We’re starting the week at Squirrel News exploring Eastern Europe’s growing fondness for renewable energy, the success of France’s €1 train to the Mediterranean as a green travel option, and the launch of the continent’s largest floating solar power plant.
Eastern Europe makes strategic shift towards renewables
Amid rising concerns over Russian aggression, Eastern Europe is rapidly turning to renewable energy, with solar power leading the charge. Poland, notably, is outpacing the UK in solar panel deployment, despite having a smaller population and less than half the GDP per capita.
France’s €1 train to the Mediterranean becomes a sustainable summer hit
The regional express line between Nîmes and the seaside town of Le Grau-du-Roi has proven a favourite among high schoolers, retirees, families, and tourists. In July and August 2024 alone, it carried 114,000 passengers across southern France.
The largest floating solar farm in Europe has officially gone live
Les Îlots Blandin, a massive floating solar installation in France, has begun generating power on a 127-hectare site that was once a gravel pit, decommissioned in 2020.
Sweden becomes first country to go fully cage-free for egg-laying hens
“After decades of determined work, there are no longer any hens kept in cages in Sweden,” said Project 1882, a global animal justice group that had long campaigned for the cause. Although the country does enforce stricter animal welfare laws than the broader EU, this move to cage-free farming happened without legislation requiring it.
New gene therapy restores hearing in those with congenital deafness
Hearing loss affects up to three in every 1,000 newborns, often requiring cochlear implants: an invasive solution that still falls short of reproducing natural hearing. For the first time ever, researchers have successfully used gene therapy to repair hearing in both children and adults born with a specific form of congenital deafness.
New Jersey expands free preschool and kindergarten statewide
On Wednesday, Governor Phil Murphy signed a trio of bills aimed at improving early education, including a measure that locks in long-term state funding for preschool programmes. One of the key bills mandates annual state grants to help local school districts launch or grow preschool offerings for 3- and 4-year-olds, especially in areas where no programme currently exists.
Flint completes replacement of 11,000 lead pipes after decade-long campaign
Nearly ten years after the discovery of lead in Flint’s water supply, the city has finally completed its court-mandated effort to replace lead service lines with copper. The remaining homes with lead pipes are either vacant, abandoned, or belong to residents who declined the free replacement offered under a 2017 legal settlement.
Joshua Aaron launched an app called ICEBlock in early April, inspired by growing concern over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement. The app functions as an early warning system to alert users, who can drop a pin on a map to report sightings. Others within a five-mile radius receive real-time push notifications about the alert.
Long valued for its refreshing properties, vetiver grass, known locally as khus, is seeing a revival as Indians turn to the traditional, eco-friendly solution to beat the heat and cool their homes.
Germany’s solar parks become unexpected havens for bird populations
Larks and other bird species are flourishing in Germany’s solar parks, where breeding success rates are, surprisingly, surpassing those in many traditional habitats.
