Interesting Ideas

They are the air-conditioning units of the world – filtering water, preventing flooding, preserving history and providing habitat. Our human ancestors knew the extraordinary power of peatlands, so why are they still being destroyed?

I haven’t found an hour when I don’t love a bog. Recently, after a night of counting rare caterpillars in Borth in Mid Wales (they come out only after dark), walking back to the car under the glow of a flower moon, I wondered if 2am was my new favourite. I felt very safe, held by the bog’s softness, and everyone that was out at that hour seemed to have a sense of humour. I met a nightjar hopping around on the ground, pretending, I think, to be a frog.

But there is also something about the humidity of a languid afternoon on a bog, when everything slows and fat bumbles hum, that is surprisingly good. I have done freezing horizontal rain and thick, cold-to-your-bones fog and wind so howling that I couldn’t think. All of those were hard, but I did come away feeling truly alive.

The Tesla robotaxi service is now operatihonal in Austin, Texas, but each car has a human monitorwith a kill switch. Does Waymo have that?

The post Tesla Robotaxi Launch In Austin — The Sound Of One Hand Clapping appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Scientists fear thousands of tonnes of chemicals dumped in mining tunnels in Alsace may seep into an aquifer, with devastating consequences for people and wildlife

Eight police officers linger with their backs to the two-hectare (five-acre) site known as Stocamine. The place is nondescript in the morning drizzle: two mine shafts, some modern-looking office buildings, a staff car park, lines of landscaped trees. The reason for the police presence, however, is what lies beneath: 42,000 tonnes of toxic waste stored under our feet.

Stocamine, which lies in the old industrial town of Wittelsheim, Alsace, once held an old potash mine. Now, the mine shafts are closed, storing poisonous waste from elsewhere. Above the mine shafts is one of Europe’s largest aquifers.

Tackling inflation from companies raising prices during cost shocks requires more than adjusting interest rates

The heatwave that gripped much of the UK this week was the latest sweltering reminder that the climate emergency is already making daily life more volatile.

Many of the places most brutally exposed to out-of-kilter weather patterns and natural disasters are in the global south, and rightly demand solidarity from the wealthier countries responsible for most historical emissions. But the costs of the emergency are being felt everywhere.

Do you know someone who is disinterested in climate change? Perhaps they think it’s not relevant to them or their lifestyle or culture. But they may wake up if you help them to see the link between investing and climate change. Climate change poses a threat to all of our ... [continued]

The post Why Investors Must Move Beyond Simple Climate-Friendly Portfolio Strategies appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The real story is that Kia is serious in its electric dreams Kia EV3 won the 2025 World Car of the Year award at the New York International Auto Show. But that’s old news. What is more significant is that since 2020, Kia has won the awards six times and ... [continued]

The post Kia EV3 Winning World Car of the Year is Old News but Good News appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Hove, East Sussex: The blackbird parents have food to feed chicks, hoverflies are booming and the peacock butterflies are back. Everything may be precarious, but this is all welcome

On the allotment I have learned what a blackbird fledgling sounds like. I knew the calls robins make to their chicks and the returning sounds from the nest, the searching “feed me!” of great tit and blue tit fledglings. But the blackbird is new to me; I’m enjoying the intimacy of now knowing, not least because the mosquito-borne Usutu virus is threatening blackbird numbers, and my days of hearing their fledglings may be short lived.

Its parents have left it in the elder tree above the dipping tank, and there it fizzes melodiously, asking for food. As I fill my watering can, I catch glimpses of its fat, box-fresh body; I watch its clumsy hops, its startled ruffling of feathers. Already it shows signs of the blackbird charm: hot and bothered, put out, clucking over nothing. It’s nice to see there is food for it to eat: earthworms dug up by fellow allotmenteers, along with caterpillars and other grubs. Three years ago, in the drought of 2022, there was little such food available. A blackbird followed me around my dusty plot and I dug up earthworms for him, hoping he had enough to take back to his chicks. This year, despite periods of near-drought, there has been enough rain to keep the blackbirds happy. Or so it seems today.

Environmental funerals are on the up – but are they really as sustainable as their providers say?

“I want to become a pearl when I die - or a reef,” said Madeleine Sutcliffe. Aged 80 and suffering from lung cancer, Sutcliffe was given six months to live in January.

Adam, Sutcliffe’s son, is enthusiastic. “I don’t think a pearl is possible but if mum’s ashes are made into an artificial reef, I’ll be able to dive to it,” he said. “Given how I feel when I dive - serene, calm and meditative - a reef is the perfect environment to remember mum.”

