Around The Web

After the vicious cold snap, here are our tips to warm up while keeping your environmental footprint down

The Conversation - Wed, 2020-08-05 05:54
Try a few star jumps every hour, it'll make a massive difference to your warmth. Peter Osman, Scientist, Energy Efficiency & Renewables, CSIRO Peta Ashworth, Professor and Chair in Sustrainable Energy Futures, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Climate explained: could electric car batteries feed power back into the grid?

The Conversation - Wed, 2020-08-05 05:54
In the near future, we may see electric cars supplying power to smart grids or communities with their own independent microgrids. Alan Brent, Professor and Chair in Sustainable Energy Systems, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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EU Market: EUAs jump nearly 3% towards €27 in thinner trade

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2020-08-05 04:46
EUAs lifted in light trade on Tuesday following another weak half-volume auction, with prices dragged higher in the afternoon by an energy complex that rose amid a massive explosion in Beirut.
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BP's dividend cut puts firm on road to deliver green energy pledge

The Guardian - Wed, 2020-08-05 04:09

Lockdown has hammered oil prices but it also offers a chance to refocus on clean energy

BP has set itself the target of shrinking its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050. To do that will require big investment in a whole range of green energy alternatives. It will be happening at a time when the economic disruption caused by Covid-19 has sent the oil price tumbling and threatens to leave the company with more stranded assets on its hands.

Something has to give in those circumstances, and that something is BP’s dividend, which was cut for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill a decade ago. In truth, the decision was a no-brainer, with perhaps the only surprise being that the payout to shareholders was reduced by half rather than by the two-thirds announced by Shell in April.

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The Guardian view on wildlife in lockdown: feeling the pressure | Editorial

The Guardian - Wed, 2020-08-05 03:56

If countries that use tourism to fund conservation are not supported, species and habitats will disappear

At London zoo, the giraffes, which are easily visible from the street, had regular visitors even during lockdown, and an illuminated NHS sign on their famous building. Like most other attractions that rely on tourists for income, zoos forced to shut owing to the coronavirus face a financially fraught future. But the risks to captive animals and their keepers are nothing to those faced by wild creatures and the people who guard them. Already under huge pressure from multiple sources, international conservation efforts have been thrown into fresh chaos.

The picture that is emerging of the global impact of Covid-19 on wildlife is complicated. Fishing hours were found by researchers to have fallen by 10% in March and April, for example, while South Africa reported a 53% drop in the number of rhinos killed by poachers, compared with the first six months of last year (from 316 in 2019, to 166). The sudden dramatic fall in air pollution and traffic (road, sea and air) brought rapid if short-lived benefits for many of the planet’s non-human inhabitants. In the UK, as in other countries, people who could afford to took the opportunity of the lockdown to spend more time in the countryside or their gardens. So far, it is a bumper year for British butterflies.

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Flooding could occur daily in Sydney by the end of this century because of climate change

The Guardian - Wed, 2020-08-05 03:30

Human-caused sea level rise likely caused eight out of 10 floods in the region between 1970 and 2015, a study finds

Flooding in localised areas around Sydney will happen almost every week by the middle of this century because of human-caused sea level rise, according to a study by scientists at the Bureau of Meteorology.

The frequency of flooding around parks, gardens and footpaths had already gone up from less than two days per year in 1914 to a present day rate of about eight days per year, the study found.

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Shipping emissions keep rising despite efficiency gains -UN study

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2020-08-05 02:27
Global shipping emissions increased 9.2% over the six years to 2018 as vessel efficiency improvements failed to keep pace with rising demand, according to a UN-commissioned study released Tuesday.
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COVID-19 impacts keep Massachusetts generators below GWSA limits

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2020-08-05 01:50
Massachusetts power generators remained significant below their annual Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) CO2 limits through the second quarter as power consumption continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to RGGI CO2 Allowance Tracking System (COATS) data.
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Spain unveils green hydrogen plan, targets 4 GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2020-08-05 01:21
Spain's climate ministry has launched a public consultation over its renewable hydrogen strategy, with plans to deploy at least 10% of EU-wide electrolyser capacity by the end of the decade.
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Letter from economists: to rebuild our world, we must end the carbon economy

The Guardian - Tue, 2020-08-04 23:09

The carbon economy amplifies racial, social and economic inequities, creating a system that is fundamentally incompatible with a stable future

From deep-rooted racism to the Covid-19 pandemic, from extreme inequality to ecological collapse, our world is facing dire and deeply interconnected emergencies. But as much as the present moment painfully underscores the weaknesses of our economic system, it also gives us the rare opportunity to reimagine it. As we seek to rebuild our world, we can and must end the carbon economy.

