Interesting Ideas

Two weeks ago, I reported on XPENG’s huge rise in sales in 2025. It might have been the largest EV sales rise in 2025. Note that the leaders in the market grew by 28% (BYD) and shrunk by 10% (Tesla). XPENG’s sales grew by 126%, from 190,068 to 429,445. However, ... [continued]

The post XPENG Targets Huge Sales Growth In 2026 Again — Looking Forward & Backwards appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Waresley, Cambridgeshire: In a near-freezing lake, I’m treated to an up-close view of one of my favourite birds

The spring-fed lake is a picture of tranquillity this morning. On the far side, ivy-clad trees touch trunks with their watery counterparts, creating an image of a child’s mirror painting folded along the shoreline. Only the soft blurring of branches distinguishes reflection from reality.

The scene might look serene, but I must focus on my breathing to stay calm as I lower myself slowly into the water, which has chilled to a wintry 6C. I started cold water swimming last month, hoping it would help relieve the chronic pain caused by adenomyosis. It’s only my fourth session, and I’m wondering if I have the confidence to swim across the lifeguarded lake when a quick movement on the water catches my attention. I spot a dumpy ball of fluff that isn’t there.

Today, the Trump administration announced a plan to limit the authority of states and tribes to protect clean water from pollution resulting from pipelines and other major infrastructure projects during the permitting process. The proposed changes to rules interpreting Section 401 of the Clean Water Act would make it more difficult for ... [continued]

The post US EPA Plans to Undercut State Authority to Protect Clean Water from Pipeline & Other Infrastructure Projects appeared first on CleanTechnica.

One of our former writers shared the news with us today that Tesla will no longer sell “Full Self Driving” with its cars after Valentine’s Day, February 14. However, it will still be offered as a subscription option. Tesla CEO Elon Musk made the announcement this morning. Why Valentine’s Day? ... [continued]

The post Tesla Full Self Driving Not For Sale After February 14 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The comparison between Germany’s hydrogen backbone from nowhere to nowhere and China’s reported 1,000km-plus hydrogen pipeline keeps resurfacing, often framed as evidence that Germany is simply early rather than wrong. It is a fair question, because at a distance both projects appear similar. Both involve long-distance hydrogen pipelines. Both are ... [continued]

The post Same Length, Different Logic: China’s Industrial Hydrogen Pipeline Versus Germany’s Backbone appeared first on CleanTechnica.

For Hannah Thorogood, a first-generation Lincolnshire farmer, grazing her sheep on solar land gave her a leg-up in the industry

On a blustery Lincolnshire morning, Hannah Thorogood paused between two ranks of solar panels. Her sheep nosedived into the grass under their shelter and began to graze.

“When I first started out, 18 acres and 20 sheep was as much as I could afford,” said the first-generation farmer. “Now, because I can graze this land for free, I have 250 acres and over 200 sheep. Solar grazing has given me a massive leg-up.”

Data leads scientists to declare 2015 Paris agreement to keep global heating below 1.5C ‘dead in the water’

Last year was the third hottest on record, scientists have said, with mounting fossil fuel pollution behind “exceptional” temperatures.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2025 had continued a three-year streak of “extraordinary global temperatures” during which surface air temperatures averaged 1.48C above preindustrial levels.

The Australian Open has begun down in Melbourne, Australia, and Kia is sponsoring it for the 25th year in a row. As it has done in recent years, it’s featuring its electric vehicle models as part of this. This year’s theme is “Move Different,” which can’t be the most exciting ... [continued]

The post Kia Putting 55 Electric Vehicles on the Ground at Australian Open for Players appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago – a crisis fuelled by climate change

The world is losing forests to fire at an unsustainable rate, experts have warned.

Wildfires have always been part of nature’s cycle, but in recent decades their scale, frequency and intensity in carbon-rich forests have surged.

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.

Coalition of Nonprofits Seeks to Ensure Access to EV Charging Funds Across the Country Today, U.S. District Court Judge Tana Lin in the Western District Court of Washington will hear oral argument in State of Washington v. U.S. Department of Transportation—a challenge brought by 21 states to the Trump administration’s unlawful freeze ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Lawyer to Present Oral Argument to Protect Billions in EV Charging for America’s Highways appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Energy company also under pressure from worse oil trading performance and weaker oil prices

• Business live – latest updates

BP has said it expects to write down the value of its struggling green energy business by as much as $5bn (£3.7bn), as it refocuses on fossil fuels under its new chair, Albert Manifold.

