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The west can cut its energy dependency on Russia and be greener | Jeffrey Frankel
The Ukraine war has focused minds on win-win policies from ending coal and oil subsidies to raising petrol taxes on petrol
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has amplified the importance of national-security considerations in western countries’ energy policies. At the same time, governments must continue to focus on reducing environmental damage – in particular, on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions. Both goals, geopolitical and environmental, are urgent and should be evaluated together.
These two objectives are not necessarily in conflict, as some believe. There are plenty of energy measures the west can adopt that would benefit the environment and further its geopolitical aims. The most obvious steps, especially for the European Union, are sanctions that reduce demand for imports of fossil fuels from Russia.
Continue reading...South Korea announces further cuts in KAU auction volume
Raw sewage ‘pumped into English bathing waters 25,000 times in 2021’
Liberal Democrats condemn ‘environment scandal’ as party releases figures compiled from Environment Agency data
Untreated sewage was discharged into England’s coastal bathing waters for more than 160,000 hours last year, according to figures collated by the Liberal Democrats to mark the start of the summer sea-swimming season.
Data compiled by the party using Environment Agency figures on 2021 discharges shows that water companies released raw sewage 25,000 times into designated bathing waters off the English coast.
Continue reading...Albo finds his mojo in push for green metals and EV batteries
Albanese pitches vision of a green resources sector and revitalised manufacturing to contrast Morrison's embrace of fossil fuels.
The post Albo finds his mojo in push for green metals and EV batteries appeared first on RenewEconomy.
California runs on 100 per cent renewables, briefly, for first time ever
California grid reaches 100% renewables for a short period over weekend in major milestone for one of world's biggest economies.
The post California runs on 100 per cent renewables, briefly, for first time ever appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Polls show a jump in the Greens vote – but its real path to power lies in reconciling with Labor
Loy Yang A coal plant outage expected to cost AGL at least $73 million
AGL says it will take a big hit to profits due to latest Loy Yang A coal outage, while market grapples with failing reliability and higher costs.
The post Loy Yang A coal plant outage expected to cost AGL at least $73 million appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Massive big battery and solar farm proposed for NSW coal country
Australian renewables developer Maoneng unveils plans for a massive four-hour battery and solar farm in the New South Wales Upper Hunter region.
The post Massive big battery and solar farm proposed for NSW coal country appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Top 10 green spaces in England and Wales for ‘welfare value’ named in study
Researchers say natural spaces are worth £25.6bn a year and warn against cuts to councils’ green space budgets
The nation’s green spaces are worth £25.6bn in “welfare value” a year, according to a new study.
Scientists have said this flies in the face of decisions by councils to cut nature areas.
Continue reading...Dartford warbler is welcomed back from near-extinction
RSPB reports 183 pairs at reserves including in Arne in Dorset and Minsmere in Suffolk
The distinctive sight and sound of a Dartford warbler singing from the top of a sprig of gorse in the May sunshine is making a welcome comeback after the bird almost became extinct half a century ago.
Dartford warblers suffered a population crash and were at risk of vanishing from the UK in the 1960s, largely because of loss of the lowland heathland they thrive in.
Continue reading...Fortescue urges joint “Green Pilbara” vision of giga-scale wind, solar and hydrogen
Fortescue Future Industries hints at joining forces with other parties to create a single vision for giga-scale renewable energy projects.
The post Fortescue urges joint “Green Pilbara” vision of giga-scale wind, solar and hydrogen appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Why some beaches, including in Queensland, are getting bigger despite rising sea levels
Bushland marked as environmental offset for new Sydney airport bulldozed for car park
The heritage listed and critically endangered Cumberland plain woodland was cleared for a new defence department facility
An area of heritage-listed bushland that formed part of the environmental offset for the western Sydney airport has been bulldozed for a car park at a new defence facility.
The clearing was revealed in an independent audit of the federal government’s progress in delivering the offsets required to compensate for the destruction of endangered habitat for the new travel hub in Badgerys Creek.
