Interesting Ideas

Scientists in Kansas believe Kernza could cut emissions, restore degraded soils and reshape the future of agriculture

On the concrete floor of a greenhouse in rural Kansas stands a neat grid of 100 plastic plant pots, each holding a straggly crown of strappy, grass-like leaves. These plants are perennials – they keep growing, year after year. That single characteristic separates them from soya beans, wheat, maize, rice and every other major grain crop, all of which are annuals: plants that live and die within a single growing season.

“These plants are the winners, the ones that get to pass their genes on [to future generations],” says Lee DeHaan of the Land Institute, an agricultural non-profit based in Salina, Kansas. If DeHaan’s breeding programme maintains its current progress, the descendant of these young perennial crop plants could one day usher in a wholesale revolution in agriculture.

Announcement draws anger from Labour MP over refusal to remove tonnes of rubbish dumped near school in Wigan

The Environment Agency is to spend millions of pounds to clear an enormous illegal rubbish dump in Oxfordshire, saying the waste is at risk of catching fire.

But the decision announced on Thursday to clear up the thousands of tonnes of waste illegally dumped outside Kidlington has drawn an angry response from a Labour MP in Greater Manchester whose constituents have been living alongside 25,000 tonnes of toxic rubbish for nearly a year.

University of Hawaii at Manoa and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Teamed up To Analyze Feasibility of Geothermal Cooling Technologies By Justin Daugherty, NLR In areas with geologically recent volcanic activity and ample underground water flow, like the Hawaiian Islands, geothermal energy technologies present options to augment the electric grid. To ... [continued]

The post New Report Illuminates Geothermal Cooling Potential in Hawaii appeared first on CleanTechnica.

As expected, EV sales in the US are down this quarter. Sales surged in the 3rd quarter before the $7,500 US EV tax credit expired, and they have subsequently dropped — or collapsed off a cliff — in the 4th quarter. Reuters has apparently received exclusive data from Cox Automotive ... [continued]

The post US Tesla Sales Drop 23% in November Year Over Year appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Yesterday, I covered Donald Trump’s latest effort to pretend he’s king and violate states’ rights, an AI executive order. (Apologies if he’s already tried to act like king in some other way and I’ve missed that.) The executive order tries to force fossil fuel pollution on more people, among other ... [continued]

The post Donald Trump’s AI Order Could Cost Iowans & Georgians Big Time appeared first on CleanTechnica.

For years upon years, we’ve had the Waymo vs. Tesla robotaxi debate. Who will win in the end? However, almost out of nowhere, Zoox has jumped in and joined the party. And, let’s be honest, kicking things off in Las Vegas, it’s partying hard. Now, news is that Zoox has ... [continued]

The post Zoox Becomes Robotaxi Partner for T-Mobile Arena appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Fast-moving fires in parched urban fringes have residents on edge, and no one needs a reminder of how bad things can get

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It was 3am Sunday when Robin and Paul McLean received the text. A fire was encroaching on their Lake Macquarie home and it was too late to leave.

Their adult daughter, who lives with them, is confined to her bed due to disability and has her own evacuation plan that includes calling an ambulance if they reach a “watch and act” alert level – the second of three alert levels, between “advice” and “emergency warning”. But suddenly there was no time.

The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable

Ten years on from the historic Paris climate summit, which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.

Renewable energy smashed records last year, growing by 15% and accounting for more than 90% of all new power generation capacity. Investment in clean energy topped $2tn, outstripping that into fossil fuels by two to one.

XPENG reportedly told press in Malaysia that it is in negotiations with EP Manufacturing Bhd to get EV production underway in Malaysia. Mass production is supposed to begin at some point in 2026. The focus is not just on producing cars for Malaysia, but on producing cars for right-hand markets ... [continued]

The post XPENG Looking to Start EV Production in Malaysia appeared first on CleanTechnica.

US President Donald Trump began his war against offshore wind turbines with a bang in January, but the writing of defeat is already on the wall. Despite his efforts here in the US, the domestic offshore wind industry is not an entirely lost cause, and activity continues apace overseas. Additionally, ... [continued]

The post Wind Power Gets The Last Laugh As Trump Fades Into The Mists Of Twilight appeared first on CleanTechnica.

RTES System Cuts Energy Consumption and Costs Over a Simulated 20-Year Period By Hannah Halusker, NLR The rise of artificial intelligence, cloud platforms, and data processing is driving a steady increase in global data center electricity consumption. While running computer servers accounts for the largest share of data center energy ... [continued]

The post NLR Analysis Identifies Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage as a Solution for Data Center Cooling Needs appeared first on CleanTechnica.

