Interesting Ideas

US President Donald Trump has busted up plans for a domestic green hydrogen industry in the US, but other countries have moved on.

The post China Flexes Its Global Green Hydrogen Muscles, Trump Or No Trump appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The final piece of Hawaiʻi’s decarbonization puzzle is not on Oʻahu’s domestic grid. That part of the work is already largely bounded. In the earlier articles in this series, I stripped out overseas aviation fuel, ocean-crossing ship bunkering, and military energy use, then electrified ground transportation, local marine transport, buildings, ... [continued]

The post Solar at Home, Imported Biofuels for Crossing Oceans: Hawaiʻi’s Real Energy Strategy appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Conservationists celebrate second twin birth just two months after another set discovered in Virunga national park

A second set of mountain gorilla twins has been born in Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in what conservationists are celebrating as an “extraordinary” event for the endangered primates.

Just two months after tiny twin mountain gorillas were discovered by rangers in the Virunga massif, in eastern DRC, another rare twin birth has been found by park wardens. This time, an infant male and female have been spotted in the Baraka family, a troop of 19 mountain gorillas that roam the region’s high-altitude rainforests.

Interest in electric cars is way up following increases in gas prices following the unprovoked attack on Iran.

The post Iran Crisis Shows Why Automakers Are Wrong To Cancel EV Plans appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Ed Miliband says only clean power will provide ‘energy sovereignty’ amid opposition calls for oil and gas expansion

• UK politics live – latest updates

Ministers have said expanding North Sea drilling would put the UK at further risk from volatile fossil fuel markets, amid calls from the Conservatives and some Labour MPs to breach the manifesto pledge of no new oil and gas licences.

The energy minister Michael Shanks said the UK was “learning the right lessons from this conflict so that we’re not exposed to fossil fuels in the same way again, because this isn’t the first time that households across the country have paid the price of our exposure to gas”.

The whole ecosystem inside a cave feeds off guano, dead bats, or any dead animals on the ground. It’s not for the faint-hearted

It can be daunting entering a cave. It is an underground world that possibly hasn’t been explored before. The first smell that hits you is guano (or bat poo). Some of these caves host millions of bats – you can hear them chirping above, hanging in the darkness, and occasionally flying around. It always seems like night-time inside a cave because it’s pitch black.

The walls are covered in interesting creatures such as tailless whip scorpions, which look like a cross between a spider and crab (they look dangerous, but are not), as well as millipedes and centipedes. The whole ecosystem feeds off guano, dead bats, or any dead animals on the ground. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

The office of The Manila Times, where my “day job” is located, is within the historic walled city of Intramuros where the original tranvias (streetcars) operated during the late Spanish era (starting in 1886). They eventually evolved with the American electric tram system, but that was decimated during World War ... [continued]

The post Manila Welcomes Locally Engineered Electric “Tram” to the Walled City appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Residents reported headaches, eye and skin irritation and breathing difficulties as Israeli bombings blanketed Tehran with pollutants

• Middle East crisis live – latest updates

Satellite images of Tehran show toxic fires caused by Israeli bombings on oil depots were still burning days after the strikes, which have caused fears of serious health complications for millions of residents in the Iranian capital.

Clouds of smoke from bombings on 7 March on multiple facilities blanketed the city with pollutants ranging from soot to oil particles to sulphur dioxide. Hours later, a passing storm showered Tehran with poisonous, oil-filled rain.

I saw the news yesterday and honestly had to laugh. The stock market was up and oil prices were dropping because there’s a rumor that the US and Iran had “perfect” negotiations led by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. But, when you see Donald Trump use words like “perfect” and ... [continued]

The post Wall Street & The Corporate Media Are Buying Rumors of Iran Negotiations, But You Can’t Power Your Car With Big Lies appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Washington, D.C. — Today, Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior and TotalEnergies agreed to redirect $1 billion in offshore wind investments towards dirty, expensive fossil fuels instead. This announcement comes 10 days after a slew of victories in the offshore wind sector that will lower electricity prices for Americans. On ... [continued]

The post Donald Trump Kneecaps Offshore Wind Amidst Renewable Victories appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The fishery is regulated but experts say it is wrecking the food chain. Gordon Peake joined a Sea Shepherd mission to observe the giant ships compete for catch

It is bitterly cold on the deck of the Allankay and the bosun, Luca Massari, is checking that none of us are wearing contact lenses before we descend into Antarctic waters. There is a risk, he warns, that lenses will freeze solid over the eyes. Massari himself is prepared for his surroundings. He is wearing thick goggles that make him look like an Olympic ski jumper.

