Interesting Ideas

The Trump EPA has unveiled a final rule under the Clean Air Act that revises emission limits for dangerous nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution from new gas-burning turbines used in power plants and industrial facilities. Emissions of NOx form smog and soot, which is harmful to human health and linked to serious heart ... [continued]

The post Trump EPA Finalizes Weak Rule to Reduce Dangerous Air Pollution from New Gas-Burning Power Plants, Ignores Health Benefits and Lives Saved from Pollution Reduction appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Today, the Trump administration announced a plan to limit the authority of states and tribes to protect clean water from pollution resulting from pipelines and other major infrastructure projects during the permitting process. The proposed changes to rules interpreting Section 401 of the Clean Water Act would make it more difficult for ... [continued]

The post US EPA Plans to Undercut State Authority to Protect Clean Water from Pipeline & Other Infrastructure Projects appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns “a bombshell”.

Studies claiming to have revealed micro and nanoplastics in the brain, testes, placentas, arteries and elsewhere were reported by media across the world, including the Guardian. There is no doubt that plastic pollution of the natural world is ubiquitous, and present in the food and drink we consume and the air we breathe. But the health damage potentially caused by microplastics and the chemicals they contain is unclear, and an explosion of research has taken off in this area in recent years.

Data leads scientists to declare 2015 Paris agreement to keep global heating below 1.5C ‘dead in the water’

Last year was the third-hottest on record, scientists have said, with mounting fossil fuel pollution behind “exceptional” temperatures.

The EU’s Copernicus climate agency said 2025 had been marginally cooler than 2023 at the end of a scorching three-year run during which surface air temperatures averaged 1.52C above pre-industrial levels.

Germany’s hydrogen pipeline from nowhere to nowhere did not emerge from ignorance or indifference. It emerged from good intentions formed early, when climate risk was clear and credible solutions were scarce. In the 1990s and early 2000s, jurisdictions that accepted climate science faced a thin menu of options. Wind and ... [continued]

The post How Early Climate Leadership Locked Germany Into The Wrong Hydrogen Bet appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection says

The government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and is failing on almost all environmental measures, the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog has said.

In a damning report, the OEP has found that seven of the 10 targets set in the Environment Act 2021 have little likelihood of being met by 2030, which is the deadline set in law.

The EPA has now decided it will no longer calculate the cost of fossil fuel pollution on human health in the US.

The post EPA Cooks The Books On Industrial Pollution Costs appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago – a crisis fuelled by climate change

The world is losing forests to fire at an unsustainable rate, experts have warned.

Wildfires have always been part of nature’s cycle, but in recent decades their scale, frequency and intensity in carbon-rich forests have surged.

The Australian Open has begun down in Melbourne, Australia, and Kia is sponsoring it for the 25th year in a row. As it has done in recent years, it’s featuring its electric vehicle models as part of this. This year’s theme is “Move Different,” which can’t be the most exciting ... [continued]

The post Kia Putting 55 Electric Vehicles on the Ground at Australian Open for Players appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Cyclists prepare for Australia’s big race by training in extreme temperatures – and they have noticed a contradiction in the relationship with Santos

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The first time Maeve Plouffe trained in the heat, she was in Paris in the lead-up to the Olympics. It was supposed to be an easy ride to help get used to the conditions. When she returned, she fainted from heat sickness.

“That’s how badly I was affected,” she says. “Racing in extreme heat is like playing chicken with your environment.”

Nashville, Tennessee — Nissan is proud to announce that the all-new Nissan LEAF has been awarded the prestigious title of World’s Best Compact Car by the Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year (WWCOTY) jury — the only automotive awards panel in the world comprised exclusively of women motoring journalists. The ... [continued]

The post Nissan LEAF Named World’s Best Compact Car by Women’s Worldwide Car of the Year Jury appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Waresley, Cambridgeshire: In a near-freezing lake, I’m treated to an up-close view of one of my favourite birds

The spring-fed lake is a picture of tranquillity this morning. On the far side, ivy-clad trees touch trunks with their watery counterparts, creating an image of a child’s mirror painting folded along the shoreline. Only the soft blurring of branches distinguishes reflection from reality.

