Project to study all 11,000 species of butterflies and moths finds ‘two species in the act of being created from one’

The chalkhill blue has some surprising claims to fame. For a start, it is one of the UK’s most beautiful butterflies, as can be seen as they flutter above the grasslands of southern England in summer.

Then there is their close and unusual relationship with ants. Caterpillars of Lysandra coridon – found across Europe – exude a type of honeydew that is milked by ants and provides them with energy. In return, they are given protection in cells below ground especially created for them by the ants. Chalkhill blues thrive as a result, though their numbers are now coming under threat .

A scheme transporting Scotland’s green power to England is likely to be controversial despite lengthy consultations

Within weeks, work is expected to begin on a 121-mile (195-kilometre) clean energy “superhighway” designed to channel green electricity from Scotland’s rich renewable resources to the north of England.

The industry regulator Ofgem is expected to give the green light for work to begin on the first section of the multibillion-pound high-voltage cable project, Eastern Green Link (EGL), in the coming days. Ofgem’s approval for a second section is expected to follow within weeks.

Discoveries made in pursuit of nuclear fusion have potentially huge practical applications in everything from curing cancer to superior batteries for EVs

When James Watt’s first commercial steam engine was installed in March 1776 at Bloomfield Colliery, Tipton in the West Midlands, it was hailed as a mechanical marvel. Yet few could have anticipated the way steam engines would change the world.

Developed initially to pump water from mines, the technology was adapted across so many industries and applications that it sparked the Industrial Revolution. Now, according to those working on the development of fusion energy power plants, we are on the cusp of a similar transformation. “I see this whole endeavour as having the characteristics of a general purpose technology in the same spirit as Watt,” says Lu-Fong Chua, chief strategy officer of TAE Power Solutions in Birmingham.

Controversial mining project is a political fault line in Balkan country over fears about environmental impacts

Thousands hit the streets in Serbia’s capital Belgrade Saturday to protest against the rebooting of a controversial lithium mine set to serve as a vital source to power Europe’s green energy transition.

Before the rally, two leading protest figures said they were briefly detained by security officials who warned that any moves to block roads during the protest would be viewed as illegal.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

The ground is humming with geothermal energy that could heat or cool our homes – and now the big US utilities are starting to take note

Along with earthworms, rocks, and the occasional skeleton, there is a massive battery right under your feet. Unlike a flammable lithium ion battery, though, this one is perfectly stable, free to use, and ripe for sustainable exploitation: the Earth itself.

While temperatures above ground fluctuate throughout the year, the ground stays a stable temperature, meaning that it is humming with geothermal energy that engineers can exploit. “Every building sits on a thermal asset,” said Cameron Best, director of business development at Brightcore Energy in New York, which deploys geothermal systems. “I really don’t think there’s any more efficient or better way to heat and cool our homes.”

Areas where farmers provide good habitats show notable increase in butterflies, bees, bats and breeding birds

Butterflies, bees and bats are among the wildlife being boosted by England’s nature-friendly farming schemes, new government research has found.

Birds were among the chief beneficiaries of the strategy, particularly ones that largely feed on invertebrates. An average of 25% more breeding birds were found in areas with more eco-friendly schemes.

Drax received £22bn in subsidies despite being UK’s largest emitter in 2023, though company rejects ‘flawed’ research

The Drax power station was responsible for four times more carbon emissions than the UK’s last remaining coal-fired plant last year, despite taking more than £0.5bn in clean-energy subsidies in 2023, according to a report.

The North Yorkshire power plant, which burns wood pellets imported from North America to generate electricity, was revealed as Britain’s single largest carbon emitter in 2023 by a report from the climate thinktank Ember.

Ardmalin, County Donegal: Around 15,000 years ago, Ireland was ‘islanded’ from Europe before Britain. That’s when this animal began to evolve its uniqueness

As the gradient climbs, I pause for breath. The hinterland has receded to a rumpled patchwork of small fields with the sea on either side. To the east, Scotland hunkers faintly on the skyline; to the west, north Donegal’s undulating forelands lope off into the far Atlantic. I walk on, following the road’s trace, through coarse meadows, cutover bogland and tracts of heather. Across the distance, at the bluff’s rim, Malin signal tower slides like a chess piece in and out of view.

High tide glazes Ineuran Bay, where the modest sea stacks dividing the coves are overshadowed by the crags of the former coastline . This land was uplifted at the end of the last ice age as the press of the glaciers eased. Now there are choughs foraging among the crags’ grassy interstices.