Interesting Ideas

Former government adviser Polly Billington urges bigger steps to shield people in UK from effects of Iran war

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Keir Starmer should convene a global energy summit of the same order as Gordon Brown’s response to the 2008 financial crisis and put Britain on a “war footing” to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels, a Labour MP and former government adviser has said.

Polly Billington, who was an aide in Brown’s government, warned that economic pain was “hurtling down the tracks” and a bigger response was needed to protect the British people from the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

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.

Landfills are not designed for food waste, which is organic and can decompose naturally. While it’s easy to throw out dinner scraps with the garbage, it’s not the most environmentally-sound method to discard unwanted food. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency admits that, while total emissions from municipal solid waste ... [continued]

The post Are Landfills The Wrong Place To Dispose Of Food Waste? 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.

Washington, DC — Today, Donald Trump released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, which seeks to increase defense spending to a massive $1.5 trillion while slashing non-defense discretionary spending by more than $73 billion, including a 52 percent cut in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and similarly drastic cuts across other critical ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Statement on Donald Trump’s FY2027 Budget Proposal appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Continuing the trend for the US EV market, Nissan’s EV sales almost completely collapsed in the first quarter year over year. The Nissan LEAF, which should be selling like hotcakes given how much value for money it now offers, achieved only 668 US sales last quarter, down 71.2% from the ... [continued]

The post Nissan LEAF & ARIYA Sales Collapse in USA appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Sgòr Gaoith, Cairngorms: Our rucksacks are heavy with crampons and ice axe, and the wind is a menace, but it’s all worth it for the views

The weather app shows wall-to-wall spiky yellow suns. We haven’t had a day like this in over a month, nor is one foretold in the weeks to come, so I abandon the desk and, with a friend and a dog, head for the hills.

We choose Sgòr Gaoith, the high point of the ridge above the River Feshie which forms the western edge of the Cairngorms. Our path starts in Scots Pine forest, where we walk in dappled light and can hear the soft chuckle of Allt Ruadh, the Red Burn. The trees thin as we gain height, but everywhere, new saplings are appearing across this once bare landscape and you can almost feel the rising of life. Our rucksacks are heavy with crampons and ice axe – just in case – but the air is fresh and spangling as the sun pours down the brown slopes and into our winter-dull eyes.

Unsurprisingly, given what we’ve seen from the company in recent months, Ford’s EV business took a big hit in the first quarter year over year in the United States. The company’s best selling electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E, is still a great buy — but it’s harder getting consumers to ... [continued]

The post Ford EV Sales Drop Off A Cliff appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Google styles itself as a leader in the use of renewable energy, but it is backsliding on that commitment because of AI.

The post Google, AI, & Carbon Emissions — A Lesson In Situational Ethics appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Vibrant seagrass meadows once flourished around the UK but most have been destroyed. Now, communities and scientists are working to restore them

“There’s not many jobs where you get to be a sea gardener,” says Dr Oliver Thomas, senior science officer at Project Seagrass. He’s looking for flashes of eel grass that have survived the winter in the wide golden sand of Penrhyn beach on Ynys Môn (Anglesey), in north Wales.

But growing a meadow in the sea is not an easy job. Vast swathes of the gorgeous underwater swards, vital nurseries for fish such as cod, have been wiped out around the UK in the past century. Up to 92% have been lost. Restoring them – and their water-cleaning, carbon-storing, coast-protecting benefits – is a colossal challenge.

BEVs reach 20% market share! EVs are picking up in Europe, with some 295,000 plugin vehicles being registered in Europe in February, 196,000 of them being BEVs. Overall, plugin vehicles were up 22% YoY. The overall market also had a positive month in February, rising 2% YoY to one million ... [continued]

The post BEVs Rise 16% YoY in February in Europe! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Plugin vehicle registrations were down 11% year over year (YoY) in February, ending the month close to 1.1 million units. Both BEVs (-8% YoY) and PHEVs (-16% YoY) had sales drops. This is the worst drop since the COVID-19 era, but there is one easy explanation for this — incentives. ... [continued]

The post Top Selling Electric Vehicles in the World — February 2026 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

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.

It was a slow ascent: I needed to check for wasps, snakes and scorpions

I was born in Tawau, a Malaysian city on the island of Borneo, and grew up around logging camps – my dad worked in the industry. In the early 90s, a lot of the forest here started being cleared for commercial use. At the time, I just thought that was the way things were.

That changed when I began working in conservation as a teenager at the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership in the nearby Danum Valley. My job was to plant seedlings in places where the forest had been cut down. I began to learn about the importance of keeping the forest safe.

In this week’s newsletter: From pollution in the upper atmosphere to mounting debris, experts warn the rapid expansion in space could threaten our planet

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Our relationship with space is changing rapidly.

For almost all of human history, the space above us was an unreachable frontier. Yet in a single human lifetime, Earth’s orbit has gone from largely empty to congested with satellites.

Rubbish and recycling in England: what’s changing

Drive slower, work from home: the world responds to Iran war energy crisis

Exclusive: UK looks to relax planning rules for factory farms after lobbying

Lunar prospectors: the businesses looking to mine the moon

‘This feels fragile’: how a satellite-smashing chain reaction could spiral out of control

‘This was the real thing’: Meet the woman who alerts the world when an asteroid could hit

Study shows reducing vulnerability to pollution, including by expanding healthcare access, saves millions of lives

Reductions in vulnerability to air pollution since 1990 saved the lives of about 1.7 million people in 2019, according to new research.

Particle pollution improved in 139 out of 193 countries. The greatest gains were achieved in Europe and North America, with smaller reductions across Africa and Asia.

This week, We Energies has announced that it will once again delay closing its Oak Creek coal plant and that it intends to raise residential and small business rates by 4.7% in 2027 and 4.5% in 2028. The Oak Creek power plant was originally scheduled to close in 2023, but ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Wisconsin Slams We Energies for Rate Increase and Once Again Delaying Oak Creek Coal Plant Retirement appeared first on CleanTechnica.

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.

Rooftop solar generating capacity in Puerto Rico totaled 1,456 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2025, 20% of the overall capacity mix. Rooftop solar capacity has increased faster than other sources over the past decade. Between 2016 and 2025 rooftop solar installations accounted for 81% of the new generating capacity ... [continued]

The post Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Systems Account for 20% of Puerto Rico’s Capacity Mix appeared first on CleanTechnica.

On Wednesday, April 1, the 22nd World Car Awards announced the winners for 2026. EVs swept every category. Every year, a panel of journalists from around the world votes on finalists and winners in each category. While the test drives happen in California in the fall, the vehicles come from around ... [continued]

The post EVs Sweep 2026 World Car Awards appeared first on CleanTechnica.