Interesting Ideas

Where I live in the US, utility bills surged during the winter, and someone I know who is a Republican blamed renewables. However, the state I live in has the largest number of data centers of all US states, and electricity consumption from data centers is what drove up the ... [continued]

The post Billions Of Pounds Generated By Green Jobs In Scotland appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Many parts of the world are sweltering in record heat, but research shows people don't want to hear about the causes.

The post Unprecedented Heat Is Cooking The Earth This Year appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Anyone who studies US electric vehicles probably knows California is the state with the largest number of fully-electric vehicles. California also has the largest number of public EV chargers, and not by a little. What might be less known is that California also has an estimated 800,000 home EV chargers ... [continued]

The post 800,000 Home EV Chargers In California? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

When you think about heat pump installation time, you probably think of the work that happens onsite. But what about the days, weeks, or even months it takes for permitting? Or, when a distributor only stocks gas heaters, so the shipping lead time is half a year? Data on these ... [continued]

The post How Long Do Heat Pump Installations Take? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Uber and Lyft drivers in Massachusetts are tired of being taken advantage of, and are thus diverging from the long-term trend in the USA away from worker unions. Drivers for Uber and Lyft in The Baked Bean State have decided to combine forces for better pay and conditions by unionizing, ... [continued]

The post Uber & Lyft Drivers Create 1st US Ridesharing Union In Massachusetts appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Like so many Britons, I usually consult a weather app before venturing out of the house – and often cancel plans if I don’t like what I see. Here’s what happened when I went cold turkey for a week

When I heard on the radio that more than half of British people would consider cancelling an outing if they saw a 40% chance of rain all day on their weather app, I felt seen. I, too, am a slave to my app. Not that I would ever make a decision based on one whole-day percentage. I pore over three-hourly breakdowns for chances of rain versus minutes of sunshine. If rain is on the cards, I check the probable millimetres. Less than one? I may well throw caution to the wind. Speaking of which, wind speed and direction must also be considered, along with overall and “feels like” temperatures. For the cherry on top, I’ll compare notes with a loved one’s app if they use a different one, quietly mistrusting theirs, and simmering in silent rage if theirs wins.

I’ll admit, though, that my compulsion to check my app (I long ago chose WeatherPro, which I knew nothing about, but liked its layout and name) is borderline neurotic; I fret over probabilities and outfit appropriateness, when I could simply step outside for real-time hyper-local accuracy. I can lose procrastinatory hours consulting long-range forecasts, or checking the weather in Melbourne (where my sister lives) and holiday destinations I have no immediate plans to visit.

Calaminarian grassland is a rare habitat where plants thrive in soils contaminated by heavy metals. But should these toxic meadows be protected or allowed to fade away?

At first, the small purple flowers are hard to spot in the weak May sunshine. Slowly the drifts of delicate mountain pansies, along with the white rosettes of alpine pennycress, begin to jump out, scattered across an area little bigger than a football pitch, on the banks of the River Allen in Northumberland.

This is a pocket of calaminarian grassland, an increasingly rare habitat where specialist plants called metallophytes have adapted to live in soils deeply contaminated by heavy metals, the legacy of more than 1,000 years of lead mining.

Experts say climate change linked to 10% rise in salmonella antibiotic resistance genes between 1940 and 2023

The climate crisis is accelerating a global increase in antibiotic resistance that poses a serious threat to human health, experts have said as figures show a rise in salmonella antibiotic resistant genes.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the fastest-growing threats to global health. It can affect people of any age in any country and already kills more than 1 million people a year, according to estimates.

I wrote an article last week about how it’s much cheaper to charge my electric car than people think, or electric cars in general. I knew this would be the logical followup article. We don’t have solar, since we live in a townhouse where we don’t have control over our ... [continued]

The post Sunshine Is Actually The Cheapest Fuel For Your Car appeared first on CleanTechnica.

More Americans are using small solar panels in their back yards or balconies as a clean way to cut their electric bills

If you feel like your electricity bill just keeps climbing, you aren’t imagining it. Since 2020, US residential energy prices have surged by about 30%, making power the largest household energy expense behind gasoline, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

But for residents like Alex Curtis, the days of feeling powerless against rising costs are coming to an end. Curtis is waging a war on his electric bill, and his new weapon of choice is a lightweight, thin-film solar panel.

