Interesting Ideas

Oahu is a unique place. It’s the home of one of the largest clean tech incubators in the world, Elemental Impact, for a reason. Exorbitantly high electricity rates combined with ample natural resources make it an incredible laboratory to bring clean tech solutions to market. Rapid investment for WWII created ... [continued]

The post How Does Oahu Get to an Economically Resilient, 100% Clean Energy Future? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The 15 Minute City model calls for walkable, bike-able access to basic services and resources, a concept that has been embraced by none other than the US Department of Defense.

The post “War” Secretary Pete Hegseth Endorses 15 Minute City Model appeared first on CleanTechnica.

With globe-spanning artists – including Charlotte Church doing angry electropop – the Flow project is hoping to make an impact at this month’s Cop31

Amid tense and long-winded negotiations, and with the future of the planet at stake, emotions can often run high at Cop climate summits. But last year, when the annual conference arrived in Brazil, one UN official was unexpectedly moved to tears by five women singing about the power of water.

“She gave me a massive hug after the event and said, ‘We need to bring music into Cop,’” says Nikita Llerena, the project manager for Flow, a music collective that’s hoping to bring art to the centre of the climate movement. What started as a handful of musicians meeting over Zoom last year has grown into a full-length album that unites female artists from around the world, including Charlotte Church, Maxine Peake and Nadine Shah. This month, members of the collective will return for Cop31, in Turkey, where they have been promoted to a slot at Global Cultural Action’s opening event.

Democrats absolutely crushed Republicans during the US midterm elections. I saw that it was the biggest electoral win since 1974. Texas is blue! Not just one position in Texas either — the governor is now a Democrat, a Democrat was elected to the US Senate, and the whole Texas legislature ... [continued]

The post Blue Wave Not Climate Related, But Critical To Clean Energy & Electric Vehicles appeared first on CleanTechnica.

XPENG had a fantabulous sales month in October. We can give you the numbers, but as you can see well enough in the chart above and below, the company’s sales soared to a whole new level last month. Reaching 50,237 vehicle deliveries, that meant 22% sales growth month over month ... [continued]

The post XPENG Sales Soar! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Researchers find the birds’ guano feeds algal blooms that absorb significantly more solar energy

Penguin poo is making the Antarctic snow melt faster, a study shows. As temperatures rise, penguins are waddling closer to the south pole, with potential for this previously unrecognised phenomenon to affect a wider area.

Snow algae are tiny single-celled plants that make a home in some of the coldest places on Earth. When nutrients are scarce, the algae produces red pigments to protect itself from the sun and slow growth.

Democrats must seize on this opportunity to take ambitious action for the climate and our democracy. Washington, DC — While votes are still being counted, election officials have called enough races that it’s clear that Democrats have retaken the US House of Representatives and are expected to retake the Senate. ... [continued]

The post Sierra Club Response to Midterm Election Results appeared first on CleanTechnica.

SINGAPORE — Singapore has launched a sweeping five-year energy infrastructure plan designed to meet surging power needs driven by data centers, semiconductor fabrication and the electrification of transit. The initiative, announced by the Energy Market Authority, sets out a multi-pronged overhaul across generation, transmission, storage and regional interconnection as the ... [continued]

The post Singapore Reveals Five-Year Energy Plan to Feed Data Center, Semicon Progress appeared first on CleanTechnica.

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors

This week, from 2023: A year ago, Germany’s vice-chancellor was one of the country’s best-liked public figures. Then came the tabloid-driven backlash. Now he has to win the argument all over again

By Philip Oltermann. Read by Sam Peter Jackson

Read the text version here

Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpod

Ministers urged to go further than proposed cut to 110 decibels to ease acute stress on birds and others animals

Campaigners are calling on the UK government to protect the welfare of wild animals by cutting the maximum noise level of fireworks sold to the public from 120 to 90 decibels.

The Center for Wild Animal Welfare (CWAW) has said lowering the limit to 90dB – which is about one-eighth of the loudness of 120dB – would help to protect millions of wild animals from acute stress by reducing the area over which a firework disturbs surrounding wildlife.

