Interesting Ideas

Blacka Moor, South Yorkshire: The very cold daytime temperatures should be welcomed, and the reason is right beneath our feet

At the edge of the moor, there’s a knot of birch that over the years has become familiar to me – not for the trees themselves, but for the earth that nourishes them. Here the ground turns to a peaty gloop and the path braids as walkers explore different ways to keep their boots out of the mud. Not today, though. Today the ground is iron-hard and has been for a week, with daytime temperatures remaining at or below freezing. I can walk where I want.

Freezing soil has lots of benefits, some of them magical. For example, the earth beneath my feet has become a kind of time machine, preserving the foot and hoof prints of animals and people that came this way days ago. Among the prints are those of red deer; looking up, I see two hinds 50 metres away, breath condensing against the cold air. I’m tempted to ask: “Was this you?”

‘I don’t think anyone realised how bad it would get,’ says one resident, who says she might need a boat or a helicopter

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Ashleigh Brieffies is standing on the front steps of her home in central Queensland on Monday afternoon as knee-deep water sweeps over the grounds of her property.

“If it comes up another 2ft we’ll probably be underwater,” says Brieffies, who lives in Clermont. “I think we’ll be looking for a boat or a chopper.”

Gas bans in new buildings moved from obscure municipal policy to national legal conflict in a remarkably short period of time. For most of the past decade, city ordinances limiting or prohibiting new natural gas hookups were treated as a local matter tied to building codes, air quality, and long ... [continued]

The post The Long US Goodbye to New Gas Connections and the Legal Tools States Are Using to Get There appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The idea of a European green steel premium has become widely accepted over the past several years. It rests on the belief that Europe can decarbonize its steel sector domestically, absorb higher production costs through a mix of policy support and buyer willingness, and maintain industrial competitiveness while doing so. ... [continued]

The post Why Green Steel, Not Green Iron, Determines Europe’s Industrial Future appeared first on CleanTechnica.

‘Historic’ moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says

Coal power generation fell in China and India for the first time since the 1970s last year, in a “historic” moment that could bring a decline in global emissions, according to analysis.

The simultaneous fall in coal-powered electricity in the world’s biggest coal-consuming countries had not happened since 1973, according to analysts at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, and was driven by a record roll-out of clean energy projects.

A deadly fungus has already wiped out 90 species and threatens 500 more but Anthony Waddle is hoping gene replacement could be their salvation

Standing ankle-deep in water between two bare cottonwood trees on a hot spring day, eight-year-old Anthony Waddle was in his element. His attention was entirely absorbed by the attempt to net tadpoles swimming in a reservoir in the vast Mojave desert.

It was “one of the perfect moments in my childhood”, he says.

Yes, we want some good cleantech-focused messages on your shirt, your hoodie, your mug, or your cap — or even your baby’s clothes! Thanks to our wonderful readers, in recent months, we have actually raised much more than our $2,000 Kickstarter target from pure donations/subscriptions. We hugely appreciate those no-cost ... [continued]

The post Smash The Oiligarcy, The Future Is Now! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Swedish producer is trying to to accelerate the process of extracting the elements vital for hi-tech products

It is deep winter with temperatures dropping to -20C. The sun never rises above the horizon, instead bathing Sweden’s most northerly town of Kiruna in a blue crepuscular light, or “civil twilight” as it is known, for two or three hours a day stretching visibility a few metres, notwithstanding heavy snow.

But 900 metres below the arctic conditions, a team of 20 gather every day, forgoing the brief glimpse of natural light and spearheading the EU’s race to mine its own rare earths.Despite identification of several deposits around the continent, and some rare earth refineries including Solvay in France, there are no operational rare earth mines in Europe.

By Lorenzo Manca, Sustainable Finance Officer, T&E. There are welcome signs that the European Investment Bank intends to tackle transport poverty via the ETS2. The institution should also ramp up support for clean transport technologies such as e-fuels and the battery value chain. The EIB is the EU’s investment giant, ... [continued]

The post The EU’s Investment Giant Needs To Step Up On Clean Transport appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The “spec war” in portable power is officially shifting toward material science and deep vehicle integration. Monitoring the latest from CES 2026, it’s clear that BLUETTI is moving beyond the simple “more kilowatt-hours” race to tackle two of the industry’s biggest hurdles: hardware decarbonization and the notorious slow-charging bottleneck for ... [continued]

The post BLUETTI Targets Circular Economy & High-Speed Mobile Charging — CES 2026 Launch appeared first on CleanTechnica.

