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New Zealand carbon allowances on Wednesday fell below the NZ$25 fixed price option for the first time since Aug. 29 as bids retreated to NZ$24.90 ($16.89).

Trees grow thicker bark and animals burrow for protection. We can use similar techniques to save human lives

California wildfires rarely killed civilians in the 20th century. The Griffith Park fire killed 29 in 1933, while 25 died in Oakland in 1991. Now, for the fourth time in just over a year, California wildfires have become deadly. Within the span of 13 months, nearly 100 civilians have died in wildfires in California, and that devastating number is likely to grow based on the missing persons tally from the town of Paradise.

The increasing number of fatalities is occurring globally in so-called Mediterranean climates – regions with mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers. Portugal, Spain, Greece, Chile, Australia, and South Africa have all seen civilian wildfire fatalities in recent years, and communities globally are asking themselves the same question: what can we do? How do we stem the soaring number of wildfire fatalities?

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The federal government is shrugging off calls from oil and gas producer Woodside for the introduction of a carbon tax.

Welfare improvements are harder on large, intensive farms, concludes a Europe-wide investigation into animal welfare

Farm animal abuses are widespread in the European Union, with pig tail docking, long-distance transport and slaughterhouse stunning all areas of immediate concern, according to a report out this week.

Intensive farms are particularly problematic, the report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) reveals, with economic interests often trumping welfare rules. “Our audit and other reports show it’s difficult to introduce improvements on intensive farms and enforce laws,” Janusz Wojciechowski, the ECA member responsible for the report, told the Guardian.

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Coal, oil and gas subsidies risking rise in global temperatures to 3.2C, well beyond agreed Paris goal

Climate action is way off course in all but one of the world’s 20 biggest economies, according to a report that shows politicians are paying more heed to the fossil fuel industry than to advice from scientists.

Among the G20 nations 15 reported a rise in emissions last year, according to the most comprehensive stock-take to date of progress towards the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

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Taylor says any more action on climate would be "insane", and contradicts IEA report and digs in on need for more baseload, and Snowy 2.0.

The post Energy minister Taylor digs in on baseload, pumps up Snowy 2.0 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

When water turns from a gas into a liquid, it forms droplets. Whether those droplets are dew or rain depends on where the droplet forms. Dylan Korczynskyj, Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

In the face of continuing government failure to act on climate change, a social enterprise is paving the way for communities across Australia to go it alone in terms of electricity supply.

The post Disrupting the power industry status quo appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Union calls for stop on work on five Queensland solar farms unless developers provide wages guarantee after major contractor RCR suspends trade in shares.

The post Turmoil in solar industry as RCR stock suspended on earnings fears appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW looks to create 200MW virtual power plant, suggesting homes with solar and smart storage can earn up to $1,000 a year by providing services at times of grid stress in heatwaves.

The post NSW proposes 200MW virtual power plant, in bid to bolster grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

‘By the time the science is proven, it will be too late to act,’ chief Peter Coleman says

Woodside Petroleum chief executive, Peter Coleman, has joined mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto in calling for a price on carbon to help with emissions reduction targets and the transition to renewable energy.

But the energy minister, Angus Taylor, has claimed Australia doesn’t need a carbon price as emissions levels are coming down – a position at odds with the government’s official emissions data and independent modelling.

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This living laboratory could hold the key to controlling malaria and other conditions.

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The Morrison Government continues to stick its head in the sand on climate and energy, but communities are taking power into their own hands.

The post Communities lead governments on climate action appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia continues to lead the world’s green building sector with further growth predicted over the next three years, according to a new global report.

The post Australia leads the way as green building booms globally appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Efforts to protect native fauna and flora ‘lack purpose, direction and coordination’

Queensland has systematically failed the state’s growing list of threatened species, delaying declarations by up to seven years and botching its conservation management responsibilities, a scathing report by the state’s auditor general has found.

Related: Australia's east coast named as 'deforestation front' in WWF Living Planet report

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Sunraysia, one of the largest solar farms in Australia, is among the first projects structured with long-term offtake to an end user

The post Decmil selects NEXTracker’s NX Horizon smart solar tracker for 255 MW Sunraysia solar farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Carbon emissions from nation’s largest LNG development were meant to be captured. More than two years on, the storage still hasn’t started

Half of the increase in Australia’s annual carbon dioxide emissions can be linked to a single issue: the failure to bury greenhouse gases underground at the country’s largest liquefied natural gas development.

Chevron’s Gorgon LNG development in the Pilbara is considered a landmark development in carbon capture and storage, a long-promised technology to limit emissions from fossil fuels.

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European carbon ended lower on Tuesday in a wild session that saw buyers emerge to quickly lift prices back up every time they crashed below €20.

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