Spain’s Nabrawind has developed a way to install exceptionally tall wind turbine towers without bringing an enormous crawler crane to the site. Its Nabralift system uses a tubular upper tower supported by a three-legged steel structure. Hydraulic equipment raises the assembled turbine while modular sections are inserted below it near ... [continued]

The post Nabrawind’s Crane-Free Wind Towers Face a Supplier Test appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Scientist Adalberto Luis Val’s pioneering research on the tambaqui fish is revealing the effect of climate disruption in Brazil, with global implications for biodiversity and food security

As a boy in rural São Paulo, Adalberto Luis Val used to stare into the lake where his father took him fishing and wonder how all those creatures swimming below stayed alive. One day, he netted a few, put them in a jar, and brought them home to observe. The next morning, they were all dead. Val was devastated but intrigued.

“I needed to know how fish are able to live,” he says.

NIO’s October sales were nothing like XPENG’s. Rather than soaring to record heights, they drooped. Rather than surpassing 50,000 sales (something NIO is yet to do and XPENG has done only this once), NIO scored 34,246 vehicle deliveries, the company’s lowest delivery total since April. Nonetheless, that brought the company’s ... [continued]

The post NIO’s October Sales Meh, But 2026 Sales Up 38.5% appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Farmers in Gurez store their harvests underground to last the Himalayan winter. As the practice fades, local varieties and handed-down skills are disappearing too

Hajra Begum rolls a potato in her hands, checking its skin for cuts, soft spots and signs of rot. After a day harvesting in her family’s field in Chorwan, a remote mountain village in Gurez, Indian-administered Kashmir, she is sorting the crop for winter storage. Some of the potatoes will feed her family through the cold months; others will be saved for planting in spring.

“It should be perfect for planting,” she says. “If you keep a bad potato, you will waste the whole next year.”

Guardian and Mongabay reveal approaches to officials and MPs on behalf of Vantara zoo ahead of UK-chaired Cites meeting on endangered animal imports

British government ministers were told not to engage formally with Vantara, the controversial mega-zoo run by the Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, after lobbying efforts by the private animal sanctuary in the run-up to a UK-chaired meeting on the trade in endangered species, according to documents.

This week, the UK heads a 32-country committee meeting in Geneva of Cites, the United Nations body that regulates trade in endangered species. The meeting will examine how India has responded to compliance concerns about imports of endangered animals.

Cop30 host sets out steps to break link with coal, oil and gas as it aims to move focus from negotiating to implementing

All countries can start to break their dependence on fossil fuels now without needing to wait for new technologies or economic changes, Brazil’s government has said ahead of a global climate summit.

Brazil, the host of last year’s UN climate conference, set out the world’s first global “roadmap” for phasing out fossil fuels on Tuesday, showing that countries could boost their economies and pull people out of poverty while breaking the link with coal, oil and gas.

EV heavy trucks hit 50.3% market share in China for September, with sales up 34% from a year ago. Long-haul big rig market share hit 64.5%. China is on track to have over 40% EV market share for the entire year, reaching their 2030 goal in a matter of months. ... [continued]

The post China Truck Sales Now Majority Electric. What’s Next? appeared first on CleanTechnica.

A new report models emissions from different on-site methane generation power scenarios to show potential impacts on the people of Utah and residents of multiple downwind states. Canadian businessman and television personality “Mr. Wonderful” (aka Kevin O’Leary) and his businesses have proposed the Stratos data center in Box Elder County, ... [continued]

The post Stratos Data Center Will Emit Air Pollution That’s Linked to Premature Deaths and Health Economic Damages for Utah & States Downwind appeared first on CleanTechnica.

British Veterinary Association president tells MPs surge in cases putting farmers under severe pressure and stress

The worst bluetongue season on record has been a major animal welfare crisis in Great Britain, MPs have been told, putting farmers under “severe emotional stress”.

Bluetongue, a viral disease that affects sheep, cattle and goats, can cause fever, lesions, stillbirths and death. The tongue may go blue and protrude from the mouth.

Frome, Somerset: Dippers and fritillaries and pink campion … there is a deep satisfaction in accumulating associations with a regular haunt

Enchantment surely fills the eyes of first-time visitors who come upon this little stone bridge over the stream. Do they marvel at the judgment of hands in building, wedding rock with rock, face against face? Do they arrive on a brighter morning than this, one on which sunbeams chase each other under the arch and cast sparkling reflections of water on the underside? Does their pulse quicken watching the brook breaking out of its tunnel and skittering over the pebbled bed, hastening through even in times of sluggish drought?

Me? I see a bird that isn’t there.