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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Energy minister Angus Taylor said "too much" wind and solar would push up prices. Experience, and new modelling, shows the opposite is true.

The post Recipe for cheaper electricity? Try 90 per cent renewables by 2040 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Great Britain has run for a new record of 18 days, six hours and 15 minutes without burning coal to generate electricity – and counting – as the coronavirus lockdown cuts demand by nearly 20%.

The post Analysis: Great Britain hits coal-free electricity record amid coronavirus lockdown appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The EU ETS is 'fit for purpose' to deliver the bloc's current climate objectives, even despite the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, but it will struggle to deliver the long-term ambitions under the European Green Deal in its current shape, according to a report released Tuesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday reiterated her support for a more ambitious EU emissions reduction target for 2030, and along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged fellow lawmakers to ensure that the bloc’s Green Deal is a central and guiding component of Europe’s post-coronavirus recovery plan.

California gasoline consumption declined year-on-year in January while diesel sales rose over the month, but the statewide ‘shelter-in-place’ order implemented in March to quell the spread of the coronavirus is expected to cause those figures to plummet.

Plants take carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, but it goes straight back when they die or are harvested. There is an important difference between carbon fluxes and actual carbon sequestration. Sebastian Leuzinger, Professor, Auckland University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

As we face mounting job losses, taxpayers have a right to anticipate that the government's investments will be strategically sound. Laura Schuijers, Research Fellow in Environmental Law, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Emissions in the EU ETS this year will plunge by twice as much as previously thought, analysts have estimated amid predictions of a major economic contraction for the bloc in 2020 due to the coronavirus.

New England ISO (NE-ISO) electricity generation slid during the first quarter amid the COVID-19 pandemic, likely reducing entities' compliance obligations in the US Northeast RGGI ETS, data suggests.

António Guterres calls for coronavirus aid to be directed at firms with green credentials

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Governments should not use taxpayer cash to rescue fossil fuel companies and carbon-intensive industries, but should devote economic rescue packages for the coronavirus crisis to businesses that cut greenhouse gas emissions and create green jobs, the UN secretary general has urged.

“Where taxpayers’ money is used to rescue businesses, it must be creating green jobs and sustainable and inclusive growth,” said António Guterres, speaking at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, a virtual meeting of more than 30 governments on the climate crisis, which concluded on Tuesday. “It must not be bailing out outdated, polluting, carbon-intensive industries.”

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Three dozen California lawmakers asked Governor Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday to hold firm on environmental and public health regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing industry attempts to utilise the virus outbreak to weaken those policies.

Brussels will delay its assessment of the bloc’s 27 National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) initially scheduled by June, as four countries have not yet submitted their own roadmaps, Croatia’s environment minister said on Tuesday.

Nicola Sturgeon says there may be "some benefit" in wearing a cloth face covering in enclosed areas.

Planet of the Humans, which takes aim at the green movement, is ‘full of misinformation’ says one distributor

A new Michael Moore-produced documentary that takes aim at the supposed hypocrisy of the green movement is “dangerous, misleading and destructive” and should be removed from public viewing, according to an assortment of climate scientists and environmental campaigners.

The film, Planet of the Humans, was released on the eve of Earth Day last week by its producer, Michael Moore, the baseball cap-wearing documentarian known for Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine. Describing itself as a “full-frontal assault on our sacred cows”, the film argues that electric cars and solar energy are unreliable and rely upon fossil fuels to function. It also attacks figures including Al Gore for bolstering corporations that push flawed technologies over real solutions to the climate crisis.

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EUAs dipped below €20 early on Tuesday amid a weakening technical outlook and sliding energy prices, but climbed back following a stronger auction.

China’s Guangdong province will delay the annual compliance deadline for companies in its emissions trading scheme by two months, the government said Tuesday, giving local emitters more time to finalise 2019 data verification.

More big falls in cost of wind, solar and storage mean they are cheapest form of new energy generation nearly everywhere in the world, and particularly in Australia.

The post Solar, wind and battery storage now cheapest energy options just about everywhere appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The EU should raise its 2030 emission target to a 65% cut under 1990 levels to align with the Paris Agreement, according to the lead lawmaker on the issue for the EU Parliament, setting an ambition marker far higher than Brussels is planning.

China PV manufacturer claims new industry benchmark with recently launched Vertex series of panels notching up peak power output of 515.8Wp during independent testing.

The post Trina Solar module tops 515W output in independent testing appeared first on RenewEconomy.