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American utility-scale energy storage developer Plus Power is to build a 185MW/565MWh battery storage facility in Hawaii that will have as its primary role to ensure that the AES coal plant – the last- remaining coal-fired generation in Hawaii – will end operations in September, 2022. The Kapolei Energy Storage project is the largest battery...

The post How a new mega battery will help Hawaii say goodbye to its last coal generator appeared first on RenewEconomy.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has distributed provincial-level renewable energy targets for 2020, pushing a slight increase in wind and solar this year as the nation prepares the launch of its mandatory market for renewable energy credits.

The Tianjin municipal government will auction off 2 million carbon permits under its pilot emissions trading scheme on June 10 to help firms meet 2019 compliance, with prices likely to come in well below current secondary market levels due to how the price floor is calculated.

Lockdown won’t save the world from warming, but the pandemic offers an opportunity to green the global economy

The air is clean and fresh, fish have reappeared in urban waterways, birds are frequenting uncut gardens, wild mammals are meandering through cities and greenhouse gas emissions will likely drop by an unprecedented 8% this year. Nature has clearly benefited from several months of dramatically reduced economic activity. From a climate crisis perspective, this drop in emissions is astonishingly close to the 7.6% yearly reduction in emissions that scientists have advised will be necessary during the next decade. And yet none of this is cause for celebration.

Most surprising are the carbon-intensive industries that confirm they are continuing to decarbonise despite the pandemic

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Australian project developer Country Carbon has agreed to having its business practices strictly monitored by the government for a two-year period to address ‘compliance issues’ with regulations under the nation’s carbon offset market.

The flowering bedstraw was thought to have died out on the sub-Antarctic island in the 1980s

A critically-endangered herb once thought extinct on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island has been found growing at a new location as the world-heritage site continues its rabbit-free recovery. 

The remote island was declared free of pests in 2014, following a seven-year feral animal eradication project.

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The photographs that make up William Arnold’s Suburban Herbarium appear more as clues than specimens. They are not the plants we would notice as we pass verges and hedges, but an idea of them, transmuted and transmitted through photographic methods which are magical and antiquarian

Suburban Herbarium is published by Uniformbooks with a foreword by Mark Cocker and an essay by Val Williams

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AEMO seeks powers to impose minimum standards for rooftop solar, battery storage and EVs in an effort to create a single, nationally consistent set of rules.

The post AEMO pushes for minimum standards for solar, battery storage and EVs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Conservationists warn the species, which was almost extinct 10 years ago, could be under threat if Japanese fishery is MSC certified

A decade ago, the highly prized “king of fish”, the bluefin tuna, was taken off menus in high-end restaurants and shunned by top chefs, amid warnings by environmentalists that it was being driven to extinction. Recent assessments of Atlantic bluefin tuna, which can grow to the size of a small car and live for up to 40 years, have shown much healthier populations.

But now conservationists and scientists are warning that the largest and most valuable tuna species could once again be under threat if a Japanese bluefin fishery in the Atlantic Ocean is awarded an internationally recognised “ecolabel” they claim is based on flawed science.

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Renewable energy accounts for 56 per cent of Germany's electricity supply in first five months of 2020.

The post Graph of the Day: Germany reaches 56% renewables for 2020 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A consortium of Japanese companies has transformed an abandoned golf course in Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest and south-western-most island, into a 100MW solar farm.

The post Solar hole-in-one: Abandoned Japanese golf course reborn as 100MW PV plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CSIRO battery optimisation spin-off Evergen completes successful $6m crowd investment round, to accelerate commercialisation of software platform.

The post CSIRO spin-off raises $6m to accelerate deployment of battery optimisation software appeared first on RenewEconomy.

JinkoSolar has been ranked as a Top Performer for the sixth consecutive year in the 2020 PV Module Reliability Scorecard

The post JinkoSolar recognized as top performer in PVEL/DNV GL 2020 PV module reliability scorecard for the sixth consecutive year appeared first on RenewEconomy.

10 reasons why renewable energy makes perfect sense for Australia.

The post Really Australia, it’s not that hard: 10 reasons why renewable energy is the future appeared first on RenewEconomy.

From choosing a compatible personality to sharing childcare equally, many Australian birds have mastered the art of successful relationships. Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Amazon looks to buy AV startup Zoox - backed by Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes - in move to cut delivery costs and put it in competition with Tesla.

The post Taking on Tesla? Amazon looks to buy Cannon-Brookes-backed AV start-up Zoox appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The 200MW Sunraysia solar farm in NSW faces further delays as contractor reveals rare insight into nature of disputes that has afflicted the large scale solar industry.

The post Lawyers’ picnic, and $47m at play, as Sunraysia solar farm faces further delays appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The discovery of a new breeding pair raises hope for the future of a critically endangered gibbon.

Well-known firms such as Asda and Lloyds Bank are urging ministers to prioritise the environment.

We have transformed the night-time environment in a very short time, relative to evolutionary timescales. Most wildlife hasn't had time to adjust. Emily Fobert, Research Associate, Flinders University Katherine Dafforn, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University Mariana Mayer-Pinto, Senior Research Associate in marine ecology, UNSW Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.