Honda has officially introduced Fastport, a new Fleet-as-a-Service (FaaS) company designed to meet the growing demands of last-mile urban logistics. Developed through Honda’s New Business Creation Division within its American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Fastport aims to provide a comprehensive fleet solution centered around a new electric vehicle concept: the ... [continued]

The post Reinventing Urban Logistics: Honda’s Fastport eQuad & Fleet-as-a-Service Platform appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Monday and Tuesday likely to be the hottest days of the year so far in eastern US while temperatures rise in Europe

This summer’s first heatwave has developed across the eastern half of the United States with most places having recorded their hottest temperature of the year so far on Sunday, which will then probably be beaten on Monday and Tuesday.

High pressure across the eastern US has funnelled up hot air from southern parts of the the country, resulting in what is known as a heat dome, initially across central regions on Friday, before spreading eastwards over the weekend. The temperatures rose significantly on Saturday, with Huron regional airport in South Dakota recording a high of 39.4C (102.9F), 13C above the average high in June for the region.

I recently sat down with Kris Ohleth, Director of the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and progress in the US offshore wind market. It was a great and fascinating discussion of the US offshore wind industry, what it’s been going through in the paste decade ... [continued]

The post Challenges & Opportunities in US Offshore Wind Market appeared first on CleanTechnica.

If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your emergency backup or off-grid power setup, now’s the time to strike. EcoFlow has officially launched its Early Prime Day Sale, and the savings are some of the best we’ve seen yet. The sale runs from June 23 to July 7 on EcoFlow’s own ... [continued]

The post EcoFlow’s Early Prime Day Sale Is Live: Huge Deals On Portable Power Stations appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The June 2025 U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities is shaping up to be a pivotal geopolitical event, one whose immediate shockwaves extend far beyond military calculations. Within hours of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on key nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, global oil prices surged sharply. President ... [continued]

The post Trump’s Iran Bombing Will Accelerate Global Electrification & Biofuels appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Experts say the average Briton uses too much water per day and societal change needs to start today to tackle looming water crisis

Water shortages are no longer a distant threat. By 2055, in England alone, the public will face a shortfall of 5bn litres a day – a shortfall of such immensity it will require societal and cultural change, which experts argue needs to start today.

Scientists have long predicted that the UK would not be immune to climate change-induced extreme weather. The evidence is all too clear now that our traditionally grey, mild and wet European island – which this weekend experienced a heatwave made 100 times more likely by climate breakdown – is already in the midst of a water crisis that will only worsen in years to come.

Despite the ongoing brand reputation meltdown at Tesla, CEO Elon Musk is moving forward with plans to market the new Tesla Semi Class 8 electric truck in Europe.

The post Musk To Sell Tesla Semi Electric Truck In Europe And Re-Write All Of Human Knowledge appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Exclusive: Leaked documents claim Good Advice promised private deals, gathered signatures and hired land council members to smooth way for Northern Territory gas sales

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In late August 2024, a curious letter arrived at the Darwin office of Benedict Scambary, chief executive of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA).

The correspondence was typed and written in corporate style but it was attached to four and a half pages of handwritten names and signatures of traditional land owners from across the Northern Territory’s Top End. A name that Scambary recognised was written on the back of the envelope – William John, a Mudburra Jingili man.

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A new study from Cambridge University’s Centre for Sustainable Development and DNV, an independent expert in assurance and risk management, has yielded some relevant and interesting insights into Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting.  While some organizations don’t like ESG reporting because they consider it to be extra documentation and ... [continued]

The post ESG Reporting Can Be A Strategic Business Advantage (Study) appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Why does a country with large oil reserves feel such a need to have home-grown civil nuclear energy?

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In October 1978, two leaders of the Iranian opposition to the British-backed shah of Iran met in the Paris suburbs of Neauphle-le-Château to plan for the final stages of the revolution, a revolution that after 46 momentous and often brutal years may now be close to expiring.

The two men had little in common but their nationality, age and determination to remove the shah from power. Karim Sanjabi, the leader of the secular liberal National Front, was a former Sorbonne-educated professor of law. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the leading Shia opponent of the Iranian monarchy since the 1960s. Both were in their 70s at the time.

For millennia, humans have buries their waste products in the Earth, thinking they would remain there forever. They won't.

The post Toxic Waste Stored In An Abandoned Mine In France Highlights A Global Problem appeared first on CleanTechnica.

£400m to be set aside for on-street charging points instead of motorways after RCF was mired in delays

Labour ministers have scrapped a promise by the previous government for a £950m fund for installing electric car chargers near motorways, instead setting aside a smaller sum mainly for on-street charging points.

The rapid charging fund (RCF) was first announced in 2020 by Rishi Sunak, then Conservative chancellor, with the aim of supporting upgrades to the grid so that more electric vehicles could be rapidly charged at the same time.