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Study shows lit escape holes allow non-target species to get away, protecting populations

A simple technique to “illuminate the exits” in trawl fishing nets can almost halve the numbers of unwanted catch, new research has found, potentially protecting both the environment and fishermen’s livelihoods.

Attaching LED lights to larger holes in nets, intended to allow non-target species to escape, dramatically reduced the numbers killed unnecessarily, a team from Bangor University found.

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Granville Harbour Wind Farm has taken delivery of its final massive wind turbine tower section, marking the end of the project’s 18-week transport program.

The post Final oversize items transported to Granville Harbour Wind Farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The best way to shore up Australia’s future energy supplies is to invest economic stimulus money in renewables.

The post Want an economic tonic, Mr Morrison? Use that stimulus money to turbocharge renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Origin acquires $500m stake in UK-based Octopus Energy, and will deploy its 'Kraken' platform to streamline interactions with customers as they adopt solar, storage and EVs.

The post Release the Kraken! Origin strikes $500m deal to smarten customer systems in digital, distributed world appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tesla Model 3 now accounts for half of all Tesla vehicles on Australian shores, and takes the lead position from Renault Zoe in Europe's March EV sales.

The post Tesla Model 3 total production numbers for Australia revealed appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Colossal squid have eyes the size of soccer balls, and can weigh up to 700kg. That's a lot of calamari! Culum Brown, Professor, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Exodus of contractors from Australia's large scale solar market continues after international company quits, citing delays, faulty materials and regulatory issues.

The post Major contractor quits Australia solar market after huge losses on projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Dutch EV expert Auke Hoekstra explains why he believes electric trucks, rather than hydrogen-powered trucks, will corner the semi trailer market and replace diesel.

The post Why electric trucks, not hydrogen, will corner semi market and replace diesel appeared first on RenewEconomy.

ARENA told to tighten up evaluation processes as audit office hands down review of the agency's funding for clean tech research and development.

The post ARENA told to strengthen processes, as decisions on future loom appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices neared the WCI floor price this week as higher compliance buying offset fewer sellers in the market, while RGGI Allowance (RGA) values rose to a nine-week high on bullish sentiment about post-2020 revisions to the ETS.

Redflow says it's using Covid-19 down-time to focus on Gen 3 of ZBM flow battery, which is expected to deliver at least 30% in production cost reductions on current model.

The post Redflow says Gen 3 zinc bromine flow battery will be 30% cheaper to make appeared first on RenewEconomy.

South Australia may have to follow Victoria and NSW out of national regulatory regime if the absurd process proves a stumbling block to it proposed new link to NSW.

The post Paralysis by analysis: Absurd regulatory regime is burying energy transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Green groups fear coronavirus lockdown has weakened environmental protections

An “armada” of more than 100 fishing vessels are illegally plundering south Atlantic waters close to Argentina, environmental groups say, raising concerns that the coronavirus lockdown has weakened already fragile marine protections.

The incursion of the ships, mostly from east Asia, appears to have been carried out by stealth. The vessels waited until nightfall, shut down satellite tracking systems in coordination and then moved into the squid-rich waters of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone, Greenpeace said.

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Mediterranean sediments are shown to have up to 1.9 million tiny plastic pieces per square metre.

An Australian power system dominated by renewables by 2030-40 will deliver reliable and affordable electricity, as long as regulator and policy makers come to the party and create clear investment signals.

The post Deep dive: Why “step change” to high renewables grid will deliver low cost, reliable grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The federal government is spending $94 million to buy cheap oil. Instead, Australia should use the money to manufacture our own energy. Elizabeth Thurbon, Scientia Fellow and Associate Professor in International Relations / International Political Economy, UNSW Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle John Mathews, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie University Sung-Young Kim, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Modern History, Politics & International Relations, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The space agency announces the companies that will develop landers to return astronauts to the Moon.

WCI market participants traded California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) without any invalidation risk on ICE for only the second time ever on Thursday, representing the first transaction in over a year for the sparsely-used contract.

EUAs sank below €20 to a two-week low on Thursday, with traders attributing the fall to month-end profit-taking following and the end of the annual compliance cycle.