Around The Web

Australia’s transport industry on cusp of “radical change,” says report – but could be a trillion-dollar train wreck if business, government don't get on board.

IKEA customers in France can now hire an electric vehicle from the store’s car park, to transport all of the Swedish furnishings, in car share deal with Renault.

Driven by favourable economics and additional benefits including carbon reductions and social license, major and mid-tier Australian mines are adopting renewables.

At least one country is rising to the occasion.

Data released by ABS today shows a boom in renewable energy construction to meet the 2020 Renewable Energy Target is driving jobs growth and creating new employment opportunities, said business and energy experts.  

All-electric Renault ZOE judged ‘Best Green Car’ at the inaugural FirstCar Awards 2018 in London.

First blockchain virtual micro-grid in Australia will use solar and storage to allow 200 dairy farms, 100 households and 20 businesses to share energy.

Member states will vote on an almost complete ban on the use of chemicals linked to harming bees.

Researchers analysed data from November quake and found main shock occurred near fracking site

One of South Korea’s largest earthquakes on record may have been caused by hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – according to a study published on Friday in the journal Science.

A magnitude-5.5 earthquake hit the south-eastern city of Pohang on 15 November, injuring at least 70 people, temporarily displacing hundreds, and causing millions of dollars of damage. In the aftermath, residents and researchers have questioned whether the quake could be connected to a geothermal plant – the country’s first – less than 2km (about 1 mile) away.

Continue reading...

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

North American carbon prices stabilised over the last week as both the east and west coast markets began to focus on the spring auctions.

Australia is halfway into the most expensive environmental program ever mounted-the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Mexico’s Senate passed a bill late Wednesday that gives a clearer mandate to the country’s planned carbon market and to align national emission reduction goals with Paris Agreement targets.

Josh Frydenberg will seek agreement at meeting of environment ministers for a national stocktake of recycling

• Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

The Turnbull government will ask the states to work towards a national fix on recycling in the wake of an import ban imposed by China on recycled waste, which has triggered a crisis in Australia.

Environment ministers will meet on Friday to discuss practical responses to the Chinese ban, with the commonwealth seeking agreement from state counterparts for a national stocktake as the precursor to boosting domestic capacity to recycle.

Continue reading...

California regulator ARB does not expect tens of millions of unsold allowances in its cap-and-trade programme to jeopardise the state’s 2030 GHG target, according to the agency’s estimates.

Background Briefing has uncovered evidence about the NSW Ambulance officers stealing fentanyl.

Australian Academy of Science launches 10-year plan to document hundreds of thousands of unknown species

With an estimated 70% of Australian organisms still undocumented and funding for species discovery declining, the national science academy will head to parliament on Friday to argue that a rapid reversal is needed to avoid extinctions and reveal unimagined health and biosecurity solutions.

The Australian Academy of Science and its New Zealand counterpart, the Royal Society Te Apārangi, are launching a 10-year plan to study and name unknown species, warning that a sound understanding of biodiversity is critical in the face of a global extinction crisis.

Continue reading...

Ammonia from farms mixes with factory emissions and traffic exhaust to create high levels of air pollution

Runners in this year’s London Marathon escaped breathing badly polluted air as westerly winds cleared springtime smog just before the race start. Images of spring include blossom and fresh green growth, but it is often our most polluted time of year, and air pollution frequently reaches the top level on the UK government’s 10-point scale.

In spring 2014 Paris instigated odd/even number plate bans and David Cameron memorably tweeted that he was cancelling his run due to air pollution. That year, spring particle pollution caused an estimated 600 early deaths across England and Wales.

Continue reading...

Aerial footage supplied by the Lock the Gate Alliance shows the site of the former Ebenezer coalmine near Ipswich – which will remain a cratered landscape after the Queensland government accepted a rehabilitation plan from the site's current owner

Continue reading...

Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described. Kevin Thiele, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.