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Experience with Australia's current small fleet of pumped hydro power stations suggests a fleet of smaller projects might be a better idea than the massive Snowy 2.0 scheme.

The post Why is pumped hydro in Australia not used very much? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Phillip Glyde is Chief Executive of the Murray Darling Basin Authority and he's responded to Shelley Scoullar's complaints about the Basin Plan.

World leaders and climate experts will begin gathering in Madrid later today for the UN Climate Change conference, known as COP25.

New research has revealed 100 plant and animal species have become extinct in the past two centuries – a far higher number than previously thought. John Woinarski, Professor (conservation biology), Charles Darwin University Brett Murphy, Associate Professor / ARC Future Fellow, Charles Darwin University Dale Nimmo, Associate professor/ARC DECRA fellow, Charles Sturt University Michael F. Braby, Associate Professor, Australian National University Sarah Legge, Professor, Australian National University Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Formula for climate emergency shows if ‘reaction time is longer than intervention time left’ then ‘we have lost control’

When is an emergency really an emergency?

If you’re the captain of the Titanic, approaching a giant iceberg with the potential to sink your ship becomes an emergency only when you realise you might not have enough time to steer a safe course.

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As the climate emergency brings rising seas and cliff erosion, seaside towns are mounting a losing battle to save homes

Retired trawlerman Armand Toms runs his finger along a knee-high mark on the diesel tanks used to refill the 50 or so fishing and tripping boats moored in Looe’s harbour in south-east Cornwall.

“The sea got up to here in 2014,” says the 65-year-old, before raising his hand towards the top of the tanks. “If we get a metre more by the end of the century – is anything going to survive here?” Toms, an independent councillor, who represents Looe East on Cornwall council, has seen the town flood throughout his life.

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Rich should foot bill for impact on developing nations, report claims

A new international organisation should be set up to raise and distribute funds to nations who will suffer the worst impacts of global heating.

That is the key conclusion of a UK report – Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change – that will be debated this week at the COP25 climate talks in Madrid. The authors argue that the cash raised by the new body should be used in addition to the $100bn a year rich countries have pledged to help poorer nations cut their carbon emissions and adapt to the climate crisis.

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We compare the manifestos, from Labour’s £8.2bn a year to the Tories’ pothole fund

In an election dominated by Brexit, the climate crisis and the NHS, cycling is not most people’s top priority. However, with transport now accounting for a higher share of overall emissions than any other sector, helping people drive less and cycle more is arguably crucial in tackling climate change.

Improving conditions for cycling could help our congested, polluted towns and cities, tackle the inactivity crisis, reduce the burden on the NHS and make streets and neighbourhoods safer and more pleasant.

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Granted personhood in 2017 by the New Zealand parliament, the Whanganui is the first river in the world to be recognised as an indivisible and living being. But it still faces challenges from farming, forestry and development – and despite its beauty, the data suggests much needs to be done to nurse it back to full health

• Saving the Whanganui: can personhood rescue a river?

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The new fruit took US scientists two decades to develop and the launch cost $10m (£7.9m).

There’s more and more scientific evidence that climate change is having a major impact on our planet. Recently more than 11,000 scientists across the world declared a climate emergency, and many of us are experiencing grief, anxiety and powerlessness about the future. We discuss the connection between climate change and mental health, and the strategies we need to maintain hope and take action.

Parts of Australia are in the grip of one of the worst droughts in decades and water security is a key issue. While Sydney is about to go onto level 2 water restrictions, some towns like Cobar, Armidale and Stanthorpe are close to running out of water altogether. Is the answer water recycling?

Parts of Australia are in the grip of one of the worst droughts in decades and water security is a key issue. While Sydney is about to go onto level 2 water restrictions, some towns like Cobar, Armidale and Stanthorpe are close to running out of water altogether. Is the answer water recycling?

Fifteen-year-old Cheikh Bamba Diaby got into robotics after he had to unblock his sister's mobile phone.

Howard Hyland has lived next to the Whanganui river for his whole life. He runs the Whanganui River outrigger canoe club and understands that 'we've got to stop polluting the river'.

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New Zealanders who live close to the Whanganui river, which has been given legal personhood, speak of how important it is to them. 'How we look after it belongs to all of us'.

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Coalition says approvals take three and a half years, the reality can be longer, putting threatened species at risk

Australia’s national environment law is under review, an exercise the government has said is aimed at cutting “green tape”.

Scott Morrison and the environment minister, Sussan Ley, announced the review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act last month. It is a statutory review of the act that occurs every 10 years.

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The minke whale was discovered on Friday by a patrol boat under Battersea Bridge

An eight-foot whale was washed up on the shore of the Thames yesterday, where it was found by a patrol boat under Battersea Bridge.

The minke whale was found on Friday evening at about 10pm by a Port of London Authority boat, but is not yet known how the creature came to arrive in London, or why it died.

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The mammal, believed to be a minke whale, was found below Battersea Bridge in London.

French hunters claim tradition justifies their exemption from EU rules. But with many species endangered, there is growing pressure for a ban

It is early morning in the heart of Provence, and somewhere behind the tall black pine trees a rousing dawn chorus begins. We are crouching out of sight among the rosemary bushes and wild asparagus listening to the melodic musical phrases of song thrushes and blackbirds.

This is Marcel Pagnol country, rich in flora and fauna and of exceptional natural beauty; but there is no sign of the singing birds anywhere in the rustling foliage, trees or sky.

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