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AEMO defends and explains its decision to impose new controls over rooftop solar PV, including having the power to switch off household solar when needed.

The post Why AEMO wants the power to cut off your rooftop solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Clean energy investors slam rule-maker's "perverse" changes to network access, saying they will result in delays, cancelled projects and higher costs.

The post Clean energy investors slam AEMC’s proposed network access reforms appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Coalition Senator Dr Sam McMahon describes renewable energy in general – and proposed NT 10GW Sun Cable solar farm in particular – as a "hoax on the gullible."

The post Coalition Senator says world’s biggest solar farm a “hoax on the gullible” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Adelaide's Tonsley Hydrogen Park, locks in a deal to supply steel hub Whyalla with zero emissions hydrogen, with first production about to start.

The post Adelaide hydrogen plant secures deal to supply “steel city” Whyalla appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tesla's Full Self Driving software rolls out to small number of beta testers in US, and their reactions are now rolling in on Twitter and Youtube.

The post “You mad man”: Tesla beta testers react to Full Self Driving appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Origin Energy’s latest annual general meeting highlights the troubled past and uncertain future of Australia’s LNG industry.

The post Origin is not facing up to the past, or the future, on gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Administer and manage AgriProve's portfolio of soil carbon projects under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).

ASX-listed New Energy Solar set to offload its Australian portfolio, after strategic review finds better value to be found in US-based solar assets.

The post New Energy Solar to exit Australian solar market after strategic review appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Head of Certification will be responsible for oversight of all certification processes and the management of a remote, multicultural certification team.

EUAs are likely to resist bearish pressure from big auctions, COVID safeguards, and Brexit uncertainty for the rest of this year, according to analysts, who expect bargain-hunting buyers will step in to cover price dips.

Neoen lands debt financing with banking syndicate for what will be Australia's biggest solar farm.

The post Neoen completes finance for Australia’s biggest solar farm in Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The bushfire royal commission is due to hand down its findings this week. Our research shows the fires left young people deeply worried about their future, and they need support. Amy Lykins, Associate Professor, University of New England Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

For good environmental reasons we should eat less meat. But banning the term veggie burger would not help that

The European parliament has not always had the best press. A peripatetic assembly with a messy remit and a decidedly unenthused voter base has allowed critics to misrepresent, often lazily, its deliberations. Thus were myths such as the ban on bendy bananas born, and we all know where that led in 2016. But things are looking up in Brussels (or is it Strasbourg?) because the parliament has reached an eminently sensible decision in the great battle over whether plant-based products can be labelled as burgers, sausages, escalopes and steaks.

On the surface this is a rather arcane debate, so it was remarkable how much coverage last Friday’s vote got in the British media, especially as we are no longer even part of the EU. It is odd that we are now taking a close interest in the parliament while for decades, as a member, we ignored it or mocked its portentous rulings. The parliament was addressing an attempt by the EU’s farmers to have terms such as burger and sausage banned when the contents were made of plant-based alternatives to meat. MEPs decisively rejected the move, delighting the environmental lobby, which argues that a switch away from meat is essential to make the food industry more sustainable.

Green MEPs were dining out on veggie burgers on Friday evening, but this was not just a victory for environmentalism. It was really a triumph for logic. Yes, a sausage is usually made of meat, but it doesn’t have to be. The term is synonymous with shape rather than content. Glamorgan sausages, made of cheese, leeks and breadcrumbs, are a traditional Welsh delicacy, and no one challenges their appropriation of the term. Rice burgers are popular in Asia; vegan steaks are now part of the culinary landscape; and while the French would no doubt insist that an escalope should be made of veal, there is nothing inherently misleading about selling a vegan escalope made of Quorn as long as the ingredients are made clear. The terms usefully describe shape, texture and what the product is being substituted for. Farmers groups demanded that “veggie discs” and “veggie tubes” be used instead, but that would only sow confusion and needlessly reduce sales of plant-based products.

MEPs seem to be inconsistent in matters of labelling. “Veggie burger” and “vegan sausage” have been allowed, but they have come down hard on dairy substitutes. The European parliament had already banned “almond milk” and “vegan cheese”, and has now extended that to “cheese-like” and “yoghurt-style”. But there is no inconsistency. Cheese, milk and yoghurt are specific products, not generic names. It is right to ban these for plant-based substitutes, just as a hard line should be taken on such oxymorons as meat-free meatballs. Consumers need protection from over-enthusiastic marketing. The two sides should call a truce. Neither the farmers nor the environmentalists have a monopoly of wisdom. Many an allegedly meaty sausage is decidedly lacking in meat, and plenty of plant-based products are heavily processed. Whether they are committed carnivores or vigorous vegans, consumers need to be encouraged to read the ingredients on packs to understand what they are eating and how their food has arrived on their plate. This is about nutrition, not politics.

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State government proposal allows rural landholders to clear up to 25 metres from their fence line

Tens of thousands of hectares of bush could be at risk under a New South Wales government proposal to allow rural landholders to clear up to 25 metres of land from their property’s fence line, analysis by WWF-Australia shows.

The NSW government announced this month it planned to amend its Rural Fires Act to allow clearing without an approval on rural property boundaries to reduce bushfire risk.

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The Asian giant hornets can wipe out a colony of honeybees in hours.

The Tongass forest sequesters 3m tons of C02 annually, the equivalent of removing 650,000 gas-burning cars off the roads every year

Forests are the lungs of the Earth.

Around the world, every minute of every day, trees perform magic. They inhale vast amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and exhale oxygen, the stuff of life. They keep things in balance. And no single forest does this better – contains more living plant life per area, or stores more carbon – than the 17m-acre Tongass national forest in coastal Alaska.

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A 20-year project to reintroduce the species across the peninsula has seen their numbers rise to 855

Spotty of coat, tufty of ear, and teetering on the verge of extinction less than two decades ago, the Iberian lynx is continuing to claw its way back across Spain and Portugal.

According to the latest survey, the lynx population on the peninsula has increased ninefold over 18 years, rising from 94 in 2002 to 855 this year. Experts say that if the current conservation and reintroduction efforts can maintain their momentum, the species could be out of danger by 2040.

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Route chosen for £250m dual carriageway around Arundel avoids national park but slices through three villages

“It’s like they are torturing us. Each step, it just gets worse.” Gilly McCadden is in tears. She has just learned that the route chosen for the £250m dual carriageway around Arundel in West Sussex will bring four lanes of 70mph traffic within metres of her house and garden.

The new route of the A27, bypassing a bypass built in the 1960s, has been planned – and resisted – since the 1980s. Now Highways England has unexpectedly chosen the “grey route” – a longer, more expensive plan that slices through three villages but avoids the South Downs national park. For locals in the village of Binsted who fought previous iterations of the plan for destroying ancient woodlands, it means the proposed road will crash through their gardens and peaceful meadows.

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The tech giant claims that no one is forced to use its search engine. All power to regulators set on proving otherwise

Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is a mild-mannered software engineer who is not good at games of verbal fisticuffs with US politicians. He received a drubbing last month during the “big tech” congressional hearing.

Pichai can, however, summon lawyers and lobbyists galore as soon as the game gets more serious, which it definitely has. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) last week launched a huge and historic antitrust case against Google, accusing the tech company of abusing its position to maintain an illegal monopoly over internet searches and search advertising.

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Paramedics airlift man to hospital after being bitten on Britomart Reef, a popular spear-fishing location

A man is in a critical condition after being attacked by a shark at the Great Barrier Reef.

He was airlifted to Townsville University hospital after being bitten at Britomart Reef around 12.20pm on Sunday, Queensland Ambulance says.

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