Massari is a burly, heavily tattooed veteran of the environmental organisation Sea Shepherd, which campaigns against exploiting the oceans. His deck team are preparing to launch the ship’s small boat, which Massari will helm. Eight of us are bundled in bright red dry suits, helmets and lifejackets; the average time to survive hypothermia in this wind-whipped water is just five minutes.

The Allankay sailed to Coronation Island from New Zealand to document the krill fishing. Photograph: Alice Bacou/Sea Shepherd

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit that the Sierra Club and its partners brought against Trump’s EPA over its repeal of the endangerment finding and vehicle emission standards. In response to EMA’s intervention, Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Director ... [continued]

The post Truck Lobbying Group Seeks to Join Lawsuit In Support of Trump EPA’s Rollback of Vehicle Standards & Repeal of Endangerment Finding appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The clean energy future for Oʻahu is no longer blocked by missing technology. The architecture is already visible. Once overseas aviation fuel, international bunkering, and military energy use are taken out of the frame, and once transportation, buildings, and industry are electrified, the civilian Oʻahu system settles into roughly 6,000 ... [continued]

The post Winning the Energy Transition on Oʻahu: It’s Not About Technology appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The debate over LNG in Hawaiʻi persists because it sounds like a practical answer to a familiar problem. Oʻahu still relies heavily on imported fuel for electricity, so a different imported fuel can appear to be a reasonable bridge. LNG is marketed as dispatchable, cleaner than oil, and compatible with ... [continued]

The post LNG Need Not Apply: The Math of Oʻahu’s Clean Energy Future appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Exclusive:Pacific island’s new leader Lord Fakafānua discusses ‘exciting’ US partnership as critics fear impacts of seabed exploration

The recently elected leader of Tonga has described a deal to partner with the US on deep-sea mineral exploration as an “exciting development” amid concern in the small Pacific nation over the practice of seabed mining and the potential environmental impact.

Tonga is located in the South Pacific Ocean, a region attracting growing interest over whether critical minerals buried in the seabed could be extracted to help power industries and green technologies.

Declan Conlon will argue officials have failed to act despite clear evidence of the ecological collapse of Lough Neagh

An eel fisher is to argue at the high court in Belfast that the authorities have allowed the ecological collapse of Lough Neagh by failing to take action over pollution.

Declan Conlon, whose family have for generations fished the inland lake in Northern Ireland that once hosted the largest wild eel fishery in Europe, is seeking to take a judicial review against the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera). He will argue the department has failed to act against polluters despite clear evidence of the ecological collapse of the lake.

Sixty years after the discovery of a colony of Juan Fernández fur seals, previously thought to be extinct, a landmark agreement extends ‘no take’ zone around the wildlife-rich archipelago

Six decades ago, pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle made a bittersweet discovery while diving off Chile’s oceanic islands with the US National Science Foundation vessel, the Anton Bruun. She found the remains of a baby fur seal, one of the world’s most isolated aquatic mammals.

Endemic to the Juan Fernández archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, and once prized for its fur and meat, the species, Arctocephalus philippii, was believed to have been hunted to extinction in the 19th century. But, Earle said: “A baby must have a mum and dad somewhere.”

Pioneering oceanographer and conservationist Sylvia Earle. Photograph: Andy Mann/Blue Marine Foundation

Vast journeys, among world’s great wonders, found to be under threat as freshwater fish populations crash by 81%

“It’s very hard to imagine what’s going on beneath the water when you look at a river – but you have billions of fish making these epic migrations, some of the largest animal migrations on Earth,” said Dr Zeb Hogan, at the University of Nevada in the US.

The longest migration of any freshwater fish species is that of the dorado catfish, which makes a migration of 7,000 miles (11,000km), from spawning in the foothills of the Andes to feeding in the Amazon estuary and back again. The silver-gold fish themselves were incredible, said Hogan: “They get to about 2 metres long.”

Exclusive: UK regulator makes U-turn over TalkTV and TalkRadio complaints after claims it let some broadcasters ‘spout dangerous climate lies’

A U-turn by the UK’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom means it will investigate complaints of climate change denial on television and radio for the first time since 2017. The move marks a victory for campaigners who have accused the regulator of allowing some broadcasters “to spout dangerous climate lies” and “flout” rules on accuracy and impartiality.

Complaints about programmes on TalkTV and TalkRadio were assessed by Ofcom, which then decided not to investigate, the same result as more than 1,000 other climate complaints since 2020. However, after a letter from the Good Law Project (GLP) in January, requesting an explanation for the rejections, Ofcom said it had withdrawn its original decision and would “consider afresh” the complaints.

The French firm TotalEnergies agrees not to build offshore wind farms in the US -- at least, not for the present time...

The post TotalEnergies Milks Trump For $1 Billion Offshore Wind Payout, Gets Last Laugh appeared first on CleanTechnica.