The scene might look serene, but I must focus on my breathing to stay calm as I lower myself slowly into the water, which has chilled to a wintry 6C. I started cold water swimming last month, hoping it would help relieve the chronic pain caused by adenomyosis. It’s only my fourth session, and I’m wondering if I have the confidence to swim across the lifeguarded lake when a quick movement on the water catches my attention. I spot a dumpy ball of fluff that isn’t there.

Kia’s first Sustainable Mobility Experience Center in Latin America recognized by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design Award highlights Kia’s commitment to innovation and sustainable mobility Kia E-Ground serves as regional hub to inspire electromobility and future-focused collaboration Kia has received the prestigious Good Design® Award 2024 from The Chicago Athenaeum: ... [continued]

The post Kia E-Ground Wins Good Design® Award for Sustainable Mobility Innovation in Latin America appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The most important policy lesson from the 400 km European hydrogen backbone segment with no suppliers and no offtakers—a pipeline from nowhere to nowhere—I wrote about recently is that decarbonization succeeds or fails on demand realism, not technological aspiration. Europe knew, as early as the late 2000s, that deep electrification ... [continued]

The post Europe Built Hydrogen Infrastructure Instead of the Power Grid It Needed appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Morgan Stanley decided to do some research on battery degradation in China. It got data from ride-hailing firms on 12 different EV models — 100 cars in total — and measured how much their battery capacity declined. The cars showed considerable differences in battery degradation. The company also studied degradation ... [continued]

The post CATL Batteries Stand Out For Minimal Degradation In EVs And Long-Term Energy Storage Systems appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Professional mermaids risk hypothermia, seasickness and the cling of skin-tight silicone, but the reward is becoming an ‘ocean ambassador’ – and a bit more colour in the world

Propelled by a shimmering silicon tail, Katrin Gray spins underwater, blowing kisses to the audience as her long, copper hair floats around her face. Her seemingly effortless movement is anything but – a professional mermaid’s free diving and performance skills require training, practice and total concentration.

Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups, where people gather in “pods” to practise their dolphin kicks. Makers create bespoke tail flukes, bejewelled bras, mermaid hair and even prosthetic gills for professional and hobbyist “seasters”. There is even a Netflix reality series called MerPeople, which documents the occasionally perilous journey of several aspiring professional merfolk. “No dead mermaids” is the motto of one business featured.

Subsidies guaranteeing price for each unit of clean electricity generated given to 12 renewables projects

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A make-or-break auction for the UK government’s goal to create a clean electricity system by 2030 has awarded subsidy contracts to enough offshore windfarms to power a record 12m homes.

In Great Britain’s most competitive auction for renewable subsidies to date, energy companies vied for contracts that guarantee the price for each unit of clean electricity they generate.

Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe

US plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.

The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation’s oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe.

Coalition of Nonprofits Seeks to Ensure Access to EV Charging Funds Across the Country Today, U.S. District Court Judge Tana Lin in the Western District Court of Washington will hear oral argument in State of Washington v. U.S. Department of Transportation—a challenge brought by 21 states to the Trump administration’s unlawful freeze ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Lawyer to Present Oral Argument to Protect Billions in EV Charging for America’s Highways appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Britain’s winter thrushes, the swallows and swifts of the season, were strangely absent until recently

Just as swallows and swifts are the constant sight and sound of spring and summer, so our two winter thrushes – fieldfares and redwings – are usually ever-present during the autumn and winter months.

Last autumn, however, the fields and hedgerows around my Somerset home were unusually devoid of these birds, while their favourite food – the hawthorn’s bright scarlet berries – remained uneaten.