Feed aggregator

All that the energy giants are interested in is profit. Public ownership – as in France – is the only answer

Our energy system is crucial to two of the biggest issues facing the British public: the cost of living crisis and the climate and environment emergency. Yet we are leaving this sector to be inefficiently and exploitatively run by private companies.

Electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels or by renewable technology such as wind turbines; then it is distributed along the national and regional grids, and finally sold to us by energy suppliers. In the UK, there is no public sector role in this: every part of the process is privatised.

David Hall is a visiting professor and former director of the Public Services International Research Unit at the University of Greenwich

Continue reading...

Fields in Trust charity finds about one in 24 people in Britain live 10 minutes walk from nearest park

Nearly 2.8 million people in the UK live more than 10 minutes walk from a public park, garden or playing field, according to research.

Fields in Trust, which protects and campaigns for public green spaces, found just four out of the 11 regions in Great Britain met its “six-acre standard” for green space provision.

Continue reading...

Emissions of controversial brown coal to hydrogen project may be much higher than claimed, while polling shows people confused by term 'clean hydrogen'.

The post Controversial brown coal to hydrogen plant may lead to higher emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest analysis adds to evidence that the impacts of human-caused global heating are already damaging many lives around the world

Record-breaking heatwaves in north-west India and Pakistan have been made 100 times more likely by the climate crisis, according to scientists. The analysis means scorching weather once expected every three centuries is now likely to happen every three years.

The region is currently suffering intense heat, with the Indian capital New Delhi setting a new record on Sunday above 49C and the peak temperature in Pakistan reaching 51C. Millions of people are suffering from crop losses, and water and power outages.

Continue reading...

EUA prices opened sharply lower on Wednesday after reports emerged late on Tuesday that the European Commission is considering selling millions of allowances from the MSR to raise funds for its energy transition initiative.

The European Commission set out its full REPowerEU plan on Wednesday, including more than a dozen proposals designed to accelerate the EU's withdrawal from using Russian fossil fuels and outlined an intention to raise €20 billion for the package from the Market Stability Reserve (MSR).

Australians head to the polls this weekend facing stark choices between the major parties and their climate policies, with a collection of independent candidates campaigning on climate and integrity issues acting as wild cards.

A global standard for green hydrogen, the world’s first, has been launched by the newly-formed Green Hydrogen Organisation (GH2) at an industry conference, reflecting stepped up efforts to promote the production and utilisation of the emerging low carbon fuel.

Gump was the last lizard of her kind when she died in 2014, and her demise should be ‘a scar on our conscience’

The last Christmas Island forest skink was named Gump. She lived in a spacious cage filled with rocks, soil, logs and a ready supply of fresh invertebrate food in the island’s national park. She wasn’t particularly active, but then again it’s impossible to know what goes on in the mind of a skink. Her namesake was Forrest Gump – they were both solitary individuals who, despite being mild and unassuming, experienced momentous events while remaining quite unaware of the exceptional courses their lives had taken.

The Christmas island forest skink (or whiptail skink) used to thrive on its island home, an Australian territory off the coast of Indonesia. In 1979, researchers documented that they were its most abundant skink. These lizards were, visually, fairly nondescript. Not too small, but by no means large, they averaged about 20cm (8in) in length, with a slim body covered in brown-yellow scales. They were practically the default image that comes to mind when you think “lizard”.

Continue reading...

Stockholm institute calls for ‘bold science-based decision-making’ to tackle climate, social and economic crises

The world is at “boiling point” and humanity needs to redefine its relationship with nature if it is to address a web of crises, from rising prices to extreme heat and floods, according to a report released ahead of a landmark UN conference.

The research from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Council on Energy Environment and Water says the solutions to the interlinked planetary and inequality crisis exist, but calls for “bold science-based decision-making” to “completely rethink our way of living,”.

Replacing GDP as the single metric to measure progress and instead focus on indicators that take “inclusive wealth” and the caring economy into account.

Establishing a regular UN forum on sustainable lifestyles.

A global campaign on nature-based education for children.

Transforming people’s everyday relationship with nature by integrating it in cities; protecting animal welfare and shifting to more plant-based diets. It also says policymakers should draw on indigenous local knowledge.

Continue reading...

World Meteorological Organization says extreme weather wreaked heavy toll on human lives

Critical global indicators of the climate crisis broke records in 2021, according to a UN report, from rising oceans to the levels of heat-trapping emissions in the atmosphere.

The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said these were clear signs of humanity’s impact on the planet, which was bringing long-lasting effects. Extreme weather, which the WMO called the day-to-day face of the climate emergency, wreaked a heavy toll on human lives and led to hundreds of billions of dollars in damages, the agency said.

Continue reading...

Cannon-Brookes reveals he has spent $600m cash on his AGL blocking stake, meaning he has "skin in the game", unlike the coal generator's board.

The post “Skin in the game:” Cannon-Brookes spends $600 million cash on AGL appeared first on RenewEconomy.

We can’t let communities face climate change alone. We must get better at adapting to the new climate, and do it before disasters not during. Johanna Nalau, Research Fellow, Climate Adaptation, Griffith University Hannah Melville-Rea, Research Fellow, Climate Resilience, Environmental Arts & Humanities, New York University Mark Howden, Director, ANU Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A bill being considered by Sarawak's local legislative body will, if passed, make it the first state in Malaysia able to grant licences for “forest carbon activity” in permanent forest and state land, according to local media reports.

Two solar farms contracted to help decarbonise the Australian power supply of global online retail giant Amazon have begun delivering energy to the grid.

The post Two more NSW solar farms start sending power to the grid – and Amazon appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Scientists hail breakthrough that could maximise catches while reducing damage caused by fishing

An unusual technique for catching scallops that was stumbled upon accidentally by scientists could potentially reduce some of the damage caused to our seabeds by fishing.

The marine scientist Dr Rob Enever and his team at Fishtek Marine, a fisheries consultancy based in Devon, designed small underwater “potlights” to help protect fish stocks by replacing the need to use fish to bait crab and lobster pots.

Continue reading...

Making his last major speech before the election, Anthony Albanese says stronger climate action could help repair Australia's diplomatic relationships.

The post Albanese pledges to get Australia out of climate ‘naughty corner’ appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Researchers reveal a major breakthrough in renewable energy technology by using Earth’s radiant infrared heat to generate solar electricity in the dark.

The post Australian researchers harvest “night-time solar” to provide power in the dark appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Energy, Carbon and Potash team within BHP Sales & Marketing is seeking a Principal Carbon Offset for its Carbon Desk to execute the carbon offset strategy in alignment with BHP’s Climate Change Strategy.

After bushfires, floods and numerous IPCC reports, the Morrison-Joyce government still has a 2030 emissions reduction target set by Tony Abbott.

The post A vote for a few “moderate Liberals” is a vote for more climate obstruction appeared first on RenewEconomy.