Around The Web

16 October 1913: A switch to cooking by gas instead of coal prevents tons of soot each day being discharged into the atmosphere

There are now in use in Manchester over 100,000 gas stoves. Fixed in the kitchens and sculleries of suburban Manchester, they are preventing the discharge of something like ten tons of soot a day into our atmosphere. The price of gas has recently been reduced from 2s. 3d. to 2, if the bill be paid in good time. In Sheffield it is 1s. 6d., and it might be nearer 1s. 6d. than 2 in Manchester but that the Gas Committee have to contribute £50,000 a year in relief of rates.

The Smoke Abatement League and their friends regard this as a tax on those Manchester citizens who are public-spirited enough – or sensible enough – to cook by gas instead of coal. In the annual report of the Manchester branch of the League, figures are given for two manufacturing firms, one of which has a bad chimney and the other a good one. The firm with a bad chimney uses 60 tons of coal a week at 13s. a ton to produce a given result. The firm with a good one gets the same result, with 30 tons of coal at 11s. The engines are the same in both cases, and the firm with the bad chimney pays £39 a week for coal, the firm with a good one, £16. 10.

Continue reading...

At All Energy 2019, on stand NN139 RFI is excited to launch exclusive new solutions and value-added services for the solar industry.

The post RFI launches new Solar Comms Solutions, Value-added Services and more at All Energy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Origin Energy board faces fiery shareholders focused on NT fracking and sees coal-fired Eraring power station as valuable even under a 1.5-degree target.

The post Origin grilled over NT fracking plans, insists on track for 1.5°C scenario appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Mojo signs long term PPA with Suntech for construction of small solar farm in north-east Victoria, with more deals to come.

The post Mojo Power signs long term contract for new solar farm in Victoria appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The first figures emerge demonstrating that Brexit uncertainty has adversely affected UK research.

Western Power unveils network of the future, where thousands of regional customers are taken off grid and given renewables and storage, saving money and boosting reliability.

The post Why network operators will take thousands of customers off the grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

From 2021, many of Germany’s pioneer wind turbines, solar PV installations and biogas plants will stop receiving fixed feed-in tariffs. What happens next?

The post Coming of age: How will Germany’s renewable energy pioneers fare in the free market? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The population first ravaged by commercial whalers in the 1900s is almost back to where it was.

Wilderness Society releases damning economic assessment of Narrabri CSG project that suggests it will do little to address the Australian gas price crisis

The post Narrabri CSG project dammed as “fairy-tale” that won’t cut gas prices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Researchers notice whales’ unusual feeding behaviour in south-east Alaska

Humpback whales have been captured on film herding shoals of fish into their cavernous mouths with their oversized pectoral fins.

Marine biologists recorded the extraordinary feeding behaviour for the first time off the coast of Alaska, where the whales lurk around salmon hatcheries that release juvenile fish into the sea.

Continue reading...

Plastic is clogging up our landfills, our oceans and our bodies. Ken in Brisbane asks "Will there be a substitute for plastic anytime soon? Surely there's a Nobel Prize for this (and another way to clean up the tonnes of plastic currently polluting the oceans)." ABC Science reporter Suzannah Lyons has been looking into this.

Along with the Eiffel Tower and the Panama Canal, the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric scheme has been named as one of the most impressive engineering landmarks in the world. Not only is it the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken in this country, it is also said to have sparked the birth of multicultural Australia.

In New Zealand, where more than 80% of electricity is renewable, the carbon footprint of electric cars is 62% lower than that of fossil cars. But their lithium battery has other environmental impacts. Md Arif Hasan, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington Ralph Brougham Chapman, Associate Professor , Director Environmental Studies, Victoria University of Wellington Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A shot of a predator-prey confrontation wins the 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

An all-electric, zero emissions, battle taxi, or just cyber-punk: Auto industry gets ready for unveling of the Tesla ute.

The post Elon Musk hints at wild “cybertruck” electric ute design appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Porsche ups its game, releasing a stunning third Taycan model that will not only be cheaper but also offer longer driving range.

The post Porsche stuns with cheaper and longer range new electric Taycan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Morrison government blocks debate and a motion moved by Greens and supported by Labor and cross-benchers to declare a climate change emergency.

The post Goverment blocks crossbench motion to declare a climate change emergency appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition in Brussels is seeking a Researcher to work for 12 months starting in November/December 2019, possibly extendible beyond this period.

The US EPA will only factor in a portion of past compliance obligations exempted under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to project waived volumes under the federal biofuels programme next year, the agency announced on Tuesday.