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CSIRO GenCost report predicts astonishing cost reductions for batteries and electrolysers, which could be accelerated by stronger climate policies.

The post CSIRO’s stunning predictions for low cost battery storage and hydrogen electrolysers appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EU leaders on Thursday failed to reach agreements on whether to intervene in the bloc’s carbon market and how to respond to sky-high energy prices, with the issues pushed to their next quarterly meeting.

Offset standard manager Verra is open to negotiating bilateral deals with companies that are creating assets based on its carbon credits, such as crypto firms, provided they pass a stringent due diligence test.

AEMO’s Alex Wonhas and Nicola Falcon discuss the draft ISP, the early departure of coal, and managing a renewables grid.

The post Transcript: Energy Insiders Podcast interview with Alex Wonhas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

PRESS RELEASE Evoenergy is pleased to announce a new project that will improve the way we manage electricity network peaks, reduce electricity prices and unlock additional network capacity to allow Canberrans greater potential exports of solar and battery energy to the grid. With support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the ACT Government, […]

The post Technology set to converge to create smarter energy solutions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Washington Department of Ecology (ECY) on Thursday presented its thinking on the baseline and initial allowance budgets for its WCI-modelled cap-and-trade programme, as it also revealed plans to adopt three offset protocols included in the California carbon market.

A US-based provider of specialised exchange-traded products intends to launch an ETF tracking carbon offset futures, according to regulatory filings on Wednesday.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices declined over the majority of the week on what traders attributed to the December options expiry and speculator-led selling, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) values rebounded to negate all of their recent losses from news that Virginia may leave the programme after their Republican governor-elect takes office.

The Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) on Thursday approved a rulemaking to implement a market-based climate programme, marking the culmination of Governor Kate Brown’s (D) regulatory approach after walkouts from the minority Republican legislature prevented Democrats from passing a WCI-modelled cap-and-trade bill in past years. 

A coalition agreement struck by political groups in the Netherlands this week seeks to raise the nation’s carbon tax for EU ETS-covered sectors and to strike bespoke deals with the country’s big-emitting industrial firms.

Solar powered Twisties: Australian arm of food and beverage giant meets early 100% renewables mark with mix of power purchase agreements.

The post PepsiCo Australia goes 100 per cent renewable with PPAs and rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Such tension has played out over many decades between agricultural communities and coal companies. We can avoid history repeating itself if we urgently set the right policies and laws in place. Madeline Taylor, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Latest CSIRO GenCost assessment says wind and solar much cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear, even with storage and 90 per cent renewables.

The post CSIRO GenCost: Wind and solar still reign supreme as cheapest energy sources appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Everyone’s aware how natural gas prices are up by more than 400% this year due to reduced Russian supplies, tight LNG markets, low EU storages, and the onset of winter demand. And of course since gas is a primary fuel for power generation, there’s been a knock-on effect there too. So you might be forgiven if you find it confusing that a number of EU member states think that suspending the EU ETS and reforming the market is a sure-fire way to deal with these gas and power prices.

Newly published building policy said to be a ‘missed opportunity’ to help the UK reach net zero by 2030

The government’s new building regulations were supposed to be the blueprint for carbon-neutral homes, helping the country reach net zero by 2030, but instead are a step backwards, industry experts have said.

The government policy, published on Wednesday and due to be introduced by 2025, has mandated a 30% carbon cut in all new buildings and a 27% cut in others. The new rules will come into force in June in England, with a transition period to allow for planning applications that are in progress at the time.

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The EU ETS-financed Modernisation Fund has disbursed a total of €898.43 million to fund eight countries since it was launched this year, the European Commission said on Thursday, with only Latvia and Slovakia yet to benefit from the cash pot.

Carcasses found in four provinces, including one pregnant female, with nine arrests made

Poachers have killed 24 rhinos in South Africa during the first two weeks of December after a lull in killings during the Covid pandemic.

On Tuesday, the South African environment ministry said carcasses had been discovered in four provinces across the country since the beginning of the month, with seven rhinos found dead in Kruger national park, six in KwaZulu-Natal and seven in Mpumalanga. Four, including a pregnant female, were shot dead by poachers at a game reserve in the Western Cape last week while a fifth is being treated for gunshot wounds.

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Sainsbury’s is one of six European supermarkets to stop selling some or all beef products from South American country

Sainsbury’s and five other European supermarkets have announced they will stop selling some or all beef products originating in Brazil because of concerns over links to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest and other ecologically important areas.

Sainsbury’s, along with Lidl Netherlands and others, took action after research into “cattle laundering” involving the meat conglomerate JBS. According to the news organisation Repórter Brasil, the company allegedly indirectly sourced cattle from illegally deforested areas.

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Canada is currently examining a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as it sets it sights on a domestic carbon price of C$170/tonne by 2030, but experts say this level is not at all reflective of what should be charged for emissions at the border.

EU leaders are readying a deal on Thursday to task the European Commission to strengthen its supervision of the bloc’s ETS, ceding to some of Poland's longstanding demands as an unprecedented surge in the cost of carbon fuels concerns about anticompetitive behaviour.