After a four-year wait, the abundant fruiting of the rimu tree could inspire the world’s heaviest parrots to boost their population

It has been four long years, but the world’s heaviest parrots, the kākāpō, are finally about to get it on again. The mass fruiting of a native New Zealand tree has triggered breeding season – a rare event conservationists hope will lead to a record number of chicks for the critically endangered bird.

Kākāpō, the world’s only nocturnal and flightless parrot, were once abundant across New Zealand. But their population plummeted after the introduction of predators such as cats and stoats, and by the 1900s they were nearly extinct.

Achieving production efficiency and enhanced supply chain environmental performance through process shortening and material loss reduction NIPPON KINZOKU CO., LTD. (TOKYO: 5491) (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo) has commenced the full-scale deployment of its “Eco-Product” lineup, comprised of products manufactured using its proprietary “Composite Metal Forming Technology,” which is based on the long-cultivated precision profile-rolled products, “Fine ... [continued]

The post NIPPON KINZOKU Launches Full-Scale Expansion of “Eco-Product” Using Innovative Composite Metal Forming Technology Based on “Fine Profile” appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Cyclists prepare for Australia’s big race by training in extreme temperatures – and they have noticed a contradiction in the relationship with Santos

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The first time Maeve Plouffe trained in the heat, she was in Paris in the lead-up to the Olympics. It was supposed to be an easy ride to help get used to the conditions. When she returned, she fainted from heat sickness.

“That’s how badly I was affected,” she says. “Racing in extreme heat is like playing chicken with your environment.”

Today, the New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency would cease to calculate the negative health impacts of air pollution in its future rulemaking process and only consider industry costs. On the EPA’s website, the mission of the agency is to “protect human health and the environment.” Between 1999 and ... [continued]

The post Environmental “Protection” Agency to Stop Considering Health Impacts of Pollution appeared first on CleanTechnica.

US President Donald Trump struck a mighty blow against offshore wind workers on December 22, when he ordered work to halt on five major offshore wind projects spanning five states along the Atlantic Coast, throwing hundreds of households into the unemployment lines. Or not, as the case may be. On ... [continued]

The post Judge Smacks Down One Offshore Wind Stop-Work Order, Four To Go appeared first on CleanTechnica.

One of the big automotive stories out of CES 2026 from the last week was Ford making an announcement about eyes-free driving coming to its models — affordable EVs even — in 2028. There are layers to this, though. Ford’s L3 Eyes-Off Driving Plans — What Are They Exactly? First ... [continued]

The post Ford, Waymo, Tesla — Where Is Self-Driving Going in 2026? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

My Flemish giant bunny loved chomping on carrots, computer cables and my skirting board – and being walked on a leash. When I suffered a medical emergency, she jumped into action

The first time I saw a Flemish giant rabbit was at TruckFest in Peterborough in 2002. Among a sprawling maze of stalls at the East of England showground, I was led into a tent filled with the biggest rabbits I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d never heard of Flemish giants before, but I knew then that I needed one. I couldn’t have predicted in that moment that one of these beautiful creatures might save my life.

Dory was a baby when I met her, but even as a bunny she was already bigger than most normal-sized rabbits. We brought her home in a cat carrier, but she soon outgrew it. By the time she was fully grown, she weighed nearly 10kg, and I was walking her on a leash like a dog.

Omaha, Nebraska — Reports of a steam tube failure at OPPD’s North Omaha coal plant once again raise reliability, health, and safety concerns. As a result of the failure, one of the two remaining coal units was taken offline last week. The forced outage follows a recent OPPD board vote to ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Nebraska Statement on Forced Outage at Aging OPPD Coal Plant appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Seven out of 10 targets have little likelihood of being met by 2030, Office for Environmental Protection says

The government will not meet its targets to save wildlife in England and is failing on almost all environmental measures, the Office for Environmental Protection watchdog has said.

In a damning report, the OEP has found that seven of the 10 targets set in the Environment Act 2021 have little likelihood of being met by 2030, which is the deadline set in law.

Exclusive: ClimatePartner analysis shows how move would risk plunging Earth further into climate catastrophe

US plans to exploit Venezuela’s oil reserves could by 2050 consume more than a tenth of the world’s remaining carbon budget to limit global heating to 1.5C, according to an exclusive analysis.

The calculation highlights how any moves to further exploit the South American nation’s oil reserves – the largest in the world, at least on paper – would put increasing pressure on climate goals, and risk plunging the Earth further into climate catastrophe.