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Green plan to upgrade homes was 'botched', say MPs
Sport urged to drop high carbon sponsorship deals
Failure of governments to value water leading to widespread waste, UN says
Misuse and subsidising of supplies for the rich also causing shortages and high prices for the poor and vulnerable
The failure of governments around the world to place a clear value on water is leading to widespread water waste, shortages and high prices for poor and vulnerable people, the UN has warned.
In many countries, water is treated as a low-cost resource for uses such as irrigation, but this is leading some farmers to use too much, causing scarcity for other users. In other places, rich people receive heavily subsidised water to their homes, leading to further waste, while the poor struggle to gain access to water for essential uses.
Continue reading...Stanwell signs up to Vast Solar’s Mt Isa thermal solar project
The proposed $600m hybrid solar thermal project in Mount Isa has got early financial backing from the Queensland government's Stanwell Energy.
The post Stanwell signs up to Vast Solar’s Mt Isa thermal solar project appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Wind and solar offer key to Australia’s ‘buy or build’ growth challenge
Australia is giving away too much value through exports of commodities, but could capture that value through wind and solar resources and other new technologies.
The post Wind and solar offer key to Australia’s ‘buy or build’ growth challenge appeared first on RenewEconomy.
The post 2025 energy market must plan for a grid without coal
The Energy Security Board is devising ways to keep the grid operating along the rocky road of the renewables transition. But is it looking far enough ahead?
The post The post 2025 energy market must plan for a grid without coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Genuine about climate action, Mr Cormann? Here's how to turn over a new leaf
RSPCA checks on Arctic walrus spotted off south Wales coast
Animal ‘slightly underweight’ but seemed in generally good health and was probably looking for food
An Arctic walrus has been spotted off the Pembrokeshire coast, prompting a callout to the RSPCA to check on animal’s welfare.
The walrus was first spotted a week earlier on rocks in County Kerry, Ireland, before seemingly making its way over to south Wales.
Continue reading...'Sonic boom' in Dorset blamed on 'fireball meteor'
Climate fight 'is undermined by social media's toxic reports'
Scientists warn that Nobel summit and long-term decisions to save the planet are at risk from targeted attacks online
Fake news on social media about climate change and biodiversity loss is having a worrying impact in the battle to halt the growing environmental threats to the planet, a group of scientists and analysts have warned.
In a report published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, they say measures needed to create a healthier, more resilient planet – by reducing fossil fuel emissions, overfishing and other threats – will be hard to enforce if they continue to suffer targeted attacks in social media. The international cooperation that is needed to halt global heating and species loss could otherwise be jeopardised, they say.
Continue reading...Pioneering rewilding project faces ‘catastrophe’ from plan for new houses
Storks, butterflies and turtle doves could all suffer at the Knepp estate in West Sussex
It is a place where rare white storks raise their chicks alongside peregrine falcons and purple emperor butterflies, where the trees are filled with endangered turtle doves and nightingales, and where the population of breeding songbirds is the densest in Britain.
For conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts, the Knepp estate in West Sussex is more than just a wildlife sanctuary, it is a symbol of hope: a former arable and dairy farm that is now a world-famous rewilding project, home to some of the rarest birds and insects in the UK.
Continue reading...New species of shrimp found after ‘hitchhiking’ on ocean rock to south London museum
The tiny crustacean, never seen elsewhere, has been ‘breeding like mad’ at the Horniman by the South Circular road
For more than a decade, nobody at the museum had any idea that the unusally fast-moving, zig-zagging shrimp they were feeding to the fish in their aquarium was a brand-new species that had never been seen before anywhere else in the world.
Smaller than a child’s fingernail, the new type of marine mysid crustacean has been discovered in a humble tank at the Horniman museum in London, where it has spent at least the past 12 years hiding in plain sight and “breeding like mad”.
Continue reading...Millions sign up to anti-food-waste apps to share their unused produce
With the average UK family throwing out £730 of surplus items a year, eco-conscious consumers have found a hi-tech fix
There is such a thing as a free lunch, it turns out, as long as you don’t mind too much what it is. Tamara Wilson found hers a few streets away from her west London home – and as well as picking up some unwanted bread and fruit that would otherwise be thrown away, she made a new friend.
Wilson* is one of 3.4 million people around the world using an app designed to encourage people to give away rather than throw away surplus food. “It’s such a small thing, but it makes me feel good and my neighbour feel good. And a lot of small acts can end up making a big difference,” she said.
Continue reading...Iceland volcano: Lava-spewing Fagradalsfjall 'subsiding'
‘Creating something bigger’: how one couple used their family legacy to save a rare Tasmanian reserve
Bruce and Ann McGregor used a bequest of $1.6m from Bruce’s late father to buy Prosser River Reserve, protecting a diverse natural refuge
On a still morning on a hill at the back of Prosser River Reserve you can watch the mist settle on undisturbed native forest in the valley below while taking in a backdrop of mountains and the Tasman Sea.
You can listen as the gums overhead broadcast 20 varieties of birdsong – and, if you’re skilled or lucky, maybe catch sight of a rare bird in the canopy. Then you can walk down the ridge to Back River, where the giant old trees and threatened native flora lining the banks are like a throwback to pre-European times, with barely an invasive species in sight.
Continue reading...'Climate facts are back': EPA brings science back to website after Trump purge
Move reverses former president’s order to drop all references to the climate emergency on government websites
Canceled four years ago by a president who considered global warming a hoax, climate crisis information has returned to the website of the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of Joe Biden’s promise to “bring science back”.
Continue reading...Bill Nelson: Former astronaut and senator nominated as Nasa chief
There's a simple way to make our cities greener – without a wrecking ball | Phineas Harper
Architecture’s top prize has been awarded to a design duo who could show Britain how to bring its emissions under control
This week the highest honour in the architecture world was awarded to a pair of Parisian designers better known for revitalising existing buildings than creating new ones. The Pritzker prize, which includes a $100,000 jackpot, went to Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, whose most impressive projects – the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, upgrading three social housing blocks in Bordeaux, and the extension of a Dunkirk warehouse to form an arts complex – are all refurbishments.
It’s the first time in the award’s 46-year history that retrofitting, the practice of upgrading buildings rather than knocking them down to start again, has triumphed. Lacaton & Vassal’s victory has shaken up the architectural profession and signals a remarkable shift in priorities among the world’s best city-makers. If embraced more widely, this could transform how buildings everywhere are regenerated.
Continue reading...National Trust calls for spring nature observations to create poem
Project will explore whether perceptions of the turning season have changed since first lockdown
After a long, hard winter, the sights, sounds and scents of spring in the UK will come as a welcome relief for many people. Over this weekend, amateur nature writers across the country are being encouraged to document their feelings and record sightings of flora and fauna of the new season.
The observations will be collected by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the National Trust, then woven into a new poem by the nature writer Elizabeth-Jane Burnett.
Continue reading...Salt-based storage solution with Australian connection wins EU energy challenge
A Swedish salt-based energy storage system that's trialing the electric kiln tech of Australian company Calix named as a winner in Helsinki Energy Challenge.
The post Salt-based storage solution with Australian connection wins EU energy challenge appeared first on RenewEconomy.
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