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Continue reading...Morrison inaction, Ukraine conflict weigh on clean energy investment
Clean energy investors say ongoing frustrations with Australian policy compounded by impacts of Russia invasion of Ukraine.
The post Morrison inaction, Ukraine conflict weigh on clean energy investment appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Hinkley Point B nuclear plant could be spared imminent closure
Energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng believed to be open to extension in response to leap in gas prices and energy security concerns
Nuclear power advocates believe energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng is open to extending the life of the Hinkley Point B plant to help wean the UK off gas imports and prevent a faster-than-expected decline in Britain’s fleet of atomic reactors.
Soaring gas prices and the war in Ukraine have already spurred the government to ask coal power plant owners to stay open longer, while ministers also revisited their staunch opposition to fracking in the light of energy supply concerns.
Continue reading...It smells like sex out there – and we seem determined to ignore it | Nell Frizzell
Whether you are waiting at the bus stop or outside Lidl, the spring scent hangs heavy in the air. A walk in the park is like squelching through a bordello
Britain right now smells like sex. As you stand outside the post office, looking through your bag for a mask, you are bathed in the smell of fornication. As you take your aunt Elsie for a quick stroll to the hairdressers, the air drips with coitus. While lining up outside nursery to pick up your child, your nose is full of the smell of bonking. The sweet, vaguely piscine, sometimes acrid smell of shagging is hanging heavy everywhere – and we seem determined to ignore it.
At least, most of us. While poems are written about the nodding heads of daffodils, and Instagram stories are awash with swaying oceans of bluebells, most people seem rather less inclined to admit that – to paraphrase that famous Mitchell and Webb sketch – every park in England smells like semen. That walking your dog is, for a few weeks in May, the nasal equivalent of squelching through a bordello. It is quite an impressive act of dissociation to be standing beside, say, a hawthorn bush at the No 3 bus stop, as a sexually active adult, and not immediately turn to the person beside you to say, “Wow, this pavement really smells like fucking!” And yet we do. You might notice the odd quivering nostril, catch a conspiratorial smile, but you’re unlikely to meet a stranger who acknowledges that the air beyond their chin smells like nookie.
Continue reading...“God doesn’t think he’s Angus Taylor:” Forrest’s latest slap down
Andrew Forrest fires another salvo at energy minister Angus Taylor as he and Mike Cannon-Brookes push the case for green energy.
The post “God doesn’t think he’s Angus Taylor:” Forrest’s latest slap down appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Killing us softly every day: why the UK must wise up on air quality | Yvonne Roberts
The news that almost all of us are breathing in unacceptable levels of pollution shows the government’s complacency
In these inflationary times when money is tight, are you preoccupied with rising – or dropping – house prices? First, take a deep breath. Or better still, don’t. Last week, we learned that almost every home in the UK suffers from air pollution above the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, according to the most detailed map of dirty air to date. Using the excellent addresspollution.org to check pollution levels at a click – produced by the Central Office of Public Interest (Copi), run by civic-minded creatives and makers of commercials – my house, or, rather, its position, minutes away from London’s south circular, has a percentile rating of 96 relative to other UK addresses, exceeding WHO guidelines by an alarming three times.
Those levels will be similar to those found in many areas in cities across the UK: the air that urbanites breathe can promote cancer, cause asthma, trigger bronchitis and kill. Living on fresh air begins to take on a wholly benevolent meaning.
Continue reading...Germany drops renewables surcharge, household bills to fall by €300
German consumers will no longer have to pay the renewables surcharge on the power price as of July 1, 2022, saving families $A450 a year.
The post Germany drops renewables surcharge, household bills to fall by €300 appeared first on RenewEconomy.
‘As close as you’ll get to free’: Tasmanian couple take road trip to Sydney in electric car for $43.38
Sydney to Melbourne in a petrol car would have cost over $150 but was just $12.74 in ‘short-range, second-hand EV’
When Sharee McCammon and her partner set out for Sydney on a road trip the price of petrol in cities along the east coast had spiked to more than $2 a litre.
But the couple made the 2,751km journey from their home in Huonville, south of Hobart, for the total fuel cost of $43.38.
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