Delhi is taking one of the world's biggest steps toward cleaner transportation by banning new gas-powered rickshaws and motorcycles, while Great Britain approves its first new pumped hydro projects in four decades—including one connected to the legendary Loch Ness. Plus, climate change is driving a dangerous invasive puffer fish into the Mediterranean, and the Lightning Round returns with the week's biggest clean energy and climate stories.

• Join us on Patreon for exciting perks!

In this episode:

• Delhi bans new gas rickshaws starting in 2027 and fossil fuel scooters and motorcycles in 2028 as it ramps up EV charging infrastructure.
• Great Britain approves its first new pumped hydro projects in 40 years, bringing long-duration energy storage back into the spotlight.
• Greece offers a bounty on invasive toxic puffer fish as warming seas reshape marine ecosystems.
• Why pumped hydro acts like a giant battery—and why it's becoming important again.

The Lightning Round

• Germany records thousands of excess deaths during the late-June heat wave.
• UK heatwave leaves millions struggling to sleep.
• U.S. car payments hit a record high.
• CATL rapidly expands battery swapping for heavy-duty trucks.
• More than 20 wind turbines damaged by extreme winds in South Dakota.
• What remains of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
• China's electric cargo ship fleet continues rapid growth.
• Pakistan's rooftop solar boom forces the cancellation of LNG imports.

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media

Thousands are dying in Europe on the fifth anniversary of the heat dome that killed hundreds on the West Coast of Canada. James argues we have to act to prevent deaths as these heat wave get more intense with climate change. Toyota is blaming high gas prices for falling sales even as its EV sales surge, heat pumps are rapidly catching up to traditional air conditioners, and Europe is battling another deadly heat wave. We also look at innovative ways cities are adapting to extreme temperatures, including Paris' growing district cooling network powered by the Seine.

• Toyota's global sales decline continues, with the company citing high gasoline prices while EV sales jump 170% year-over-year.

• Five years after the deadly Pacific Northwest heat dome, we revisit the lessons learned and discuss what communities can do to better protect vulnerable people during extreme heat events.

• Europe's early summer heat wave may already have caused more than 1,300 excess deaths, according to the WHO.

• Why heat pumps are on track to outsell conventional air conditioners and why they may be the smartest cooling investment for homeowners.

• Paris is expanding its innovative district cooling system, using water from the Seine to help reduce electricity use and emissions while keeping buildings comfortable.

• Brian talks about the rammed earth Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and his rammed earth cottage delays.

• James shares a hospital story and an update involving solar panels and an insurance company that disappeared.

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.

What happens when batteries become so cheap that every home can afford one? In this encore episode, Brian and James explore a future where ultra-low-cost batteries transform the electric grid, eliminate blackouts, and make renewable energy even more powerful.

They also take a look at a hydrogen-powered bicycle unveiled in Europe and ask whether hydrogen has any future in personal transportation. Plus, Paris slashes air pollution ahead of the Olympic Games, Italy unveils a plan to support clean energy and food security in Africa, and Ford opens EV sales to all of its dealerships.

In The Lightning Round: Canadian EV sales surge, solar power keeps breaking records, oil demand faces an uncertain future, Switzerland votes for more solar, and China's renewable energy investments reach staggering levels.

All that and more on this encore presentation of The Clean Energy Show.

Donate via PayPal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VMDCRPHLNR8YE

For updates on James's operation, see our free Patreon page:
https://patreon.com/cleanenergypod

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.

James is recovering from surgery so here's a shortened version of last week's bonus episode for our Patreon supporters.

Support The Clean Energy Show on Patreon for exciting perks!

First, Brian says he's maintaining a nearly 300-day Wordle streak and why a simple word puzzle can become an unexpected source of anxiety.

Then things get much more serious as James recounts a destructive hailstorm that hit his neighborhood. The conversation turns to insurance claims, climate change, and the growing financial impact of increasingly extreme weather events.

The guys also revisit China's auto market, where gasoline-only vehicles continue to lose ground. New sales data shows EVs, plug-in hybrids, and range-extended electric vehicles now dominate the country's best-selling models, highlighting how quickly the market is changing.

Staying with China, Brian and James discuss BYD's plans for Canada and the company's move to bring its ultra-fast flash-charging network north of the border. Could Canadian EV drivers soon see charging speeds that rival a gas station stop?

Finally, they head to Finland, where waste heat from Microsoft data centers is being captured and used to warm entire communities. It's a fascinating example of how creative energy solutions can turn a problem into a resource.

Plus: weather complaints, technology tangents, and the usual bonus-show chaos.

Thank you for supporting The Clean Energy Show through Patreon. Your support helps keep the show independent and growing.

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.

China's EV revolution is delivering a surprising health benefit. New research suggests electric vehicles have cut air pollution enough to prevent an estimated 262,000 premature deaths, while gas-powered vehicles have completely disappeared from China's top ten best-selling vehicle rankings.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup may face an unexpected opponent: extreme heat. New analysis suggests players, fans, and organizers could all be challenged by rising temperatures and humidity across host cities in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

California's first major eight-hour battery storage facility is now online, providing a glimpse of how solar power could keep the lights on long after sunset and helping pave the way toward a fossil-free electricity grid.

Move over agrivoltaics. Researchers in Denmark are exploring offshore wind-aquaculture, using wind farm areas to grow seaweed that could become food, animal feed, and industrial materials while making better use of ocean space.

