourfold in the last 60 years and expected to keep rising.

The supply of poultry rose from below 3kg a person in 1961 to 17kg in 2022, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Pork supply doubled to 15kg a person over the same period, while beef, the most polluting food, stayed steady at 9kg.

CATL said this week it is developing lithium air batteries that could have an energy density of up to 12,000 Wh/kg.

The post CATL Developing 12,000 Wh Per Kg Lithium-Air Battery appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Some of them, at least. According to Reuters, the news organization interviewed a former self-driving engineer at Tesla and nine former data labelers, and they did not offer a singing endorsement of Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” (FSD) system. Reuters also talked with eleven independent traffic safety researchers for the piece. ... [continued]

The post People Who Worked On Tesla “Full Self Driving” Don’t Trust Tesla “Full Self Driving” appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Experts say dismantling the ocean observation system will ‘severely degrade’ the accuracy of weather predictions

The Trump administration’s plan to dismantle an ocean observation system vital to understanding the climate crisis and marine ecosystems would “severely degrade” the accuracy of weather predictions and El Niño forecasts, with economic consequences for the US, European and American scientists have warned.

Decommissioning the US system, which plays a major part in a global ocean observation network, would lead to a massive increase in error in the annual estimates of ocean heating rates, according to research published last month.

Hungerford, Berkshire: In a nearby farm, ever-resourceful birds and bees are getting creative with where they build their nests

There are some unusual nesting spots being utilised in the farm and stableyard, revealed by pauses between chores.

My wheelbarrow trips to the muck heap are attended by pied and grey wagtail pairs that make small aerial assaults on insects, though I’ve yet to locate their nests. The swallows are well-served here by midges and flies swarming around warm-blooded animals, and there is always mud for nest repairs, with the regular slosh of water buckets and hosing down of sweaty horses.

Mette Frederiksen’s new government promises overhaul for people – and animals – in home of ultra-intensive farming

Like all new prime ministers, when Mette Frederiksen secured a third consecutive term as Denmark’s head of government this week, she promised her administration would take steps to “improve the everyday lives” of the country’s inhabitants.

Unlike most new prime ministers, however, she specified that her left-leaning coalition’s policy programme would be not just for “the people who are in Denmark and the ⁠generations to come” but also “for the animals”.

Driven by rising fuel costs, increasing demand for affordable transportation and growing policy support for clean energy solutions, investors are increasingly backing scalable electric motorcycle platforms capable of supporting Africa’s next phase of urban and industrial growth. The electric motorcycle sector is growing nicely on the continent. I have been ... [continued]

The post Investments Starting to Grow Nicely In Africa’s Electric Motorcycle Sector appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Weather models project a potentially strong El Niño this year, which could spell disaster for heatwave-hit India, drench China and hurt agriculture across south-east Asia

The UN has warned that the world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the raised global temperatures and weather extremes it brings.

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

As I was reading through Steve Hanley’s article on the absurd new $700 million US subsidy for old, dirty coal, the ending really struck me. Here are his final words there: “Other red states joining the renewable energy party include Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan, Arizona, Louisiana, and Wyoming. “And ... [continued]

The post Why Would Someone Prefer Coal Power Over Solar & Wind? appeared first on CleanTechnica.