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Trinasolar has successfully begun commercial operations at a new agri-voltaic solar project in Japan that combines solar modules with a yam crop that thrives in the shade.

The post Solar giant inaugurates landmark agrivoltaic project combining modules with a yam crop in Japan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia plans to decarbonise its aviation industry in coming years, both domestically and internationally, but government support will be needed to drive the uptake of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to a government white paper released on Tuesday.

A voluntary carbon data firm has partnered with an environmental monitoring systems provider to develop a new digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (dMRV) for the emissions monitoring industry, they said in a press release.

Rooftop solar sends operational demand on Australia's main grid to a new winter low, as coal, wind and solar all forced to dramatically curtail output.

The post Rooftop PV sends grid demand to new winter low, as big wind and solar hit by record curtailment appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The European steel industry has exhausted almost all options to reduce emissions thanks to efficiency gains and is now looking at “breakthrough technologies” – essentially electrification – to achieve climate neutrality, the sector’s lobby group told Carbon Pulse in an interview.

Open letter to Labour energy secretary from 41 groups says wood-burning biomass plants are putting forests and biodiversity at risk

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More than 40 green groups have called on Ed Miliband to scrap plans to pay billions in subsidies to the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire for it to keep burning wood pellets imported from overseas forests.

In an open letter to the energy secretary, 41 groups from across Europe and the US say they are “deeply concerned” about the UK government’s plans to foot the cost of extending the subsidy scheme, which supports the UK’s most polluting power plant from 2027 until the end of the decade.

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Investors' demand for natural assets in Africa is increasing, with the private sector set to play an important role in bridging the gap in long-term land conservation in the region, the CEO of a conservation investment group has told Carbon Pulse.

European carbon prices were firmer on Tuesday morning as the UK returned after a public holiday, while EUAs benefitted from a sharp climb in natural gas after a number of interruptions to North Sea production were announced.

An unprecedented increase in global sea levels poses a major threat to countries with large coastal populations and will significantly impact the livelihoods of those living in the Pacific islands, according to a UN technical brief released this week.

China, India, and the US face vastly different challenges on the path to decarbonising the hard-to-abate steel sector, according to a new report.

Groups challenging emissions limits in key sectors including agriculture, waste and transport

The EU is being sued for failing to set ambitious climate targets in sectors that contribute more than half of the bloc’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) argue that climate targets laid out for agriculture, waste, transport and small industry in the 27 EU member states until the end of the decade are not based on the best science and are therefore “grossly inadequate”.

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Location of recently found sample of Britain’s rarest plant kept secret to protect it from enthusiasts and poachers

Britain’s rarest plant, a “holy grail” orchid, has been rediscovered for the first time since 2009, and scientists are now working to protect it from slugs, deer – and poachers.

The ghost orchid was discovered earlier this month by Richard Bate, a dental surgeon, orchid lover and member of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI).

Herefordshire and Shropshire: Found flowering in only five years between 1854 and 1910, followed by a 72-year gap until 1982, and then a 27-year gap until the last sighting in 2009.

Oxfordshire: Discovered by a schoolgirl in 1924, the ghost orchid was found flowering in about a dozen years between 1924 and 1979.

Buckinghamshire: First found in 1953, the ghost orchid was recorded in bloom in 25 of the years between 1953 and 1987.

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The UK might not achieve the 30x30 target of protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 if urgent actions are not implemented by the government, a think tank has said.

It’s paper straws and compostable cups for the masses, space travel and $600m weddings for their overlords. No wonder everyone who can afford it wants a doomsday bunker

Jesus, if I remember correctly, usually travelled by donkey or by foot. Today’s corporate saviours, however, have more elevated tastes. Last week Starbucks made headlines after it was revealed its new CEO, Brian Niccol – who has been described as the “messiah” the ailing coffee company had been searching for – will be commuting to the office via private jet. Niccol, you see, is generously going to abide by the company’s policy of being in the office three days a week. But since he lives in California and the Starbucks HQ is more than 1,000 miles away in Seattle, a corporate jet is really the only way to go.

Did anyone at Starbucks sit down with a cup of coffee and ponder the optics of this before sealing the deal? Because the optics are terrible. Back in 2018 the company made a lot of noise about how it was getting rid of plastic straws and working towards a recyclable and compostable “cup solution”. What’s the point of that posturing if you’re then going to stick your CEO on an emission-spewing private jet a couple of times a week? As environmental groups and plenty of angry people on the internet have pointed out, this supercommute makes a mockery of Starbucks’ supposed “green agenda”.

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South Korea is seeking to provide preferential loans to companies that make preemptive investments in projects with great emissions reduction potential. 

A framework for coordinating research on nature positive action by businesses with four core components, in line with international targets, has been proposed by a group of UK academics.

A group of Japanese shipping majors have teamed up to conduct a joint study for liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carriers, in preparation for large-scale international transport of LCO2 by 2028.

A New Zealand public-private partnership has invested NZ$4 million ($2.4 mln) in a company looking to ramp up commercialisation work of a methane-inhibiting vaccine specifically suited to the country’s pastoral farming system.

BHP, the world’s biggest miner, has said it will not use carbon credits to meet its 2030 Scope 1 emissions reduction target, planning instead to achieve it through structural abatement, though its plans may change.

Australia's only domestic solar module maker has signed a deal to source its aluminium frames from a local manufacturer, with an eye to a giga-scale future.

The post Tindo taps local aluminium maker to frame its Australian made solar panels appeared first on RenewEconomy.