We also hear from Eric in California about municipal utilities and why some communities pay far less for electricity than customers served by large investor-owned utilities.

In the Lightning Round: a major uranium enrichment expansion in the United States, an advanced microreactor reaches a key milestone, questions emerge about a much-hyped battery startup, BYD's rapid expansion in Mexico, synthetic aviation fuel, a massive new transmission line linking Quebec and New York City, Waymo's latest acquisition, and more.

Plus, Brian reports from Waterton Lakes National Park, James talks about a recent high school presentation, and we discuss why fossil fuels are increasingly looking like a national security risk while renewable energy keeps getting cheaper.

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.

The surprising solar phenomenon called the "cloud edge effect" shows how panels can sometimes generate more power than their rated capacity.

Also this week: a new wildfire study reveals that while fewer hectares are burning globally, the fires that do occur are increasingly hitting wealthy, populated areas—causing far greater economic damage. And France's nuclear utility EDF is considering adding cooling towers to some reactors as climate change warms rivers and challenges plant operations.

• Join the Clean Club on Patreon for exciting perks including our always-entertaining monthly bonus podcast!

In This Episode:

• North America's grid enters summer in stronger shape than last year
• Why solar and batteries are improving reliability across the U.S.
• Saskatchewan remains at risk during extreme heat events
• The Philippines experiences explosive rooftop solar growth
• Why solar can occasionally exceed its rated output
• The "cloud edge effect" explained
• Wildfires are burning less land but causing more destruction
• Canada records another year of extreme wildfire emissions
• How climate change is affecting nuclear power operations in France
• EDF's plans to climate-proof its reactors and hydro assets

Lightning Round:

• Australians are illegally connecting portable home batteries
• Tesla patents a camera-cleaning system for self-driving cars
• China's flying car industry takes another step forward

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.

From Americans now being able to use healthcare savings accounts to buy e-bikes, to a massive new 5 GWh thermal battery project in South Dakota that stores renewable electricity as heat inside giant carbon blocks. James and Brian also discuss the UK's record May heatwave and growing calls for air conditioning in schools and care homes as climate change pushes temperatures higher.

• Support The Clean Energy Show on Patreon for exciting perks including a monthly bonus podcast, early access to our content, behind the scenes looks, access to our members-only Discord community and thank-yous in the credits of videos and shoutouts on our podcast! Starting at just $1 per month!

The guys also explore why rooftop solar is exploding in Pakistan while prices remain stubbornly high in Canada, and they react to listener mail from a Chevy Bolt owner who received an oil change reminder for an EV with "0% oil life remaining."

In the Lightning Round:

• Cuba begins installing turbines at its largest-ever wind farm

• Tesla launches "Quiet Charging Zones" at some Superchargers

• Africa ramps up domestic solar panel manufacturing

• China-built car exports to Europe surge

• EVs are expected to hit 28% of global new car sales in 2026

• Waymo pauses freeway robotaxi trips over construction-zone issues

• India surpasses the United States in EV adoption rates

• Why even an EV powered entirely by coal can still beat a gas car on emissions

Plus, James shares a shocking comparison between lead pollution during the Flint water crisis and 1970s Los Angeles that helped shape Brian's environmental worldview.

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.

Pakistan's booming rooftop solar "shadow grid" has quietly grown larger than the country's official grid, saving billions while slashing fossil fuel imports. They also look at the staggering costs of keeping aging coal plants alive in the U.S., including millions spent just to maintain shutdown-ready facilities. Plus: a groundbreaking Inuit-owned hydro project replacing diesel power in the Arctic, bats vs. wind turbines, EV sales exploding in Canada, China's battery charging buildout, and why hailstorms are becoming a major challenge for solar farms.

Support The Clean Energy Show on Patreon for exciting perks including a monthly bonus podcast, early access to our content, behind the scenes looks, access to our members-only Discord community and thank-yous in the credits of videos and shoutouts on our podcast! Starting at just $1 per month!

Topics this week include:

• Pakistan's massive solar "shadow grid" now bigger than the official grid - end of show!

• Trump-era coal plant extensions costing hundreds of millions

• Coal pollution reducing global solar output

• Inuit-owned hydro project cuts Arctic diesel use by 80%

• Researchers study how bats interact with wind turbines

• OPEC instability and what oil prices mean for the energy transition

• DOJ investigates emissions-tuning car app data

• BYD rapidly expanding ultra-fast charging stations

• Denmark hits nearly 82% EV sales

• Texas adding 12.9 GW of grid batteries this year

• Renewables overtake natural gas on the U.S. grid for the first time

• Hailstorms become the top cause of solar insurance losses

• XPeng predicts Level 5 self-driving by 2030

The Lightning Round covers drone strikes on nuclear infrastructure, floating solar over manure lagoons, sodium batteries, Ukraine targeting Russian oil infrastructure, and more.

Contact Us

cleanenergyshow@gmail.com or leave us an online voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/clean

Support The Clean Energy Show

Join the Clean Club on our Patreon Page to receive perks for supporting the podcast and our planet!

Our PayPal Donate Page offers one-time or regular donations.

Store

Visit The Clean Energy Show Store for T-shirts, hats, and more!.

Copyright 2026 Sneeze Media.