Interesting Ideas

Earlier this year, the city was hit by its longest power cut since the second world war. But were those responsible eco-terrorists, agents of the far-right, or even Russian proxies?

Sebastian Brandt, chief technician of the Immanuel hospital in the leafy, affluent Wannsee district of Berlin, guessed something was wrong as soon as he opened the window of his home and smelled diesel. It was 3 January, a freezing Saturday morning, and luckily the hospital opposite had relatively few patients on this post-holiday weekend. As he looked out, the diesel fumes told him that the emergency generator – a huge, deafening, decades-old machine in the basement – had kicked in. That meant the hospital was no longer getting power from the grid. And that meant Brandt was not going to have a quiet weekend.

Although an emergency generator keeps a hospital running, it has its limitations. Surgical procedures have to be cancelled, and though generators are tested regularly, no one can be certain what will happen when they are kept running for days on end. The generator tank in the Immanuel hospital contained about 3,000 litres of diesel, and Brandt had calculated it would burn about 550 litres a day; when the grid operator informed the hospital that the outage might last until the end of the following week, Brandt was quickly dispatched to fetch more diesel from the nearest petrol station that was still on the grid. Meanwhile, he’d heard that a neighbouring hospice was going to move its patients to the hospital, too.

Figures show domestic flower growers are expanding their market share, as the government gives sector official recognition

British flower farmers have long resembled David faced with their own particular Goliath – the imported flower industry. More than 80% of cut flowers bought by UK consumers are shipped or flown in. However, recent figures show domestic growers are expanding their market share.

Chloë Dunnett, the founder of Sitopia Farm, a London-based organic farm growing food and flowers, says: “Our flower sales are up 65% for the year and turnover is increasing year on year as the public and florists look for flowers that are seasonal, environmentally friendly and hyperlocal – consumer power can be very effective.”

I’ve been saying for a year or more now that the Kia EV6 has risen to the top of my list as the new or used vehicle we’d most likely buy next. I love the vehicle, as it seems to be the perfect package in all kinds of ways. I’ve ... [continued]

The post Kia EV6 Price Gets Cut to $37,900! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

There’s vast divergence of opinion on how useful AI systems, particularly LLMs (Large Language Models), are for our society. Some claim they bring us a massive leap forward and are completely worth all the money and energy being put into them. Others see them as incremental improvements (or worse) that ... [continued]

The post xAI Selling $1.5 Billion of Compute to Anthropic Each Month appeared first on CleanTechnica.

What does a surge in ocean temperatures, compounded with El Niño, bode for the summer?

An enormous marine heatwave off the US west coast is ringing alarm bells among ocean and atmospheric scientists as new data shows its ecological and environmental effects are intensifying.

The unusual area of warm water has persisted since peaking in size during September 2025 and still stretches thousands of miles from the California coastline – more than halfway across the Pacific – affecting a vast triangle-shaped region of oceanic habitats from Hawaii to British Columbia and southward to Mexico.

How many news articles do you go to now that are behind a paywall? This is the era of media we’re in — news sites need subscribers. There are sites, like The Guardian, that want to make sure content is accessible and important news and discussions get out there to ... [continued]

The post Have You Seen A Paywall Recently? Support Cleantech Media Here appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Offshore wind stakeholders in California are moving forward with plans to develop 25 gigawatts by 2045, despite the sharp U-turn in federal energy policy.

The post World’s Fourth-Largest Economy Challenges Trump On Offshore Wind appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The leading quick serve restaurant chain Bojangles has just launched a new EV charging campaign to go with its new rip-and-dip Chicken Ripper sliders.

The post EV Charging Meets Chicken Rippers At Bojangles (In Other Words, The War On EVs Is Over) appeared first on CleanTechnica.

‘Living archive’ will mark loss of Northumberland landmark with storytelling, sound and sculpture using saved wood

A new artwork will transform preserved wood from the felled Sycamore Gap tree into a “living archive” after a public vote.

The community arts charity Helix Arts and George King Architects were named winners of the vote on Saturday, after being shortlisted for a National Trust commission in March.

Cambridgeshire: It was nearly ready to fly but it was partly out of its chrysalis and partly still in it

On Sunday morning, I was pottering in the garden wondering what to do. I saw a flapping coming from my wildflower patch, so I went to my clump of clover. I pushed it away, only to reveal a large white butterfly fresh out of its chrysalis. It had been drying its damp wings in the sun.

