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Ground-breaking microgrid combines wind, solar and battery storage to power WA gold mine with up to 85% renewables penetration.

The post Australia’s biggest renewable microgrid powers gold mine up to 85% appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Climate groups give Australia a 'fail' score at the half-way point of COP26, after its failure to set a new interim target and its promotion of fossil fuels.

The post Australian given a ‘Fail’ for first week performance in Glasgow appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Week one in Glasgow has delivered more climate action than the world promised in Paris six years ago. But progress still falls well short of what’s required to limit warming to 1.5℃. Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute and Climate Council researcher, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Australia accused of going backward as Cop26 pledge backed by five of world’s biggest coal power users

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The Morrison government will not join more than 40 countries committing to phase out coal power, with Angus Taylor declaring Australia was focused on developing technology not “wiping out industries”.

The pledge at the Cop26 climate summit to end the use of coal power – by the 2030s “or as soon as possible thereafter” for the wealthy, and the 2040s by developing nations – was backed by five of the biggest 20 coal power users: South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Poland and Ukraine.

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A ground-breaking trial that saw hundreds of WA businesses modify their energy use and solar output to help stabilise the grid is being extended.

The post From solar duck to platypus: Ground-breaking energy shift changes demand curve appeared first on RenewEconomy.

"Landmark moment:" IEA says emissions pledges announced at COP26 may cap global warming below 2°C, but more needed for 1.5°C target.

The post Glasgow pledges may be enough to cap global warming below 2°C, IEA says appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New research shows just 2% of the Great Barrier Reef remains untouched by bleaching since 1998. Its future survival depends on how much higher we allow global temperatures to rise. Terry Hughes, Distinguished Professor, James Cook University Sean Connolly, Research Biologist, Smithsonian Institution Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

UN negotiations to finalise a Paris Agreement Article 6 rulebook on international emissions trade ploughed on through Wednesday, with officials ordering a second text to be crafted overnight.

Two new large-scale solar farms have started sending small amounts of power to the grid this week in the south-west of New South Wales.

The post Two new solar farms show signs of powering up on NSW grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Irish government has unveiled a new climate change strategy that it said will help it halve the country’s GHG emissions by 2030 and to achieve net zero by mid-century.

‘Gas is the new coal’, says Climate Analytics report that finds it the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissions

The escalating rollout of gas for heating, electricity and cooking is turning it into the “new coal” and its use worldwide must be slashed by nearly a third this decade to avoid disastrous climate effects, according to a new report.

Gas has often been referred to as a “bridge fuel” as it emits around half the carbon dioxide of coal, and many countries have embraced it while also promising to transition to renewable energy in order to cut planet-heating emissions.

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Poland's climate minister Anna Moskwa on Thursday confirmed that her country has no intention to bring forward its 2049 coal exit date despite signing on to a global pledge to consign the fuel to history.

High-level initiatives promoting ‘near-zero steel’ at COP26 talks this week have helped shift discussions away from technology-agnostic emissions targets, with a growing club of supportive nations showing signs of a parallel push to impose border measures on dirtier producers.

Anti coal day but Poland does a back flip, 2°C global warming appears within reach, and Taylor buttonholed in Glasgow.

The post Glasgow Brief: Big “anti-coal day” as Taylor confronted in Glasgow appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EUAs broke above persistent resistance to reach a three-week high near €61.50, but selling once again emerged to push prices back to the €59-60 range they have occupied for much of the past few weeks.

California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) ripped to a new all-time high this week as options activity heated up close to the 2021 WCI auction reserve price, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) values experienced a volatile stretch as Virginia voters elected a Republican governor and House of Delegates.

GHG output under California’s WCI-linked carbon market plunged 10% in 2020 as impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic weighed across economic sectors, according to data posted by state regulator ARB on Thursday.

Problem is causing £8bn a year in health damage but can be tackled cost-effectively, say scientists

Sixty per cent of the tiny particles polluting the air in the UK are from ammonia leaking from farms, according to research.

The ammonia is released from livestock manure and urine and the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. The gas drifts into cities and reacts with other air pollutants to form tiny particulate matter, called PM2.5, which is the deadliest form of air pollution.

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Activists call on Scottish first minister to intervene after ‘numerous incidents of abuse of powers’

Climate campaigners attending the Cop26 summit are urging Nicola Sturgeon to intervene in what they describe as intimidating and heavy-handed policing of protests in Glasgow.

The open letter from the Cop26 Coalition, Stop Climate Chaos Scotland and the Climate Coalition calls on the first minister to ensure that the right to protest is upheld in advance of Friday and Saturday’s mass marches, after activists reported “numerous incidents of abuse of powers and intimidating tactics” by the 10,000 officers from forces across the UK who have been deployed daily.

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