Feed aggregator

Genex Power says the energisation of 50MW Jemalong solar project in NSW is a key milestone and will ultimately enable the company to double its revenues.

The post Genex says Jemalong solar farm energised, ready to send power to grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New Zealand spends about $500m on environmental research each year, but fails to invest systematically in monitoring programmes to track the changing environment. Troy Baisden, Professor (Environmental Sciences), University of Waikato Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The UK can make major cuts to carbon emissions more cheaply than previously thought.

Victoria says it has officially met its interim renewable energy target of 25 per cent by 2020, as it gears up to double that number over next 10 years.

The post Victoria passes half-way mark on road to 50% renewables by 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

As Australia worries about the growing influence of China, we need the help of Europe and the US more than ever

Political pressure makes the impossible inevitable. Unfortunately, so much has been written about how democracy is broken, that it can seem churlish to point out that sometimes it works just as it is designed to: slowly, imperfectly and then suddenly. Take, for example, Scott Morrison’s backflip on using so-called “carryover credits” to meet Australia’s Paris climate commitments.

In 2018 Richie Merzian, who is both the head of the Australia Institute’s climate and energy program and a former Australian diplomat, was the first to bell the cat on the Morrison government’s plan to rely on accounting tricks rather than make actual emission reductions.

Continue reading...

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

While Australia scrambles to get a speaking slot at the UK's climate summit, its government prepares to paint a falsely rosy picture of climate progress.

The post At this weekend’s climate summit, no one will be perfect but Australia will be awful appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The UK should front-load its efforts towards its 2050 net zero goal by setting a 2035 emissions reduction target of 78% under 1990 levels, and should consider forcing airlines to buy domestic removals offsets, the government’s independent advisory body said on Wednesday.

Greenpeace report warns against granting licences to ‘deeply destructive’ industry with opaque oversight, and calls for global ocean treaty

Private mining firms and arms companies are exerting a hidden and unhealthy influence on the fate of the deep-sea bed, according to a new report highlighting the threats facing the world’s biggest intact ecosystem.

An investigation by Greenpeace found a handful of corporations in Europe and North America are increasingly dominating exploration contracts, and have at times taken the place of government representatives at meetings of the oversight body, the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA).

Continue reading...

Analysis shows invertebrates are overlooked in favour of mammals and birds despite vital role in healthy ecosystems

Money made available for wildlife conservation by the EU is based on a popularity contest, with vertebrates getting nearly 500 times more funding for each species than invertebrates, according to a new report.

Brown bears, wolves, bitterns and Eurasian lynxes are the Hollywood stars of European conservation and receive almost the same amount as all invertebrates put together, according to analysis of funding under the EU’s Habitats Directive. This leaves little for less charismatic creatures such as spiders and crustaceans, many of which are crucial to ecosystem health and at greater risk of extinction, the study found.

Continue reading...

Zhou Chengyu, 24, has been lauded on social media for her work as the project's youngest commander.

Leaked report says tax would slow emissions cuts, with South Australia and Victoria warned before they announced plan to introduce charge

Australian state governments were warned a road user tax on clean cars introduced without other support for the technology could discourage its uptake and impede greenhouse gas cuts. The advice was received before South Australia and Victoria announced plans to introduce a charge on driving electric vehicles (EVs).

A leaked report to the Board of Treasurers – a states and territories forum – shows it jointly commissioned advice on how to best introduce road-user charging on zero and low-emissions vehicles after agreeing to “high-level principles” earlier this year.

Continue reading...

California Governor Gavin Newsom may announce ARB Chair Mary Nichols’ replacement in the next week, with the appointee to guide the state agency through the 2022 Scoping Plan, numerous sources told Carbon Pulse.

Low allowance prices earlier this year may have contributed to fewer California entities surrendering offsets at the interim compliance deadline in November, but participants anticipate the trend skewing back to historic levels next year.

Call it the ‘first-mover disadvantage’. Researchers are urging for carbon credits generated from historical emissions reductions, as well as the older projects that created them, to be all purged in a bid to save the global voluntary offset market.

Sure, the owners of electric cars don't pay properly to use the roads, but it's even worse for the owners of conventionally-powered vehicles. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

For sale: As new solar farm, only 220 gigawatt hours on the clock, sunny location, good off-take agreement with respectable client.

The post Want to buy an Australian solar farm? There are plenty for sale appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A strengthened EU ETS resulting from a higher bloc-wide emissions reduction target by 2030 will be an important tool to support industrial decarbonisation, a panel featuring representatives from heavy manufacturers, government, EU legislative bodies, and green groups heard Tuesday.

The RAF has now released footage from its low-level reconnaissance flight over the giant A68a.

Ella Kissi-Debrah’s fatal asthma attack coincided with a high air pollution episode

The hospital admissions of a nine-year-old girl who died after an acute asthma attack almost all took place during autumn and winter months when air pollution levels are at their highest, an inquest heard on Tuesday.

Prof Stephen Holgate, a respiratory disease expert, said Ella Kissi-Debrah had been living on a knife-edge, and it would take just a small change to create a dramatic collapse in the child.

Continue reading...