Interesting Ideas

Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) previewed the Urban Cruiser EV earlier this year before formally pricing it last week, positioning it as its most affordable fully electric offering. At P2.135 million (~$38,000), it undercuts the bZ4x launched last December at P2.699 million (~$44,700), offering a clearer signal of how the world’s ... [continued]

The post Is The Urban Cruiser Toyota’s Placeholder As It Pivots To BEVs In The Philippines? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

SunLine Transit Agency, which provides transportation for the large western California county that includes Palm Springs and Coachella, has spent a quarter century doing more than almost any transit agency in North America to try to make hydrogen buses work. It started hydrogen production and dispensing around 2000, has cycled ... [continued]

The post Gray Hydrogen, High Costs, and the Real Emissions of SunLine’s Fuel Cell Fleet appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A US startup supplies spray for fast-growing loblolly pines with the hope of increasing biodiversity – and reducing the need for artificial fertiliser

At a commercial tree nursery near Evans, western Louisiana, 5m pine seedlings are packed on to 12 vast circular irrigation tables, each as wide as a football field. Last September, many of these young trees were sprayed with what looked like muddy water.

The substance was in fact a liquid extract teeming with hundreds of species of wild soil fungi. Brad Ouseman, the nursery manager, is confident he will see results from this fungal inoculation, which is intended to improve yields and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers.

VinFast’s decision to resume construction of its North Carolina manufacturing plant by April of this year is an indication that the “war” for brand recognition isn’t over for the Vietnamese automaker. “The US remains a long-term strategic pillar for VinFast,” VinFast Le Thi Thu said during the company’s earnings call ... [continued]

The post VinFast Hasn’t Given Up On Its US Ambitions — Despite Delays, Betting On Long-Term Strategy appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Living in the United States, Canada, or most of Europe, it’s easy to feel like the world’s problems never quite touch us. We spent the last twenty years watching wars unfold in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of that, we got used to thinking that conflict in the Middle East just ... [continued]

The post The April Oil Crisis Most Don’t Know Is Coming appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Exclusive: War in the Middle East is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined

The US-Israel war on Iran is a disaster for the climate, according to an analysis that finds it is draining the global carbon budget faster than 84 countries combined.

As warplanes, drones and missiles kill thousands of people, level infrastructure and turn the Middle East into a gigantic environmental sacrifice zone, the first analysis of the climate cost has found the conflict led to 5m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in its first 14 days.

The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticides

The population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction.

The figures, released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico, showed that the area occupied by monarchs expanded to 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) of forest from 1.79 hectares (4.42 acres) the previous winter, the largest coverage since 2018.

This is the second of three articles seeking to contextualise the failure of the West to grasp or even understand or manifest technological change over the past 15 years. The touchstone used here, and in our previous article, is “New Energy Vehicles” (plugin vehicles). The first article focussed primarily on ... [continued]

The post How The West Lost The Automotive Industry And Its Mojo, Part 2 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

While exploring booths at New York Build Expo, Copper’s electric range stood out. In a show targeting professionals, there were not a lot of home cooking appliances. The design was simple and attractive. But the battery within the base of the range was what really makes it exciting. Steve Hanley ... [continued]

The post Copper’s Battery-Equipped Induction Range Makes Electrification & Storage Accessible appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Survivors describe how rangers and staff were targeted by an armed group during a raid on DRC’s national park earlier this month

Nearby Congolese soldiers had received warnings of the attack in the morning. But the soldiers did not arrive until late in the evening, long after the killings were over.

It happened before dawn on Tuesday 3 March, as a dozen rangers at Upemba national park headquarters were being briefed by their commander before the day’s routine anti-poaching patrol. At 5.40am machine-gun fire began to rattle out of the surrounding darkness.

The war in Iran has already eaten a big chunk of the US defense budget. Now the government wants $200 billion more from us.

The post Who Should Pay For Trump’s War On Iran? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Animals will feature on £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, the Bank of England says, but which creatures should make the cut?

Native British wildlife will feature on the next set of £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes, the Bank of England has announced, but it has yet to be decided which creatures will make the cut.

While politicians from Nigel Farage to Ed Davey have sought to confect outrage about ditching Winston Churchill and Jane Austen for badgers or blackbirds, public consultations by the Bank show that people favour the switch to wildlife. Regularly changing images on the notes is a measure to foil counterfeiters.