At least nine people have died in recent days as people have tried to cool off in Britain’s waterways

Water safety experts have warned about the dangers of outdoor swimming after a number of drownings in recent days as people try to escape soaring temperatures by cooling off in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and other bodies of water.

Emergency services have reported at least nine deaths because of water-related incidents in the past few days, seven of them young people, as Britain’s heatwave sends crowds of people to the seaside and other swimming spots.

The UK regional carrier Loganair has signed onto a modular, localized SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) system developed by the firm ClimaHtech Green Flight. 

The post 15-Year SAF Deal For UK’s Largest Regional Airline appeared first on CleanTechnica.

I just recently ran across the “Solar Stories” series from the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). I was excited to watch the videos … and then I was a little let down. The first two I watched — “Why Americans Are Choosing Solar” and “A Solar Slam Dunk” — ... [continued]

The post Pros & Cons of SEIA’s “Solar Stories” Series appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Investigation finds number of dairy farms where cows cannot go outside has more than doubled since 2015

There has been a huge rise in factory-style dairy farming of “battery cows” in the UK as farmers struggle with increasing costs and face selling milk at a loss.

The number of intensive dairy farms that permanently confine some of their cattle indoors has more than doubled in the past 10 years, an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has found. Data suggests there are now at least 180 dairy farms where cows have no access to the outdoors, up from about 70 in 2015.

Researchers racing to document Oceania’s last tropical glaciers found the remaining ‘eternal snow’ in Indonesia’s West Papua region has lost almost all its ice

• Mapping the last glaciers in Oceania – in pictures

An expedition to document the end days of the last tropical glaciers in Oceania has revealed sombre footage of “planetary destruction on fast-forward”.

The once-mighty ice sheets on Puncak Jaya, a mountain surrounded by dense rainforests in West Papua, Indonesia, have survived beyond projections they would disappear by 2026 but have shrunk to a fraction of their original size.

High unemployment and a lack of support mean life can be tough in Grimsby, but 19-year-old Cohen is determined to make the best of life in this coastal town

It’s mid-afternoon in the Lincolnshire seaside town of Cleethorpes and Cohen is sitting in the back seat of a car putting on an Easter bunny outfit. A group of teenagers nearby stare in amusement. Cohen isn’t fazed. He is hoping we can take some new photographs that he can use to advertise his mascot business for the upcoming holidays.

Cohen, 19, lives with his parents a couple of miles down the road in neighbouring Grimsby and set up Co Co Mascots last year as one of his many attempts to find work. People can hire him in one of the outfits for birthday parties, events and doorstep surprises for children. He’s done a few paid gigs so far, which has been a boost for his confidence, he says, but what he really wants is a permanent job.

Cohen, who is looking for a permanent job, makes money as a mascot at birthday parties and events

Swanage, Dorset: While the seabirds here make the headlines, my eye is drawn to the unassuming rock pipit and its accelerating song

It’s a stunning evening for a walk at Durlston Country Park. The position of its headland on the south-west coast of England makes it a fantastic place to watch bird migration in action. As I walk along the coastal path, enjoying the panoramic sea views, barn swallows arrive from across the Channel.

Below is a cacophony of sound coming from the cliff edges; this part of the Jurassic Coast is home to a breeding colony of seabirds, with last year’s survey recording 1,377 guillemots, 179 razorbills, 12 fulmars and just six puffins.

Tom Steyer vs Xavier Becerra is the choice that matters for the world’s 4th largest economy What happens in California has BIG ripple effects for the pace of our global clean energy transition. With AI tech valuations ballooning, California is now the world’s 4th largest economy, ranking ahead of Japan, ... [continued]

The post California’s Next Governor Will Be A Climate Champion Or A Corporate Crony appeared first on CleanTechnica.

True or false? Most large scale solar energy projects in the US encounter relatively few permitting conflicts. Many media stories that spread the perception that opposition to solar development is common. A new study led by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers says the correct answer to the question is…. True. ... [continued]

The post There Are Many Fewer Solar Installation Permitting Conflicts Than You’d Think appeared first on CleanTechnica.

For some it’s ‘the music of May’. For others, it’s an antisocial irritation. But wherever you stand, be careful – or you could fall foul of the law

Name: Lawnmower hum.

Age: Getting steadily louder since 1830.