Interesting Ideas

Hamburg shop set up in tribute to aspiring pastry chef becomes ‘happy’ pilgrimage site for grieving parents

Johanna Orth was a fun-loving, determined little girl and later a purpose-driven young woman who revelled in making a creative mess in the kitchen. Her parents, Inka and Ralph, chuckle quietly as they remember the stacks of batter-covered bowls, spatulas and whisks repeatedly left in the sink.

With time, Johanna’s cakes and pastries grew more sophisticated and elaborate, guided by her grandmother, Marlies, who was also a talented baker. Marlies’ own ambition of opening a cafe one day had been thwarted by the demands of motherhood and postwar Germany’s rigid gender roles.

Under Anne Hidalgo – mayor for 12 years until last week – the French capital added bike lanes, cut traffic and reclaimed public space, but not without resistance

When Corentin Roudaut moved to Paris 10 years ago, he was too scared to cycle. The IT developer had biked everywhere as a student in Rennes but felt overwhelmed by the bustling French capital. Cars were everywhere. Cyclists had almost no protection.

But once authorities carved out space for a segregated bike lane on Boulevard Voltaire near his home in the 11th arrondissement, Roudaut returned to the two-wheel commute and did not look back.

Malaysian national carmaker Proton achieved its highest quarterly sales volume since 2004 by delivering 49,140 units in the first three months of the year. This meant 40.1 percent year-on-year growth, a feat made more impressive by the fact that the broader Malaysian automotive market actually contracted by 4.9 percent during ... [continued]

The post Proton EVs Sell Well In Malaysia, Where Fuel Is Subsidized & Cheap appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The Fife, Scotland, hydrogen trial is moving forward at Easter 2026, and that timing matters more than it might seem. Easter is a season associated with renewal, honesty, sacrifice, and the choice to leave behind what no longer serves the common good. Against that backdrop, SGN is advancing a project ... [continued]

The post The Scottish Home Hydrogen Trial And The Ethics Of Delay appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Tebay, Cumbria: A planned reintroduction of these apex predators has got us upland farmers worried. We’re still not convinced they won’t harm our flocks

The years seem to be coming around very quickly – this will be my ninth spring at this farm. As the days get longer and the grass begins to grow, my mind turns to lambing. We have a short growing season here, so we plan for lambing to start mid-April, hoping the grass will have started growing by then. The tiny Ouessant sheep, which have to lamb indoors due to predation, started lambing on April Fools’ Day.

Last year I put a large group of Ouessants outside to graze on the Roman fort when they were four days old, and they disappeared without a trace – 13 lambs lost. It wasn’t a fox or a badger, as we know what a predated carcass looks like, and it wasn’t the mink that had been killing hens, as that was leaving dead bodies.

I recently reported to CleanTechnica readers about the surge in EV sales in Australia. It appears the same thing is happening in New Zealand, with second-hand and demo EVs being snapped up and car yards emptying out. Here is one revealing photo: Car yards are advertising for second-hand stock. Thanks ... [continued]

The post New Zealand Car Yards Empty As Electric Vehicle Sales Surge appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Within the first month of release, the Nissan Serena e-POWER recorded over 1,300 bookings and around 250 deliveries nationwide, indicating solid initial demand for a midsized MPV in this price range. April deliveries are now approaching 1,000 units. Nissan assembler and distributor Edaran Tan Chong Motor introduced the sixth-generation version ... [continued]

The post Malaysia’s Long-Running Serena Enters e-POWER Era with Solid Early Demand appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In turbulent times, experts recommend building up a store of food if possible – focusing on long-life, no-cook items

People should have an emergency stockpile of food in their homes in case conflicts, extreme weather or cyber-attacks shut down supplies, leading UK experts have told the Guardian.

In an ever more turbulent world, they say it is essential to choose long-life items that can be eaten without cooking – think tinned beans, vegetables and fish, rice crackers, and oats that can be soaked. But it is also important to choose items you actually like to eat, and some treats such as chocolate or crisps to keep your spirits up. You will also need water – lots of it – not just to drink but for washing too.

Exclusive: research finds Jackdaw field would provide only about 2% of current demand, and Rosebank only 1%

Opening major new fields in the North Sea would make almost no difference to the UK’s reliance on gas imports, research has shown.