Chris Packham is a naturalist, broadcaster, campaigner and author

Naturalist Lucy Lapwing is the author of Love is a Toad: Exploring Our Relationship With Nature

Cranbrook, Kent: Fat hen, chickweed and stinging nettles often end up in the compost heap, but they deserve a try in the kitchen

By March, traditional gardeners have worked hard to eradicate weeds in their vegetable plots in preparation for spring sowing. A quick glance across my unkept patch reveals a different approach, highlighted by its mosaic of vibrant greens obscuring the dark soil. But I have an excuse.

Many weeds are edible and, with a little shift in perspective, can be transformed from a nuisance into a bonus crop. For the forager, this conveniently spans the “hungry gap”: that period between winter vegetables finishing and spring crops being ready for harvest. Be careful with identification of course, and if in doubt, leave it alone.

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.

In one corner, clean energy champion Ed Miliband. In the other, residents – and Reform politicians – outraged at plans for more large-scale solar farms in Lincolnshire than anywhere else in the UK

As night descends on the grand offices of Lincolnshire county council, everything appears orderly and calm. Paintings of long-forgotten councillors and dignitaries stare out into an empty drawing room. The council chamber is silent and dark. Bored receptionists glance at their phones while a handful of admin staff hunch over glowing screens. But a rebellion is brewing in the office of the council leader, Sean Matthews, who took charge last May, when Reform replaced the Conservative old guard. The affable former royal protection officer is plotting an apparently radical campaign of civil disobedience against a series of giant solar farms planned for Lincolnshire.

Despite a quarter of a century in the Metropolitan police, Matthews is willing to break the law to stop solar developers. He is planning to lie down in front of the bulldozers. “They can arrest me – I’ve arrested plenty of people,” he says, leaning forward on a sofa. “It’s much bigger than me and my criminal record. For goodness sake, it’s the future of the county, it’s the future of our land. I am passionate about that and I will do what I can.”

About two weeks ago, EVgo shared on LinkedIn that the US EV charging company deployed over 1,200 charging stalls in 2025. “This morning, we announced EVgo’s full year 2025 financial results, and we are excited to share key highlights. In 2025, we deployed more than 1,200 new stalls, growing our ... [continued]

The post Over 1,200 New EV Charging Stalls Deployed By EVgo In 2025 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Exclusive: Testing in Bentham, home to UK’s highest recorded Pfas levels, finds one in four have blood levels in greatest risk category

Alarming levels of toxic forever chemicals have been found in the blood of people living in a town previously revealed to be contaminated with the UK’s highest recorded level of Pfas.

Pfas, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and commonly known as forever chemicals because of their persistence in the environment, have been linked to a wide range of serious illnesses, including some cancers. They are used in a variety of consumer products but one of their most prolific uses is in firefighting foam.

In Part I, I discussed how bikes and ebikes can be used for: Last-mile transportation in conjunction with public transport — you can take your bike with you on a commuter train, streetcar, or bus. Transporting our children with us on bikes with jump seats and with trailers. Bike transport ... [continued]

The post Bikes for Everything, + Much of What I’ve Learned Riding Bikes for 75 Years (Part II Safety) appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Asking for coffee in a reusable cup or reusing shopping bags is second nature for many, but bringing your own containers for takeaway can take getting used to. Here are some tips to get started

• Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint

• Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com

Before the advent of cheap, single-use take away packaging, legend has it that Australian families used to bring saucepans to their local Chinese restaurant to pick up their Friday night take-out. Until the early 1980s, when concerns about ink contamination outlawed it, fish and chips came wrapped in old newspapers.

These days, Australians’ love affair with caffeine has made reusable coffee cups ubiquitous, and most of us have a stack of tupperware at home for school lunches. Yet fronting up to the salad bar or deli counter with your own container still feels a bit weird.

It feels like everyone in the EV space already wrote their hot takes on Honda’s massive $15.8 billion EV retreat when the news first broke, and then promptly moved on to the next news cycle. But after sitting with the announcement for the last week and a half, I realized ... [continued]

The post Silver Lining: Honda’s EV Retreat Proves Trump’s Bully Pulpit Has Become Irrelevant appeared first on CleanTechnica.