Related: Environmental racism is killing Americans of color. Climate change will make it worse | Mustafa Santiago Ali

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BP eschews use of offsets before 2030 to meet its climate goal

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2020-08-04 22:43
Oil major BP does not plan on using offsets towards its voluntary climate goal through 2030, though expects carbon credits to play a deeper role in its customer offering and for its own use in the longer term, the company said in its financial results on Tuesday.
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EU Commission open to raising 2030 renewables target

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2020-08-04 22:19
Brussels seeks to review upwards its 32% renewable energy target by 2030 in light of higher climate ambition, though estimates suggest that the EU may only achieve its current target by a short margin.
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Lockdown puts wildlife conservation on Devon's Lundy Island at risk

The Guardian - Tue, 2020-08-04 21:06

Former pirate’s haunt is a refuge for rare species, but coronavirus has kept away day trippers it relies on for funds

For centuries, the tiny island of Lundy and its wonderful flora and fauna have – just about – survived the ravages of pirates, profiteers, rodents and rampaging rhododendron.

But the futures of rare birds and plants, plus the livelihoods of the hardy humans who live on this windswept hunk of granite off the Devon coast, are being put at risk by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Australian developers sell 1.2 mln carbon credits to ERF

Carbon Pulse - Tue, 2020-08-04 20:19
Australian carbon project developers delivered over 1.2 million offsets to the government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) in the second half of July, to take the total GHG cuts generated under the fund so far past 57 MtCO2e.
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Chirp to arms: musicians record album to help conserve endangered birds

The Guardian - Tue, 2020-08-04 19:45

Ten-track record samples recordings of endangered, vulnerable or near threatened birds by artists from same country

The song of the black catbird – with its flute-like chirps and screeching single-note squalls – was once heard across Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico until large-scale farms began to destroy its habitat.

Now, thanks to a collective of musicians, producers and DJs, the tiny bird’s song – and that of nine other endangered species from the region – could be heard on dancefloors around the world, with proceeds going to conserving the endangered birds.

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England's biggest landowners not growing enough trees – report

The Guardian - Tue, 2020-08-04 16:00

Church of England and Duchy of Cornwall come last in ranking of major landowners by forest cover

Many of England’s biggest landowners are not doing enough to plant trees to tackle the climate crisis, according to new data.

Government departments, companies such as United Utilities and Network Rail, the royal family and organisations such as the Church of England and the National Trust are among the biggest owners of land in the country, but most have forest cover on their land that is only slightly above the national average, despite having pledged to reduce their carbon footprint.

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CEFC backs ‘climate transition’ linked green bonds with $60m investment

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2020-08-04 15:37

cefc investors green bonds solar city buildingsAustralian investors tip $140m into new green bonds targeting ASX 300 companies committed to embracing the climate transition.

The post CEFC backs ‘climate transition’ linked green bonds with $60m investment appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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Partnership call opens: seeking partner to establish National Food Waste Governance Entity

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2020-08-04 15:18
We are inviting suitably experienced and skilled entities to submit a partnering proposal to establish a National Food Waste Governance Entity.
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Partnership call opens: seeking partner to establish National Food Waste Governance Entity

Department of the Environment - Tue, 2020-08-04 15:18
We are inviting suitably experienced and skilled entities to submit a partnering proposal to establish a National Food Waste Governance Entity.
Categories: Around The Web

Scientists break “bottleneck” in hydrogen electrolysis technology

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2020-08-04 15:13

Scientists have made an important discovery that they say “breaks a bottleneck” in the process of extracting hydrogen from water through electrolysis.

The post Scientists break “bottleneck” in hydrogen electrolysis technology appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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