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Wind and solar deliver more than 70 pct of generation on main grid for first time, as the share of renewables hits a new instantaneous peak of 72.5 pct.

The post Wind and solar smash records as renewables reach new peak of 72.5 pct on main grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The bifurcation of the global oil patch grew this week once again as Chevron bought its US peer Hess for $53 billion, giving it control of billions of barrels of reserves offshore Guyana, one of the most prolific oil provinces in the world, and signalling American oil companies have very different views of the energy transition compared to other independent majors.

The EU’s first draft legislation defining a framework for certifying carbon removals was backed almost unanimously during a vote in the European Parliament’s cross-party environment committee on Tuesday.

Australia has a new energy market - for very fast frequency control - that has attracted huge interest from flexible technologies such as battery storage and demand response.

The post Big batteries and demand response dominate new very fast frequency control market appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Global development mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund (GCF) have become too easily dominated by multilateral financial organisations at the expense of the small and vulnerable nations they are designed to support, an academic paper has claimed.

Australia is pursuing standards and compliance for rooftop solar PV inverters that will allow centralised control by AEMO and network operators. There are smarter and more equitable solutions.

The post Cutting off solar isn’t the answer: There are smarter alternatives appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Shanghai government will auction off 1 million carbon allowances under its emissions trading scheme at the end of this month, with the price floor likely to be set below market levels.

Research finds companies more likely to revisit corporate social responsibility results when tied to CEO pay

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Australian companies are reporting better social and environment performance but many gains are generated by revising past outcomes, particularly when a chief executive’s own remuneration is tied to the results, a new study has found.

The study, “CSR Restatements: Mischief or Mistake?”, examined 674 instances of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting from the Top 500 ASX-listed companies between 2004 and 2020.

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Archaeologists say pottery and stone tools have also been found at the site in Orkney.

There is an easy federal government fix that would allow companies to play a bigger role in renewables growth. But time is running out to take it up.

The post Companies can speed up the energy transition. We should let them appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rishi Sunak unveiled funding pot for expanding charging facilities at motorway services in 2020 but it is not yet accepting bids

Almost £1bn meant to help build Britain’s electric vehicle charging network remains unallocated more than three years after it was first announced by Rishi Sunak.

Promised in March 2020 before the first Covid lockdown in Sunak’s early weeks as Boris Johnson’s chancellor, the “rapid charging fund” was meant to support electrical capacity at motorway service stations. It was intended to help fund upgrades to the grid so that more electric cars can be rapidly charged at the same time.

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The chick hatched on a high platform built by conservationists to keep nests safe from foxes which swim to Tumby Island from the mainland

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Birdwatchers from around the world have celebrated the arrival of a rare eastern osprey chick in South Australia.

Fran Solly, secretary of the Friends of Osprey conservation group, says everyone in Tumby Island and Port Lincoln knows about the chick that hatched last Thursday. But the livestream has captivated bird watchers from as far away as the UK, America, South Korea and Russia.

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CleanCo takes stake in up to 372MW wind farm in central Queensland as the state government introduces legislation to enshrine its renewable targets into law.

The post CleanCo lines up another major wind farm as Queensland pushes renewable legislation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Storing energy in large pumped hydro schemes sounds simple. But engineering and terrain challenges have put Snowy 2.0 well off track – while grid-scale batteries get better and better Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

South Australia has less than 50 breeding pairs of the endangered eastern osprey, and recent surveys point to a rapid decline in the population of the species. Conservation efforts have included setting up high nesting platforms on Tumby Island to keep eggs safe from foxes who swim across from the mainland. Video of the new chick hatching was broadcast across Facebook and YouTube to viewers around the world. Fran Solly, secretary of the Friends of Osprey conservation group, says the arrival of the chick is 'fantastic news, because it means the platform is working'

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• Rare eastern osprey chick hatches in South Australia, captivating birdwatchers around the world

• Australian bird of the year 2023: final top 10 ranking

• And the winner is ... swift parrot announced as the 2023 Australian bird of the year – video

• Surfers and angler combine to rescue osprey caught in fishing line off North Stradbroke Island

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EU nations' updated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) are largely inadequate not only to align with the Paris Agreement's 1.5C global warming limit, but also to comply with the bloc's 2030 target to cut emissions by 55%, a coalition of NGOs warned on Tuesday.

The world is shifting rapidly to clean energy but still investing too much in fossil fuels, the IEA says.

Stronger policy support for carbon removals and capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technologies is required to scale capacity to meet 2050 net zero goals, according to the International Energy Agency’s flagship energy report, which also forecasts peak fossil fuel demand this decade based on the current outlook.

Australia’s nature repair market bill will not be re-introduced to parliament until 2024 at the earliest, after the senate committee examining the legislation requested another extension to its reporting deadline.

Winning bids in first generation tender in NSW were pitched at little more than half their levellised cost of energy, while the battery project promised a lot more storage.

The post Secrets of success revealed in NSW wind, solar and eight hour battery bids appeared first on RenewEconomy.