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The usual trade-off between maximising revenue while protecting industry’s long-term future no longer applies

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After dealing with multiple natural disasters, and facing the need for huge investment in an overloaded electricity system, it’s not surprising the Queensland government is in search of extra revenue ahead of next week’s budget. The obvious source, already flagged by the treasurer, Cameron Dick, is an increase in royalty rates for coal.

These rates, set on a sliding scale according to the price of coal, have been frozen for the last 10 years, as promised by the Newman LNP government after a small increase in 2012. With the 10-year freeze now expired, resources groups are lobbying intensely for no changes to the existing regime. But there is a logical case for increasing royalties on coal, which is currently trading at spectacularly high prices.

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A Finnish sustainable finance company on Thursday announced a partnership with an Israeli climate technology startup to create a new voluntary offset registry for forest-based projects.

The founder and owner of Slovenian carbon trading company Belektron has acquired a one-third stake in a battery storage company based in the country, the companies said on Thursday.

The UK government has launched a £7.8 million fund to support local authorities in England with the new staff and expertise needed to kickstart woodland creation and tree planting.

The carbon removals sub-contract forming part of a new hybrid standardised contract for the voluntary carbon market will be initially made up of retired EU ETS allowances until there is sufficient supply for a liquid removals market, the contract's developers said on Thursday.

No 10 official’s name for an insulation plan was nixed for unoriginality – but the campaigning group is OK with it

The well-known campaigning group Insulate Britain is happy to let the government borrow its name if officials can’t come up with a different label for their insulation scheme, it has told the Guardian.

According to a report in the Times on government plans for insulating homes, during one meeting to thrash out the policy, a No 10 official suggested calling it “Insulate Britain” – a proposal quickly nixed when someone else pointed out that it was already the name of the disruptive direct action group.

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A petition calls on the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions under the Toxic Substances Control Act

Greenhouse gas emissions should be subject to legal controls in the US and phased out under the Toxic Substances Control Act, according to a group of scientists and former public officials, in a novel approach to the climate crisis.

“Using the TSCA would be one small step for [the US president] Joe Biden, but potentially a giant leap for humankind – as a first step towards making the polluters pay,” said James Hansen, a former Nasa scientist, who is a member of the group alongside Donn Viviani, a retired 35-year veteran of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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They wanted to warn the world about the ravaging of the rainforest and abuse of human rights. We should honour them

Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have been killed in an undeclared global war against nature and the people who defend it. Their work mattered because our planet, the threats to it and the activities of those who threaten it matter. That work must be continued.

The frontlines of this war are the Earth’s remaining biodiverse regions – the forests, wetlands and oceans that are essential for the stability of our climate and planetary life-support system.

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Federal climate minister Chris Bowen says Australia now "open for business", calling on investors to seize a $130 billion green investment opportunity.

The post “Australia is under new management”: Bowen tells clean energy investors appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The National Electricity Market will be back up and running in a week, maybe two or three. But consumer trust and confidence? That will take a little more time.

The post The NEM is suspended, and so is consumer trust – how can we get it back? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Revenue from auctioning EU ETS allowances should be earmarked for climate action after countries within the bloc were found using some of the cash to support fossil fuels, and in particular new gas boilers through building retrofitting, according to a study published this week.

The Australian government has officially updated its 2030 nationally determined contribution (NDC) with the UNFCCC, increasing its 2030 emissions reduction target under the Paris Agreement to 43% below 2005 levels.

Researchers have now calculated how many people could be saved from heat-related death if the US takes meaningful action

The rapidly shrinking window of opportunity for the US to pass significant climate legislation will have mortal, as well as political, stakes. Millions of lives around the world will be saved, or lost, depending on whether America manages to propel itself towards a future without planet-heating emissions.

For the first time, researchers have calculated exactly how many people the US could save by acting on the climate crisis. A total of 7.4 million lives around the world will be saved over this century if the US manages to cut its emissions to net zero by 2050, according to the analysis.

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University researchers that conducted the first ever “onboard” study of methane and CO2 emissions generated from an LNG carrier have reported higher levels of methane emitted during the voyage compared with previous assessments, highlighting the importance of accuracy in collecting GHG data for fossil fuel shipments, especially those that are claimed to be carbon neutral.

Despite global renewables investment surging to a new high, the world has largely squandered a 'green recovery' to the Covid pandemic.

The post World squanders “green recovery” as renewables dwarfed by huge fossil fuel subsidies appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An Australian timber company plans to convert millions of fire-damaged trees into biochar, in what it claims will be one of the largest projects of its kind in the world, while earning around A$90 million ($62 mln) through the sales of carbon removal certificates (CRCs).

A wind turbine has collapsed at the Alinta wind farm in WA, buckling in half and falling into a canola field, and causing the 89MW project to be temporarily shut down.

The post Wind turbine collapses in “serious event” at WA wind farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The energy crisis is hitting the east coast hard. But Western Australia is sailing through – because of government intervention in the market. Tina Soliman Hunter, Professor of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Macquarie University Madeline Taylor, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

All the latest on Australia’s energy crisis, and an interview with offshore wind expert Alastair Dutton.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: The energy crisis … and offshore wind appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The problems with coal plants and their replacement is as much about lousy management as anything else. But Grok It! There is hope on the horizon.

The post Roadblocks to the energy transition: Denial, opposition and lousy management appeared first on RenewEconomy.