Interesting Ideas

Washington, D.C. — Today, Sierra Club and Earthjustice presented oral arguments before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the legal challenge against the Department of Energy’s (DOE) illegal application of Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. “The Sierra Club will not stand by and let the administration illegally ... [continued]

The post In Court, Sierra Club & Earthjustice Argue Against the Illegal Coal Plant Extensions that are Increasing Hoosiers’ Bills appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Ever fancied creating your own enormous effigy? One Cornish art collective has reinvigorated the practice – and now they want to draw on the public’s skills, too

This New Year’s Eve, environmentalist and author Lisa Schneidau did something she had never done before. She welcomed in 2026 with giants. “At a certain time of the evening, they started appearing from all over the town. Then everyone flooded out of their houses and congregated into a massive procession of giants and lights and drums and music. It was absolutely extraordinary.”

Schneidau’s fairytale experience happened in Lostwithiel, the Cornish home town of the art collective The Lost Giants (TLG), a group of craftspeople and artists reviving the British tradition of making giants and beasties and goliaths. The giants she celebrated with were made of wooden frames and cloth, papier-mache and card, but were full of life.

To apply for a giant, go to The Lost Giants website

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed rolling back protections that stop coal-burning power plants from dumping toxic wastewater—including arsenic, mercury, selenium, and lead—from coal ash waste landfills into U.S. waterways. The discharge of coal ash wastewater has been an issue at Iowa coal plants, including in Sioux City on ... [continued]

The post Iowa Waterways at Risk as EPA Allows More Toxic Waste from Coal Plants appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The Trump administration’s Jones Act waiver is a small policy exception with a much larger lesson. The same administration that says it wants to restore American maritime dominance, rebuild domestic shipbuilding, counter China’s industrial scale, and make U.S. logistics more secure also waived parts of the law usually treated as ... [continued]

The post Jones Act Waiver Exposes America’s Shipbuilding Gap appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The GoSun Sport-E elevates solar ovens to genuinely useful cooking appliances with a unique hybrid design

• Baking Steel v Ooni v Gozney: I tested the three best pizza makers for home in the US

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

The term “solar energy” may immediately conjure images of solar panels, but you don’t need to convert sunlight to electricity to harness its power. As a self-professed solar nerd, I’ve played around with a few different alternatives, including a large parabolic mirror that could instantly set paper on fire – and cook a meal. No gas, electricity or even a wood fire needed.

When everything lined up, it almost felt magical. It’s hard to beat the sound and smell of fried potatoes sizzling on a blistering hot cast-iron pan, and I loved putting that bright Arizona sun to good use. But it also revealed some challenges. It was awkward to carry and set up, slight misalignment caused uneven cooking, wind sapped the heat, and a passing cloud could lead to a half-cooked meal.

Following Tesla Full Self Driving (Supervised) approval and deployment in the Netherlands, the driver-assist software is now permitted to use in Belgium, sort of. For now, one Tesla car is allowed to test the technology in Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. Of course, if all goes well, Full Self ... [continued]

The post Tesla Full Self Driving (Supervised) Now Permitted in Belgium appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Washington, D.C. — Today, Sierra Club and Earthjustice presented oral arguments before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the legal challenge against the Department of Energy’s illegal application of Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. In May 2025, DOE claimed there was an “energy emergency” and forced the ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club & Earthjustice Argue Against Illegal Coal Plant Extensions in Court appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Murlough Nature Reserve, Dundrum, County Down: Its arrival signals the start of summer, and another cycle of its extraordinary breeding method

Sheltered from the Irish Sea by the towering white foredunes of Murlough beach, I follow a trail through the heather and scrub. In the distance, the Mourne mountains slip in and out of view, already charred by this year’s wildfires. My attention turns to the season’s happier signs: sand martins chittering overhead; the scratchy cries of a whitethroat deep in the gorse; a meadow pipit stuttering into song flight. And now, the chant that clinches summer’s arrival.

I follow the cuckoo’s call and find him perched in a stunted sycamore. Through binoculars, I meet his orange eye. As he leans into his song, his jaunty tail and drooping wings make a fin for the long torpedo of his body – the ideal form for a life lived on the move.

Plug-in balcony solar systems make it easy for homeowners and renters to install their own solar panels and offset the cost of electricity from the grid.

The post Trump’s Fossil Fuel Fantasy Wilts Under Balcony Solar Pressure appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Study of samples from seven winters suggests neurotoxic metal coming from wood itself rather than old paint

Wood heating is reintroducing lead into the air of local communities and homes, a systematic investigation by academics has found.