BMW has filed a patent that could be a huge deal. Though, it would need to be implemented, and it would also need consumer buy-in. Here’s a shocking statistic for you: Approximately 30% of deaths caused by traffic accidents in the US each year involve drunk drivers. That was 12,429 ... [continued]

The post BMW May Finally Do What Auto Industry Has Needed For Decades appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In this week’s newsletter:​ The government’s bid to speed up nuclear construction could usher in sweeping deregulation, with experts warning of profound consequences for nature

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When UK prime minister Keir Starmer announced last week that he was “implementing the Fingleton review”, you can forgive the pulse of most Britons for failing to quicken.

But behind the uninspiring statement lies potentially the biggest deregulation for decades, posing peril for endangered species, if wildlife experts are to be believed, and a likely huge row with the EU.

2025 ‘virtually certain’ to be second- or third-hottest year on record, EU data shows

Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of the poorest half of humanity, report finds

‘Even the animals seem confused’: a retreating Kashmir glacier is creating an entire new world in its wake

Still rare only 20 years ago, the charismatic animals are in almost every UK river and a conservation success story

On a quiet Friday evening, an otter and a fox trot through Lincoln city centre. The pair scurry past charity shops and through deserted streets, the encounter lit by the security lamps of shuttered takeaways. Each animal inspects the nooks and crannies of the high street before disappearing into the night, ending the unlikely scene captured by CCTV last month.

Unlike the fox, the otter has been a rare visitor in towns and cities across the UK. But after decades of intense conservation work, that is changing. In the past year alone, the aquatic mammal has been spotted on a river-boat dock in London’s Canary Wharf, dragging an enormous fish along a riverbank in Stratford-upon-Avon, and plundering garden ponds near York. One otter was even filmed causing chaos in a Shetland family’s kitchen in March.

Meet Taylor Uekert, the Gymnast-Turned-Nanoengineer Who Harnesses Molecular Machines To Remake Plastics, Chemicals, and More By Caitlin McDermott-Murphy, NLR Three days after 9-year-old Taylor Uekert moved to the foothills outside San Diego, her parents woke her and her brother in the middle of the night. “Get up and get to the car,” ... [continued]

The post She Wanted To Write Fantasy. Now, She Is Rewriting Recycling. appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A few weeks ago, Waymo announced that it was beginning operations, slowly and carefully, in five more cities. This week, the company announced that service is now fully autonomous and underway 24/7 in Orlando, Florida, and San Antonio, Texas. Hey there, Orlando! We’re fully autonomous in your city—meaning no human ... [continued]

The post Waymo Boasts “Exponential Scaling” appeared first on CleanTechnica.

While it’s impossible to escape the emissions associated with flying, some travel methods are more carbon-intensive than others

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As the Australian summer gets under way, many of us are planning holidays.

When it comes to limiting emissions associated with travel, a staycation or local holiday – by train, bus or car – remains the lowest-impact option. But overseas travel by Australians has been increasing in recent decades, with Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States and China among the top destinations, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In sprawling landfills, thousands of Argentinian families scavenge for survival amid toxic waste and government neglect, dreaming of steady jobs and escape

The sun rises over the plateau of Neuquén’s open-air rubbish tip. Maia, nine, and her brothers, aged 11 and seven, huddle by a campfire. Their mother, Gisel, rummages through bags that smell of rotten fruit and meat.

Situated at the northern end of Argentinian Patagonia, 100km (60 miles) from Vaca Muerta – one of the world’s largest fossil gas reserves – children here roam amid twisted metal, glass and rubbish spread over five hectares (12 acres). The horizon is waste.

Neath, south Wales: This quarry built the abbey and the nearby terraced towns – and it’s different every time I visit

The way to Neath Abbey Quarry is a perfect stranger to me this morning. It’s been three years since my last visit, and the maze of the path has shifted; old tree trunks have turned to mulch and the brook carves a different channel. My companion and I shoulder big bouldering pads, poorly proportioned for tight manoeuvres, yet we bump, turn and pivot our way through. Thanks to the late sunrise, we’re gifted a lingering coda of the dawn chorus, coming from a holly thicket heavy with berries. A goldcrest fizzes around ahead of us, seeking bugs startled by our approach.

Like every old quarry, this place has been host to much change. Once it was just a plain old hill, then a source of building blocks for monks and their abbey. Much later, it was extracted again for the terraced towns of the south Wales coalfield. Once that need had faded, climbers found the place, hacking paths through the tangle and stringing ropes up its face.

Conservationists fear up to 11% of Tapanuli orangutan population perished in disaster that also killed 1,000 people

The skull of a Tapanuli orangutan, caked in debris, stares out from a tomb of mud in North Sumatra, killed in catastrophic flooding that swept through Indonesia.

The late November floods have been an “extinction-level disturbance” for the world’s rarest great ape, scientists have said, causing catastrophic damage to its habitat and survival prospects.