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The government pretends that farming and the countryside are synonymous – and our environment suffers as a result

We have a problem. The environment secretary, George Eustice – the highest green authority in the land – is, in a crucial respect, a climate denier. In an interview with the Telegraph, he claimed that “livestock, particularly if you do it with the right pastoral system, has a role to play in tackling climate change”.

Though such claims are often made, there is no evidence to support them. A wide-ranging review of the data by the Oxford Martin School found no case of a livestock operation sequestering more greenhouse gases than the animals produce. Moreover, because of the very large land area required for grazing livestock, pastoral systems carry a massive carbon opportunity cost (this means the carbon that would be captured if the land were returned to wild ecosystems). According to the government’s Climate Change Committee, “transitioning from grassland to forestland would increase the soil carbon stock by 25 tonnes of carbon per hectare (on average across England) … This is additional to the large amounts of carbon that would be stored in the biomass of the trees themselves.”

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

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ACCC says it is looking into potential "misconduct" by generators during the recent price cap on electricity markets and forecast supply shortages.

The post ACCC to probe potential generator “misconduct” during market price cap appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australian renewables outfit reveals plans for $A500 million-plus capital raise, to underwrite its large and diverse development pipeline.

The post Energy Estate seeks $500m in capital to fast-track huge development pipeline appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia needs an honest reckoning with the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long hold over Australian politics. Without that, we cannot shift to a principled stand against ceaseless expansion. Fergus Green, Lecturer in Political Theory and Public Policy, UCL Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

AGL convenes consortium of industry partners to consider redevelopment of Torrens Island into a green hydrogen industrial hub.

The post AGL taps industry partners for green hydrogen hub at Torrens Island appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Introducing new market designs - like those put forward by the ESB - without an explicit statement of the carbon implications is beyond the pale.

The post Why isn’t the ESB designing a policy to bring on bulk renewable energy? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Justin Rowlatt finds out what gorilla conservation can teach us about protecting other species.

Germany on Sunday advanced plans to bring reserve coal power plants back into regular use and to install a mechanism to reward heavy industry for using less gas as Russia has cut deliveries of the fuel.

The He Waka Eke Noa partnership will require farmers to embrace strategies and technologies to reduce emissions. But there are a lot of unanswered questions about how it will work in practice. Ralph Sims, Emeritus Professor, Energy and Climate Mitigation, Massey University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Since 1995, worldwide agricultural and food trade has more than doubled. It’s never been clearer that eating local produce is a powerful way to take action on climate change. Arunima Malik, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability, University of Sydney Mengyu Li, Postdoc Research Fellow, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Exclusive: state budget funds to go towards boosting number of charging points in apartment blocks and on streets

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The New South Wales government will invest $38m to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by building more charging sites, including for apartment buildings and roadsides.

The extra funds, to be unveiled in Tuesday’s budget, will bring to $633m the money being spent on NSW’s strategy aimed at ensuring half of all car sales by 2030-31 are electric.

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"Coalkeeper" looms large as the ESB insists it is "more efficient" to keep existing coal generators online. Just a shame about the environment.

The post Coal included in re-heated proposal for controversial capacity payments appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Some wind and solar farm developers told that commissioning and approvals have been suspended in the current energy market crisis.

The post AEMO suspends new wind and solar projects as it battles to deal with market crisis appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Young science writer competition winner digs into an underground biological battle against global warming.

Solar Victoria fielded 50% higher than usual number of inquiries into power storage amid cold snap across eastern states

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Demand for batteries linked to rooftop solar panels has soared in the past month amid energy price rices and the coldest start to winter in decades.

According to Solar Victoria chief executive, Stan Krpan, inquiries into battery rebates in Victoria have spiked in the past two weeks.

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Commercial accommodation in parks promotes advocacy for the land, say tour companies, but critics argue it puts wilderness at risk

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Mick Ripon has fished from the rugged coastline of NSW’s Ben Boyd national park for the past 45 years. Off the remote rocks of Green Cape, Ripon reeled in his biggest catch, a 68kg (150lb) yellowfin tuna, and even proposed to his wife.

Now he’s racing to stop the construction of multiple huts at Mowarry Point and Hegartys Bay that he says will rob the park of its wilderness appeal.

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The conservative commentariat could not be more wrong in dismissing global heating as a concern of only the ‘woke elite’

“What do you mean, ‘why am I working in this heat?’ If I don’t work, we will die of hunger.”

That was how Shiv Kumar Mandal, a Delhi rickshaw driver, explained why he continued to transport passengers during a prolonged and horrific temperature spike that experts attribute to global heating.

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Compliance entities raised their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) net length, while speculators significantly trimmed holdings amidst broader market macroeconomic weakness, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

California and Quebec will decrease the number of current vintage allowances offered in the jurisdictions’ August cap-and-trade sale for the second month in a row, according to a notice published Friday.