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Bowen says ESB to release capacity market proposals within days. He needs to take care it is not a prop for fossil fuels, and is truly "flexible".

The post Chris Bowen needs to be flexible to avoid capacity market trap set by fossil fuel lobby appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A major global pharmaceutical and life sciences company has helped establish a innovative new company to advance carbon sequestration in agricultural soil.

Quebec’s environment ministry dished out more offsets this week than its WCI partner California in a rare feat, according to government data published Wednesday, as California Carbon Offset (CCO) prices continued to rise.

Emitters in the North Sea will shell out a record £600 million for carbon allowances this year, analysts have predicted, as the emissions intensity of the UK’s oil and gas sector worsens amid rising UKA prices.

Consent decree would settle two lawsuits against EPA brought by Louisiana residents in one of most polluted parts of US

A proposed legal settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency EPA and residents of the town of Reserve, Louisiana could significantly reduce toxic emissions in one of the most polluted parts of the US.

Announced on Tuesday via the federal register, the proposed agreement, known as a consent decree, would settle two lawsuits partly brought against the EPA by members of the predominantly Black community in St John the Baptist parish, the epicenter of the region known colloquially as “Cancer Alley”.

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A major US-based agricultural carbon offset firm has distributed $9 mln to US farmers and ranchers in its first year, it announced Wednesday.

Legislation to implement a US carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and help the American manufactured metals industry may win support from conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (D), though only several months remain for the bill to pass, a webinar heard Wednesday.

Here’s some good environmental news – local governments and local actions have slashed the plastic on our beaches. Incentives, awareness and access are the key. Britta Denise Hardesty, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO Chris Wilcox, Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Joanna Vince, Senior lecturer, University of Tasmania Kathryn Willis, Marine Socioecologist, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The environmental movement is now tightly woven into communities across Australia and its demands are clear. Politicians ignore it at their peril. Robyn Gulliver, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Canada’s environment ministry on Wednesday finalised regulations for the national carbon offset system, simultaneously announcing plans to initiate development of a direct air capture (DAC) protocol and provide a ‘tonne-year’ accounting option for sequestration-based projects.

The EU’s Modernisation Fund made available €2.4 billion to seven central and eastern member states on Wednesday, with the vehicle’s third disbursal being put towards 45 projects for renewables and energy efficiency but including some gas-fired activities.

On World Oceans Day, international shipping looks set to run aground of progress to phase out emissions, with governments clashing at the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) negotiations over a potential global 2050 net zero emissions goal.

Guidelines to raise integrity in the use of carbon credits may cause a short-term dip in demand as buyers of lower quality units adjust their strategy or withdraw entirely, but many stakeholders believe that this will benefit the voluntary carbon market in the long run.

A well-known US carbon market analyst is returning to the sector following a four-year hiatus, Carbon Pulse has learned.

A Nordic nation-funded initiative set out draft guidelines for ensuring high-integrity voluntary compensation of GHGs on Wednesday, going further in some aspects than a similar draft for carbon credit buyers published earlier in the week.

UK cabinet minister who led Cop26 understood to have been approached and expressed interest in the role

Alok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister who led last year’s Cop26 climate summit, is in the running to be the UN’s global climate chief, at a crucial time for international action on greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN’s current top climate official, Patricia Espinosa, will step down next month, leaving a vacancy as the world prepares for the next stage in vital negotiations to stave off climate breakdown.

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Biden officials make announcement on World Oceans Day in effort to stem huge tide of pollution from plastic bottles and packaging

The Biden administration is to phase out single-use plastic products on US public lands, including the vast network of American national parks, in an attempt to stem the huge tide of plastic pollution that now extends to almost every corner of the world.

The US Department of the Interior will halt the sale of single-use plastics in national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands, though not entirely until 2032, with a reduction planned in the meantime. The government will look to identify environmentally preferable alternatives to plastic bottles, packaging and other products, such as compostable materials.

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Lib Dems and environmental campaigners condemn central government after Tory-run council overruled

Campaigners and the Liberal Democrats have condemned the government after a minister overruled a Tory-run council to approve gas drilling on the edge of the Surrey Hills, despite accepting the scheme would cause harm to the natural landscape.

The decision, formally announced in a written statement by the housing minister Stuart Andrew, gives the green light to three years of exploratory drilling at a site near the edge of the Surrey Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

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Combined carbon and health taxes on food products could significantly contribute to the UK's 2050 net zero emissions target by cutting nearly 40 Mt of CO2e per year mainly via their influence on consumer choices, according to a study published this week.

Efforts to decarbonise cement by 2050 will rely heavily on deployment of carbon capture technologies, but it will only be until after 2030 that these will become commercially viable for an industry grappling for solutions to meet its net zero emissions goal, according to a report released Wednesday.