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AEMO's Zibelman says case for renewables is not about politics, but simple economics, with wind, solar and storage clearly cheaper than all alternatives.

The post AEMO’s Zibelman: By 2040, one quarter of Australia’s electricity will come from homes appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The Nationals have stoked opposition to the Murray Darling Basin Plan at every opportunity. Now they cannot contain the fury of rural voters. Daniel Connell, Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

European carbon prices reversed early losses on Monday on news that Germany would proceed with EUA cancellations to offset the market impact of its coal phaseout.

Do you outsource repair work on your car? They're often much more complicated than they used to be, with lots of electronic add-ons to the usual mechanical bits. But does that mean we should abandon all control over our vehicles? In the latest episode of our Hands On series, Hilary Harper tries to get to grips with her car's innards.

The voluntary carbon market is seeking a 5-10 year stay from emissions auditing rules to prevent a collapse in clean investment, a risk some governments say is unfounded and could even slow national climate action.

Peter wants to know about the sustainability of hemp and why it's not used more than it is. He writes, "How much serious science is being done to evaluate hemp's suitability for various uses and products, and what are the barriers preventing the use of hemp on an industrial scale?" ABC Science reporter Nick Kilvert investigates this one.

The "grandmother effect" was even stronger with grandmothers that had gone through the menopause.

The ideal candidate has a relevant university background and a minimum of 2 years working experience in the renewable energy sector and/or carbon markets in Colombia. Applicants should be experienced in business development and identifying GHG emission reduction projects and feel comfortable working with solar photovoltaic plants. Fluent spoken and written Spanish and English is required!

Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor is at the Madrid climate summit, where he is lobbying for Australia's right to use 'carryover credits' from the old Kyoto Protocol to meet our Paris targets.

Quebec intends to finalise its forestry offset protocol and post-2023 allowance allocation levels for its WCI-linked cap-and-trade programme next year after completing consultations on both topics, the Canadian province's environmental minister said at a UN climate conference side event on Monday.

Young activists including Greta Thunberg put pressure on negotiators to break deadlock

Children and young people must be at the heart of dealing with the climate crisis, the UN and campaigners have said as climate talks in Madrid enter their second week with little concrete progress.

Young people, including Greta Thunberg, played a leading role in protests at COP25 over the weekend, and on Monday appeared at the conference to put pressure on negotiators to come up with a plan for reducing greenhouse gases and tackling the impacts of climate breakdown.

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Analysis shows ‘staggering’ 40% reduction in government spending in a decade

Public funding for environment bodies in Scotland has plummeted by 40% in a decade, placing already declining wildlife at risk, according to analysis of government budgets.

Scottish Environment Link, a coalition of more than 35 wildlife, environment and countryside charities, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, WWF and the Scottish Wildlife Trust, estimates almost £100m has been slashed from the budgets of public agencies in Scotland between 2010-11 and 2019-20.

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Rising demand and climate crisis threaten entire mountain ecosystem, say scientists

A quarter of the world’s population are at risk of water supply problems as mountain glaciers, snow-packs and alpine lakes are run down by global heating and rising demand, according to an international study.

The first inventory of high-altitude sources finds the Indus is the most important and vulnerable “water tower” due to run-off from the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Ladakh, and Himalayan mountain ranges, which flow downstream to a densely populated and intensively irrigated basin in Pakistan, India, China and Afghanistan.

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A new study ranks the importance and vulnerability of high-mountain stores of water.

Rising temperatures have contributed to the decline of hundreds of ski resorts on Italian slopes

Deserted ski lifts and ruined hotels are some of the relics of a tourist industry that first seduced and then abandoned the Alps, along with cement, steel cables, paved car parks and deforested slopes.

From Piedmont to Friuli, there are hundreds of abandoned ski resorts in Italy. Researchers counted 186 in 2011, a number that is likely to have grown since.

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Activists were left frustrated by the lack of urgency inside negotiating rooms in Madrid

What happened in week one?

The COP25 climate talks in Madrid may have officially opened on Monday 2 December, but they only really started on Friday evening. That was when Greta Thunberg arrived to join a 500,000-strong march through the centre of Madrid, demanding that world leaders listen.

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UN climate negotiations in Madrid shift into high gear this week with the arrival of ministers from most of the nearly 200 countries attending the COP25 talks tasked with finalising work on emissions trading rules under the Paris Agreement's Article 6. Below is a running summary of those efforts, as well as other happenings at the summit.

Germany will cancel a yet-to-be-determined number of EU carbon allowances to offset the impact of its coal phaseout, the government confirmed on Monday, allaying concerns that Europe’s top emitter could flood the market with unused permits.

The climate talks in Madrid simply highlight how important China’s next electricity plan is for the world, for China and for Australia.

The post All eyes on Madrid, but they should be on China’s next 5-year energy plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.