Interesting Ideas

Experts say increased use of crops for fuel is ‘dangerous game’ that could send food price inflation soaring

Demand for biofuels is likely to leap by nearly a third this year, which could send food price inflation soaring further and push the world closer to a global food crisis.

More countries are opting to increase biofuel use as the price of oil has jumped to nearly $100 a barrel after the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the strait of Hormuz.

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Coal is the big winner in the energy sweepstakes as the US administration moves to shove expensive electricity down people's throats.

The post US Coal Plan Shamelessly Picks Energy Winners & Losers appeared first on CleanTechnica.

We’ve had a few articles this week about BYD’s breakthrough decision to take on liability in the event of a crash when a BYD driver is using God’s Eye. A few of the comments under my article earlier this week were superb additions, though, and they seemed to deserve their ... [continued]

The post Reasons BYD Is Taking On Liability While Self-Driving And Tesla Isn’t appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Despite news of a pullback, Subaru of America launched the new Uncharted and Trailseeker EVs into the challenging US market in April, alongside its existing Solterra model.

The post What The — Who Is Buying All Those Subaru EVs? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Hawaii is a fascinating story in the clean energy transition. Isolated, but with abundant natural resources, the islands have a unique blend of opportunity, incredibly high prices of electricity made by imported fuels, and a historic reliance on fossil fuels, the result of path dependency and short-term solutions. The state ... [continued]

The post Panel Discussion with Hawaii’s Clean Energy Leaders appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In this week’s newsletter: Utah’s gargantuan Stratos development is the latest battleground in the AI-driven fight for water, energy, and our environmental future

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Kevin O’Leary is many things. He is a flamboyant venture capitalist, co-host of the TV show Shark Tank, vocal supporter of Donald Trump and, recently, a villainous tycoon (or, in his character’s words, a vampire born in 1601) in the Oscar-nominated Marty Supreme.

For the people of Utah, however, O’Leary is the highly controversial face of a new climate controversy. I’ll explain why, after this week’s most important reads.

Prepare for imminent return of El Niño, UN warns

‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

Damaged, deserted, dilapidated … what comes next for the Great Barrier Reef island resorts lying in ruins?

My friend’s brother once told me we humans must eat meat because of the shape of our teeth, which he claimed are good for biting and chewing meat. I replied that we use our brains to make decisions about what to eat and teeth don’t make decisions.  Is it true ... [continued]

The post Human Teeth Are Not Particularly Well Adapted For Meat Eating appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Eggesford Forest, Devon: I thought I was alone in admiring a towering beech in the chilly wood, but I was not

I breathe in the bluebells as a blackcap sings. At the crescendo, a flash of yellow breaks up the blue – a brimstone butterfly flies up to my face, then moves back, approaches, then draws back, repeating the fluttered action until I follow.

Together, we weave through fresh-scented firs before my companion flits away and I realise that I have come further into the forest than intended. My feet start to throb and the wind, as the sky grows overcast, brings a chill. I see the leaves of a vaulted canopy stir overhead and feel the softest carpet of fallen catkins underfoot. Although the threat of rain urges me forwards, a tree, an imposing common beech, makes me stay.

Migrant insects have been seen in large numbers along east coast thanks to heatwave and benign southerly winds

If you’ve spotted a pale orange butterfly dashing at frenetic pace through streets, fields or gardens, you’ve noticed the new migrants that will add colour to the summer in record-breaking numbers.

What is expected to be the largest arrival of painted lady butterflies in Britain for 17 years is under way after heatwaves and favourable winds ushered thousands if not millions of the insects northwards.

Weather models project a potentially strong El Niño this year, which could spell disaster for heatwave-hit India, drench China and hurt agriculture across south-east Asia

The UN has warned that the world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the raised global temperatures and weather extremes it brings.

The powerful natural weather pattern has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

If US President Donald Trump really wants to boost coal production, bring back coal jobs, and restore the US coal industry to its former glory -- oh, never mind. Seriously, he must be joking.

The post Trump Doubles Down On Coal Power, Just In Time For The Midterms Elections appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Denver, CO — Today the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) declined to approve much of Xcel Energy’s Gas Infrastructure Plan (GIP), which lays out the utility’s forecasted investments in methane gas infrastructure over the coming years. The PUC largely agreed with environmental groups that Xcel must consider alternatives that better promote affordability and ... [continued]

The post Citing Cleaner, Cheaper Alternatives, Colorado Regulators Deny Xcel Energy’s $2.9 Billion Gas System Plan appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Experts say dismantling the ocean observation system will ‘severely degrade’ the accuracy of weather predictions

The Trump administration’s plan to dismantle an ocean observation system vital to understanding the climate crisis and marine ecosystems would “severely degrade” the accuracy of weather predictions and El Niño forecasts, with economic consequences for the US, European and American scientists have warned.

Decommissioning the US system, which plays a major part in a global ocean observation network, would lead to a massive increase in error in the annual estimates of ocean heating rates, according to research published last month.

As demand for cobalt, gold and other minerals grows, mining is accelerating deforestation in the Congo basin – and increasing the risk of deadly Ebola outbreaks

For decades after the discovery of Ebolavirus in 1976, outbreaks of the disease were relatively small and contained, affecting a few hundred people at most.

Not any more. In recent years, outbreaks of Ebola have been much larger, affecting thousands and even tens of thousands of people across multiple countries. The 2014 outbreak of Ebola in West Africa infected over 28,000 people in 10 countries on three continents. The current eruption, which began in early May and shows no signs of abating, has caused 363 confirmed cases in Democratic Republic of the Congo and has crossed into Uganda.

Sonia Shah is the author of five books including Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond, and writes the newsletter Cross Pollinations on Substack

Steel keeps getting framed as a hydrogen problem because hydrogen gives the sector a single shiny lever. Replace coal with hydrogen, keep making new iron, plug it into an electric arc furnace, and declare victory somewhere around the ribbon-cutting ceremony. It is an attractive story for governments, incumbent producers, electrolyzer ... [continued]

The post Steel’s Future Starts With Demand, Scrap, And Electricity, Not Hydrogen appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Today, Sierra Club, the Electrification Coalition, Forth, Plug In America released the latest edition of the AchiEVe policy guide, a comprehensive resource designed to help advocates, policymakers, utilities, and community leaders accelerate the transition to electric transportation through proven state, local, and utility policies. As momentum for transportation electrification continues to ... [continued]

The post AchiEVe 2026 Policy Guide Equips States & Communities to Advance Electric Transportation appeared first on CleanTechnica.

UN report says global meat supply has risen fourfold in last 60 years and is expected to keep rising

• Analysis: Ingredients in place for shift to plant-based diets but meat still dominates

The average person eats about six times as much chicken and twice as much pork as their grandparents’ generation did, data from a UN report suggests, with global meat supply having risen fourfold in the last 60 years and expected to keep rising.

The supply of poultry rose from below 3kg a person in 1961 to 17kg in 2022, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Pork supply doubled to 15kg a person over the same period, while beef, the most polluting food, stayed steady at 9kg.

If designed properly, low-carbon steel credits under the EU car CO₂ standards can create a lead market for green steel produced in Europe. Given the automotive sector’s large steel demand and purchasing power, the mechanism could support the scale-up and commercialisation of green steel projects, strengthen Europe’s industrial base and ... [continued]

The post Low-Carbon Steel Credits in the EU Cars CO₂ Standards appeared first on CleanTechnica.

After a series of deaths on the beaches of Brittany, one bereaved family set out to prove the foul-smelling bloom was to blame

By Marta Zaraska. Read by Lucy Bromilow