Interesting Ideas

Plug-in hybrids are the hottest thing in South Africa right now in terms of sales growth. Sales of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) were up 280% in 2025 compared with sales figures from 2024. naamsa’s quarterly review of business conditions for the South African motor vehicle manufacturing industry during the first quarter ... [continued]

The post PHEV Sales Continue to Record Phenomenal Growth in South Africa appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Weather models project a potentially strong El Niño this year, which could spell disaster for heatwave-hit India, drench China and hurt agriculture across south-east Asia

The UN has warned that the world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the raised global temperatures and weather extremes it brings.

The powerful natural weather pattern has an 80% chance of forming before September and a 90% chance before November, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday.

Some Waymo robotaxis are already getting old, at least in terms of miles driven and technological evolution. The company is apparently at the point that it has old, used EV batteries it no longer needs. Now it is going to help community clean energy projects by supplying these used batteries ... [continued]

The post Waymo Sending Used EV Batteries to Community Clean Energy appeared first on CleanTechnica.

CATL said this week it is developing lithium air batteries that could have an energy density of up to 12,000 Wh/kg.

The post CATL Developing 12,000 Wh Per Kg Lithium-Air Battery appeared first on CleanTechnica.

There’s a little murmuring going on that BYD could buy Maserati. Hmm…. This stems from BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li recently saying to reporters that brands like Maserati are “very interesting” to the company. Hmm…. In case you don’t follow BYD closely, there are two things here that stand ... [continued]

The post Could BYD Buy Maserati? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

France has announced a national electrification push that is directionally correct in a way that a lot of energy policy still is not. It is not treating electrification as a side dish to climate policy, a consumer rebate program, or a decorative set of EV chargers beside the real business ... [continued]

The post France Gets Electrification Right, But 2030 Is Doing A Lot Of Work appeared first on CleanTechnica.

GM aims for the Moon as part of the Pegasus lunar rover collaboration, while prepping a fresh round of lower-costing EV battery technology for vehicles on Earth.

The post GM Pitches New LMR EV Battery On Earth, New EV On The Moon appeared first on CleanTechnica.

UN report says global meat supply has risen fourfold in last 60 years and is expected to keep rising

• Analysis: Ingredients in place for shift to plant-based diets but meat still dominates

The average person eats about six times as much chicken and twice as much pork as their grandparents’ generation did, data from a UN report suggests, with global meat supply having risen fourfold in the last 60 years and expected to keep rising.

The supply of poultry rose from below 3kg a person in 1961 to 17kg in 2022, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Pork supply doubled to 15kg a person over the same period, while beef, the most polluting food, stayed steady at 9kg.

An ‘apolitical’ retired IT manager and a ‘far left’ biologist disagree over tackling global heating – but are they in harmony over truth and reconciliation?

• Want to meet someone from across the divide? Click here to find out how

Don, 74, Farnham

Occupation Retired IT project manager

Marnie Lovejoy hopes to inspire other women to fish, protect England’s rivers and lift up the ‘beautiful’ grayling

With its iridescent pink scales and elegant dorsal fin, the grayling is known to anglers as the “lady of the stream”, yet the society fighting for its protection has never been led by a woman, until now.

Angling, and fly-fishing in particular, has always been a very male-dominated sport. The fly-fisher’s club in Mayfair, London, where anglers meet to lunch on dover sole and drink fine wine, did not allow women to cross the threshold even as guests until 2024.

Hungerford, Berkshire: In a nearby farm, ever-resourceful birds and bees are getting creative with where they build their nests

There are some unusual nesting spots being utilised in the farm and stableyard, revealed by pauses between chores.

My wheelbarrow trips to the muck heap are attended by pied and grey wagtail pairs that make small aerial assaults on insects, though I’ve yet to locate their nests. The swallows are well-served here by midges and flies swarming around warm-blooded animals, and there is always mud for nest repairs, with the regular slosh of water buckets and hosing down of sweaty horses.

The interesting part of Everllence and Silverstream’s Engine Supported Air Lubrication concept is not that ships can reduce drag by pushing air under the hull. That has been known for decades, and commercial systems are already in service. The interesting part is where the air comes from, because air lubrication’s ... [continued]

The post Air Lubrication For Ships Is Real. The Air Still Isn’t Free. appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Shaun Hancox has created scores of ponds for rewilding projects across Britain – and he says there’s a lot more to it than digging a hole

He is known as “the Picasso of ponds” but the tableaux being created by Shaun Hancox in a boggy field in Somerset currently looks more like a building site. An orange and black excavator is rhythmically removing lumpy clay soil and sculpting it into brown banks.

The result looks like a scar of bare earth on what was once green pasture – but the magic happens as soon as rain fills the newly created depressions. Plants seed swiftly, invertebrates and amphibians rapidly find the water, and life explodes.

The SpaceX IPO will happen in a few days. Will it make millionaires of us all or leave many investors in tears?

The post Star Power — Pulling Back The Curtain On The SpaceX IPO appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Experts say increased use of crops for fuel is ‘dangerous game’ that could send food price inflation soaring

Demand for biofuels is likely to leap by nearly a third this year, which could send food price inflation soaring further and push the world closer to a global food crisis.

More countries are opting to increase biofuel use as the price of oil has jumped to nearly $100 a barrel after the US-Israeli attacks on Iran and the closure of the strait of Hormuz.

As I was reading through Steve Hanley’s article on the absurd new $700 million US subsidy for old, dirty coal, the ending really struck me. Here are his final words there: “Other red states joining the renewable energy party include Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan, Arizona, Louisiana, and Wyoming. “And ... [continued]

The post Why Would Someone Prefer Coal Power Over Solar & Wind? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Global heating is destroying creeks the crayfish call home. They’re the canary in the coalmine for other species living in the delicate ecosystems

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Nightfall comes early under the dense cloak of the rainforest canopy and Ollie Scully – boots off and barefoot – is wading through the cool water with his torch scouring the rocky bottom of a shallow creek.

We are at an undisclosed spot in the hinterland of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. With leeches and trip hazards aplenty, the search has been on for hours.

Hornsby Park is the latest former industrial site transformed into a peaceful green escape in a city known for its vistas

Sydney’s newest bushland park in Hornsby, on the city’s upper north shore, has been created at the site of an old quarry abandoned since 2003. The 60 hectares is a peaceful retreat just 10 minutes on foot from the local train station, which will eventually service 6,000 new homes.

Hornsby Park sits atop an ancient volcano on Dharug and GuriNgai country. The former industrial site has been revegetated with the quarry walls stabilised.

Driven by rising fuel costs, increasing demand for affordable transportation and growing policy support for clean energy solutions, investors are increasingly backing scalable electric motorcycle platforms capable of supporting Africa’s next phase of urban and industrial growth. The electric motorcycle sector is growing nicely on the continent. I have been ... [continued]

The post Investments Starting to Grow Nicely In Africa’s Electric Motorcycle Sector appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Experts say dismantling the ocean observation system will ‘severely degrade’ the accuracy of weather predictions

The Trump administration’s plan to dismantle an ocean observation system vital to understanding the climate crisis and marine ecosystems would “severely degrade” the accuracy of weather predictions and El Niño forecasts, with economic consequences for the US, European and American scientists have warned.

Decommissioning the US system, which plays a major part in a global ocean observation network, would lead to a massive increase in error in the annual estimates of ocean heating rates, according to research published last month.