The oil company said the writedowns were mostly related to its gas and low-carbon energy divisions in its “transition businesses”, but added that wiping between $4bn and $5bn off their value would not affect its underlying profits when it reports its full-year results in February.

Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’

High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns “a bombshell”.

Studies claiming to have revealed micro and nanoplastics in the brain, testes, placentas, arteries and elsewhere were reported by media across the world, including the Guardian. There is no doubt that plastic pollution of the natural world is ubiquitous, and present in the food and drink we consume and the air we breathe. But the health damage potentially caused by microplastics and the chemicals they contain is unclear, and an explosion of research has taken off in this area in recent years.

The Trump EPA has unveiled a final rule under the Clean Air Act that revises emission limits for dangerous nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution from new gas-burning turbines used in power plants and industrial facilities. Emissions of NOx form smog and soot, which is harmful to human health and linked to serious heart ... [continued]

The post Trump EPA Finalizes Weak Rule to Reduce Dangerous Air Pollution from New Gas-Burning Power Plants, Ignores Health Benefits and Lives Saved from Pollution Reduction appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Electricity from burning coal declined in both China and India last year, thanks to more renewables, but things are different in the US.

The post Coal-Powered Thermal Generation Declines In China & India, But Surges In US appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Professional mermaids risk hypothermia, seasickness and the cling of skin-tight silicone, but the reward is becoming an ‘ocean ambassador’ – and a bit more colour in the world

Propelled by a shimmering silicon tail, Katrin Gray spins underwater, blowing kisses to the audience as her long, copper hair floats around her face. Her seemingly effortless movement is anything but – a professional mermaid’s free diving and performance skills require training, practice and total concentration.

Mermaiding has become a global cottage industry, with pageants, conventions, retreats and meet-ups, where people gather in “pods” to practise their dolphin kicks. Makers create bespoke tail flukes, bejewelled bras, mermaid hair and even prosthetic gills for professional and hobbyist “seasters”. There is even a Netflix reality series called MerPeople, which documents the occasionally perilous journey of several aspiring professional merfolk. “No dead mermaids” is the motto of one business featured.

Britain’s winter thrushes, the swallows and swifts of the season, were strangely absent until recently

Just as swallows and swifts are the constant sight and sound of spring and summer, so our two winter thrushes – fieldfares and redwings – are usually ever-present during the autumn and winter months.

Last autumn, however, the fields and hedgerows around my Somerset home were unusually devoid of these birds, while their favourite food – the hawthorn’s bright scarlet berries – remained uneaten.

Germany’s hydrogen pipeline from nowhere to nowhere did not emerge from ignorance or indifference. It emerged from good intentions formed early, when climate risk was clear and credible solutions were scarce. In the 1990s and early 2000s, jurisdictions that accepted climate science faced a thin menu of options. Wind and ... [continued]

The post How Early Climate Leadership Locked Germany Into The Wrong Hydrogen Bet appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Volkswagen saw strong electric vehicle sales growth in Europe last year, especially in its home market of Germany. It is probably no coincidence that Tesla sales plummeted in Europe, especially Germany, at the same time. I’ll circle back to that, but the bad news is that Volkswagen’s EV sales were ... [continued]

The post Volkswagen ID. Models Grew 49.1% in Europe in 2025 appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Subsidies awarded to eight new projects help keep UK on track to decarbonise by 2030

• Nils Pratley: Labour faces risks on energy despite ‘record’ wind power auction

• Will Great Britain’s offshore wind subsidy auction mean lower energy bills?

• Ed Miliband: With this record wind power auction, we’ve proved the rightwing doubters wrong

A make-or-break auction for the UK government’s goal to create a clean electricity system by 2030 has awarded subsidy contracts to enough offshore windfarms to power 12m homes.

In Great Britain’s most competitive auction for renewable subsidies to date, energy companies vied for contracts that guarantee the price for each unit of clean electricity they generate.