Bhasker Tripathi

India's rapid shift to a fuel known as E20 - in which petrol is blended with 20% ethanol - has worried drivers who say the new mix is cutting mileage and putting strain on their engines.

Biofuels such as ethanol, which is made from crops like sugarcane and maize, are promoted as cleaner substitutes for petrol that can cut costly oil imports and climate-heating emissions.

Only some 20% of new petrol vehicles sold in India in the last 15 years are compliant with petrol blended with 20% ethanol (E20), analysis of government and industry data shows.

India's government is pushing for a rapid rollout of E20 and said in July it had reached its goal of selling the fuel five years ahead of schedule, replacing the existing 10% blend.

Countries in the Global South hold most of the world's reserves of critical minerals needed for the clean energy transition, but see few of the profits, according to a new report.

Critical minerals have moved from industrial policy to the heart of climate diplomacy and will be a live issue at COP30 in Belém, Brazil in November as governments seek secure, sustainable supplies for batteries, solar panels and other clean technologies.

Millions of India's shrimp farmers and garment workers are likely to be hit hard by U.S. President Donald Trump's hike in tariffs on Indian exports to as high as 50%.

The United States is India's biggest buyer of seafood and textiles, two of its most labour-intensive industries. Together they employ millions of farmers, factory workers and processors whose livelihoods depend on steady U.S. demand.

As India adds more biofuel ethanol to its petrol, consumers are filling social media with complaints that the fuel mix is hurting their engines and cutting into vehicle mileage ranges.

The government's fast-expanding ethanol programme aims to cut costly oil imports by blending petrol with ethanol, a biofuel made from crops like sugarcane or from organic waste that burns more cleanly than does pure petrol.

As India puts more of the emissions-cutting biofuel ethanol in its petrol, consumers complain it damages their engines.

The government's fast-expanding ethanol programme aims to cut costly oil imports by blending petrol with ethanol, a biofuel derived from agricultural produce or organic waste that burns more cleanly than traditional gasoline.

India's punishingly hot summer has cast a harsh light on its efforts to contend with extreme heat, with researchers and campaigners worried local governments are failing to grapple with the scale and complexity of rising temperatures.

Summer, which usually lasts from March to June in India, began early this year with an unprecedented heatwave in February, followed by above-normal temperatures in March and April, before an early monsoon season and heavy rainfall brought temporary relief.

India's push for ethanol, mixing crop-based biofuel with petrol to run vehicles, is stalled by slow progress in making an environmentally cleaner version of the fuel, producers and experts say.

Standing in the way is the government's failure to pay more for cleaner ethanol, which is made from waste but costs more to produce, they say.

From scorching hot classrooms to flooded roads, climate change is forcing millions of students out of school, according to new UNICEF data.

Last year, at least 242 million students - or one in seven worldwide - experienced school disruptions due to extreme weather events, according to a June analysis from the United Nations children's agency UNICEF.

In Ghazipur, a small town tucked along the Ganges river in north India, farmer Satyadev Prajapati is counting fewer eggs hatched by his 350 free-range hens as the price of their feed soars by 40%.

India's fast-expanding biofuel programme, meant to cut oil imports and their emissions, has ratcheted up competition for maize, and small poultry producers like Prajapati are bearing the brunt.