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ANALYSIS: Traders expect scant buying interest at WCI Q2 auction amid COVID-19 pandemic
California seeks judgement on WCI ETS linkage, rebukes federal government’s final challenge
Next EU budget must consistently raise share of climate spend, says senior lawmaker
Climate change: Scientists fear car surge will see CO2 rebound
Lockdowns trigger dramatic fall in global carbon emissions
Responses to coronavirus crisis cause sharpest drop in carbon output since records began
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Carbon dioxide emissions have fallen dramatically since lockdowns were imposed around the world due to the coronavirus crisis, research has shown.
Daily emissions of the greenhouse gas plunged 17% by early April compared with 2019 levels, according to the first definitive study of global carbon output this year.
Continue reading...Covid-19 stalls RSPB rescue of albatross chicks from giant mice
Gough Island in South Atlantic is home to mutant mice that feast on young seabirds
Among the places not to be stranded when the world goes into lockdown is surely one of the planet’s most remote islands, renowned for its freakishly giant house mice that have evolved into merciless killers.
The Foreign Office has revealed details of one of the trickiest rescues it has had to mount because of the coronavirus pandemic, one involving a 12-day sail across the Atlantic and a 4,000 mile flight in an RAF A400 transport aircraft.
Continue reading...EU Midday Market Briefing
EU plan for 3bn trees in 10 years to tackle biodiversity crisis
Concern that new strategy, which also includes protecting primeval forests, ‘lacks tools’
The European commission will launch a sweeping effort to tackle the global biodiversity crisis on Wednesday, including a call for 3 billion trees to be planted in the EU by 2030 and a plan to better protect the continent’s last primeval forests.
The draft policy document, published online by an environmental NGO, admits that to date in the EU, “protection has been incomplete, restoration has been small-scale, and the implementation and enforcement of legislation has been insufficient”.
Continue reading...Megaraptor: Fossils of 10m-long dinosaur found in Argentina
ANALYSIS: Australia’s carbon market reforms please big industry, but for experts concerns linger
'Yeah, I’m in trouble': man who rescued whale calf caught in Queensland nets faces $27,000 fine
Rescuer hailed a hero on social media but risks penalty for interfering with shark controls
A man who rescued a whale calf trapped in nets off the Gold Coast from a small boat may face a fine of almost $27,000.
The man rescued the stricken animal on Tuesday morning as officials took more than two hours to respond.
Continue reading...Climate explained: why we need to focus on increased consumption as much as population growth
New Zealand won’t clarify fixed price option level ahead of ETS compliance
Taylor seeks to push ARENA and CEFC towards gas and CCS
ARENA may win funding reprieve from Morrison government, but it comes with a catch, with Taylor seeking to push renewables agency towards carbon capture and storage.
The post Taylor seeks to push ARENA and CEFC towards gas and CCS appeared first on RenewEconomy.
‘I'm not a quitter’: lobstermen turn to kelp farming in the face of global crises
Climate breakdown is causing the Gulf of Maine to heat up and that effect – in addition to the pandemic – is being felt across the lobster industry
Rocky shorelines and weathered saltbox homes dot the landscape of South Thomaston on the coast of Maine. Lobster traps take up frontyard real estate and lobster shacks, still shuttered for the season, are common sightings. Back from a day of scalloping, lobsterman Bob Baines has docked his boat, the FV Thrasher, at the Spruce Head Fishermans Co-op. His sternman, David McLellan, clad in waterproof overalls like Baines, shucks the last few hauls, tossing the meats into a bucket and the shells overboard.
It’s the last week of scallop season, but there is a new venture on the horizon. Baines, 64, steers the Thrasher back out toward Hewett Island on Penobscot Bay to check on the underwater kelp farm that he “planted” in December. It’s a willowy structure made up of moorings, buoys and ropes that hovers 7ft underwater and spans 1,000 feet wide, like a monster cat’s cradle.
Continue reading...Copperstring 2.0 renewables project fast-tracked in Queensland post-Covid plan
One of Australia's critical renewables mega-projects, the Coppertring transmission line in north Queensland, could begin construction next year after winning $14.8m state funding.
The post Copperstring 2.0 renewables project fast-tracked in Queensland post-Covid plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.
The remarkable growth of wind and solar projects paired with big batteries
The number and scale of battery storage installations paired with large scale wind and solar projects in the world's biggest electricity market continues to grow.
The post The remarkable growth of wind and solar projects paired with big batteries appeared first on RenewEconomy.
One year after election win, Scott Morrison is still Coal-Mo to the core
Morrison chooses not to stand with scientists and independent experts when it comes to climate and energy, as he has done with Covid-19, but with lobbyists and vested interests.
The post One year after election win, Scott Morrison is still Coal-Mo to the core appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Morrison’s reward to Australia’s big polluters: Just don’t call it an ETS
Morrison government to establish a new mechanism to reward big emitters. It looks and smells like an emissions trading scheme, even if they won't say it.
The post Morrison’s reward to Australia’s big polluters: Just don’t call it an ETS appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Northvolt and Vattenfall launch mobile battery system to replace diesel generators
Vattenfall launch their Voltpack Mobile System, a versatile, mobile, and modular lithium-ion battery system designed to provide a zero-emission alternative to diesel generators.
The post Northvolt and Vattenfall launch mobile battery system to replace diesel generators appeared first on RenewEconomy.