The Jackdaw field, one of the largest unexploited gasfields in the North Sea, would displace only 2% of the UK’s current imports of gas, which would leave the UK still almost entirely dependent on supplies from Norway and a few other sources.

Stock runs low as oil crunch increases enthusiasm for electric vehicles

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When a used vehicle rolls into a car yard, the usual trajectory for its price tag is down if it lingers too long.

That is the (almost) iron law of the secondhand market – until the oil crisis hit and dealers started raising asking prices for used electric vehicles.

In the last six months or so, there have been a number of news articles about Illinois EV charger expansion: 10 in Decatur 40 fast chargers near Chicago. 40 in Springfield A new hub of fast chargers Here comes another 72 public fast charger ports for the same state. The ... [continued]

The post 72 New EV Fast Chargers Now Operating In Or Coming To Illinois appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Scientists estimate the endangered bird’s population has slumped to about 750. But the logging agency responsible for clearing its habitat said it acted lawfully

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They are sounds from a section of forest that no longer exists. In December and January, scientists for the Bob Brown Foundation captured the call of the swift parrot, a critically endangered migratory species. The environment campaign group says it was recorded in an area marked for clear-felling in the Wielangta forest in Tasmania’s south-east.

The foundation’s Dr Charley Gros said the vocal mark of the world’s fastest parrot was unmistakable. “It’s a tiny bird but has a very loud call,” he said. “It’s very sharp and quick and fast. You can’t confuse it with something else.”

The US has invoked national security to remove protections for the endangered cetacean, of which only about 50 are left

Since before modern humans existed Rice’s whales have been diving to the depths of the ocean to gorge on fat-rich fish while growing to leviathan proportions, their bodies spanning the length of a bus and weighing as much as as six elephants.

Unfortunately for these grand creatures, their only home became a patch of the Gulf of Mexico that the oil and gas industry, much later, became highly interested in for drilling. Only about 50 of these baleen whales still exist on Earth, surrounded by clanging aquatic highways of boats and shifting drilling infrastructure.

Researchers are weaving Native practices with western methods to revive ecosystems and reclaim food sovereignty

“I’m a glorified clam counter.”

So said Marco Hatch, a marine ecologist at Western Washington University and an enrolled member of the Samish Indian Nation. Hatch has been conducting surveys of mollusks growing in and around clam gardens in the Pacific north-west, as he collaborates with seven Indigenous communities to build or rebuild these rock-walled, terraced beaches once created and tended by their ancestors.

The Isle of Wight is where Charles Dickens wrote some of David Copperfield, a novel that may have been his most autobiographical. The opening could also serve as a meaningful observation and guidance for our own times: “WHETHER I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, ... [continued]

The post 1,500 New EV Chargers Coming To the Isle Of Wight appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A new study deploys computational fluid dynamic models to describe how the solar panels in agrivoltaic systems can reduce wind damage and soil loss, outperforming natural windbreaks.

The post Agrivoltaics Can Save US Farmers In More Ways Than One appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In response to rising petrol and diesel costs and the uncertainty of where they will peak, March has seen a surge in Electric Vehicle sales across Australia and New Zealand. Reports of rapidly increasing search numbers — doubling each week — according to reports in the main stream media led ... [continued]

The post Car Yards Empty As EV Sales Surge in Australia appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A children's book in Sweden about fossil fuels has created controversy, with critics saying it is propaganda for the oil and gas industry.

The post Fossil Fuel FUD Is Targeting Your Children appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Citizen science data reveals early flowering, nesting and insect activity as global heating accelerate seasonal change

Bluebells are flowering, swallows are returning and orange-tip butterflies are flying in what could become Britain’s earliest recorded spring.

Records for early spring occurrences are being smashed as 2026 looks to be the earliest this century for frogspawn laying, blackbirds nesting, brimstone butterflies emerging and hazel flowering, according to Nature’s Calendar, which has logged citizen science records of seasonal change since 2000.

Progressives are already working hard to win back the US House of Representatives in 2026 as a fundamental piece of the “Stop Trump” strategy. The politicalization of climate change means that there is much at stake for climate activists in the upcoming election, as its results will help to shape ... [continued]

The post How Should Progressive US Midterm Candidates Frame Their Arguments About Climate Change? appeared first on CleanTechnica.