Overwhelming evidence of lead’s neurotoxicity meant the metal was banned as an additive in petrol more than 25 years ago. The research by academics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst began by analysing samples of particle pollution from five suburban and rural towns in the north-east US. They looked for tiny particles of potassium that are given off when wood is burned and also particles containing lead.

This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world

Thames at Ham designated as one of 13 new swimming areas across England to be monitored for water quality

The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London will welcome swimmers for the official start of the bathing season on Friday as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across England.

The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, has been designated as a new river bathing water area after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year.

Canvey Island foreshore, Essex

East Beach at West Bay, Bridport, Dorset

Falcon Meadow, Bungay, Suffolk

Granville Parade Beach, Sandgate, Kent

Little Shore, Amble, Northumberland

New Brighton Beach (east), Merseyside

Newton and Noss Creeks, Devon

Pangbourne Meadow, Berkshire

Queen Elizabeth Gardens, Salisbury, Wiltshire

River Dee at Sandy Lane, Chester, Cheshire

River Fowey in Lostwithiel, Cornwall

River Swale in Richmond, Yorkshire

River Thames at Ham and Kingston, Greater London

Glenn Murcutt pioneered architecture that was sensitive to its environment, and accomodating to changing temperatures and wildlife

The house teaches you things, Lynne Eastaway says. Today, a choir of cicadas fill the scrub with a rhythm that rises and falls. On other days, there may be visits from birds, goannas, echidnas, wombats, wallabies and kangaroos.

“The bush ends, and the house begins,” she says. “You’re not the centre; you’re just part of it. That’s the thing you learn.

When the birds started nesting on her land at Useless Bay, Chile, Cecilia Durán Gafo decided she would protect them from people and predators

Five pairs of rubbery feet carry velvet-sheathed black-and-white bodies towards the rope line separating the king penguins from the dozen or so visitors, who look on in awe. As these emissaries shuffle over, a hundred of their cohorts parade on a nearby bank, splashing around in the water and regurgitating food into their chicks’ open beaks.

The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) makes its home almost exclusively on islands in the Southern Ocean. But it has been coming to this wind-battered bay in southern Chile’s Tierra del Fuego region for hundreds of years, probably because its shallow shores offer protection from marine predators and humans.

Sales of electric cars in Nordic countries are strong, with Norway and Denmark leading and Sweden and Finland following.

The post New Record For Electric Car Sales In Nordic Countries In April appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Canada’s federal government has finally put electricity where it belongs: at the centre of the national economy. That is the most important thing about Mark Carney’s newly announced National Electricity Strategy. This is not just a climate file. It is an industrial strategy, an affordability strategy, a trade strategy, a ... [continued]

The post Canada Needs A Second Golden Spike For Electricity appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In this week’s newsletter: The public stranding of a young humpback exposes tensions between animal rights activism and other choices around biodiversity

• Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

Timmy the whale is lost at sea, presumed dead.

In normal circumstances, the loss of a young humpback whale would be a sad yet unremarkable part of the circle of life. Dead whales help sustain thousands of marine species – and are part of the global carbon cycle.

Smuggled in syringes: how Nairobi became a nexus for the black market in giant harvester ants

Don’t reach for the bug spray: scientists find insects may feel pain after crickets nurse sore antennae

Labour must fulfil promise to introduce clean air act, charities urge

Butterfly Conservation poll is open until 7 June with choice of 60 species from small tortoiseshells to purple emperors

Will it be the rapidly disappearing former garden favourite, the small tortoiseshell? Or the poet John Masefield’s “oakwood haunting thing”, the charismatic purple emperor? Or perhaps the brimstone, the ultimate harbinger of spring?

The question of which is Britain’s favourite butterfly is being put to a popular vote for the first time. The charity Butterfly Conservation is running the poll, which runs until 7 June, giving people the chance to choose their favourite from the 60 species that fly around Britain every summer.

Like in other countries, and like other companies in China, Tesla has seen its sales drop in the largest EV market in the world this year. Tesla’s sales were down 10% year over year there in April, and they were down 15% across the first 4 months of the year. ... [continued]

The post Tesla Slashing Down Payments & Loan Terms in China Amidst Dropping Sales appeared first on CleanTechnica.

While listening to the technical discussions at XPENG presentations and press conferences, I started to see the people behind the technology. While we can get caught up in the technical details, all the progress that we see comes from human ideas and the hard work of teams of people. Every ... [continued]

The post XPENG’s Human Approach To Technology: Part 1 appeared first on CleanTechnica.