Then I realised that part of the butterfly’s chrysalis was still on its wing, and the other wing was already dry and ready to fly. I watched the butterfly for a while. The butterfly tried to get the chrysalis off, but it had used up all its energy. I realised that it needed some help, so I tugged the chrysalis as gently as I could. The butterfly didn’t move but the chrysalis did, so I tugged a little bit harder and off it came.

Volkswagen is the leading electric vehicle seller in Europe. It may not be at the level of BYD or Tesla globally, but it is one of the top automakers in terms of EV sales globally as well. Europe is where it shines, though, and the new ID. Polo is an ... [continued]

The post The 100% Electric VW ID. Polo GTI appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A few days ago, I looked into how much it would cost to fuel a Hyundai Santa Fe versus how much it would cost to “fuel” a Hyundai IONIQ 5. (There’s a backstory there — go ahead and catch up on it all if you’re curious and missed that.) I ... [continued]

The post $1,523 to Fuel Toyota C-HR vs. $205 to Energize Kia EV6 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Authorities are cracking down on rights activists fighting for Indigenous people threatened by authoritarianism, extractivism and climate breakdown

The operation began at 9am Moscow time, but took place across all of Russia’s 11 time zones. Almost simultaneously, agents of the federal security service (FSB) raided the homes and workplaces of 17 Indigenous rights activists.

Officers carried out searches, confiscated laptops and phones, and arrested and interrogated activists about participation in international forums. Most were let go; many have since left the country. Others remain in Russia, but will no longer speak up.

Phenomenon, often seen around Britain’s coast at this time of year, is caused by a combination of algae and weather

At this time of year a sinister-looking substance can often be sighted around Britain’s coast: a frothy foam piled up along the shoreline or appearing in long ribbons offshore. People sometimes assume this foam is the result of pollution or sewage dumping. In fact it is a common natural phenomenon produced by a combination of algae and weather.

Sea algae start to grow in April as conditions warm. The most common sort, phaeocystis, is not toxic and forms part of the marine food chain. When the algal bloom dies it leaves a brown scum of organic material with surfactant properties, which, like soap, lowers the surface tension of the water.

Firefighters are racing to douse flames on California’s Santa Rosa Island as experts express concern for unique habitat

On the south-eastern corner of Santa Rosa Island lies a grove of a few thousand Torrey pine trees, some of them more than 250 years old. The only other place on earth where these gnarled pines exist is in San Diego county, but biologists classify the two groves as different subspecies. So when a rare wildfire broke out on Santa Rosa Island late last week, firefighters raced to keep it from spreading into the grove, where it threatened to consign the island’s Torrey pines to extinction.

So far, they appear to be succeeding – even as the 18,000-acre fire has torched nearly one-third of the island’s surface. But biologists who have studied Santa Rosa Island’s unique ecology are watching anxiously as the fire continues to burn a part of the island that is home to six plants found nowhere else on the planet.

Clean energy myths abound, but Earth.org has five strategies for countering disinformation that have proven effective.

The post Earth.org Debunks Clean Energy Myths appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The US, Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia – some of the highest oil-producing nations and major greenhouse gas emitters – opposed the measure

The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said Wednesday’s general assembly vote, in which 28 countries abstained, underscored that governments are responsible for protecting citizens from the “escalating climate crisis”.

Tilting at windmills is an English language idiom that means “attacking imaginary enemies.” It’s a famous line from the book Don Quixote. I recently caught up with Tom Sjolund of Volvo EX30 fame. You can read about his EV adventures here. He has more travelling adventures planned for his Volvo, ... [continued]

The post Tilting at Windmills appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah have joined forces to tap into hundreds -- yes, hundreds -- of gigawatts in geothermal energy within their borders, leveraging new drilling technologies, AI, and other advanced systems.

The post Four Western States Combine Forces To Kickstart A Geothermal Energy Revolution appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Increasing coastal erosion has hit communities’ livelihoods and put lifestyles under threat

The remains of the road linking two towns in south Devon lie crumbled on the foreshore in a mess of tarmac, steel and concrete.

The dramatic coastal road, known as the Slapton Line, has an environmentally protected freshwater lake on one side and the sea on the other, and links the towns of Kingsbridge and Dartmouth. But this year, winter storms demolished a section of the A road between Torcross and Slapton, which is at the frontline of rising sea levels and coastal erosion, fulfilling a destiny that was predicted more than 30 years ago, but that has not been prepared for.