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What's a 'Science Princess' doing in Alaska?
NZ Market: NZUs get bump on fresh demand
North Sea cod at critically low levels, study warns
MSC may have to remove sustainable certification from cod as report calls for catches to be cut by two-thirds
North Sea cod could soon be coming off the menu for environmentally conscious diners as a decision is expected by the end of this month on whether fish populations are too low to support sustainable fishing.
Cod from the North Sea is designated as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which examines fish stocks and certifies those that can support more fishing without significant harm. But that designation is now in serious doubt, as the world’s leading body on the health of fish stocks has warned that the North Sea populations of cod have fallen to critical levels.
Continue reading...Some good conservation news: India's tiger numbers are going up
NSW's water plan is 'not working' but we can save the Barwon-Darling
India tiger census shows rapid population growth
Why I'm fleeing Honduras to seek asylum in the US
When a fellow protester against a dam that was polluting our water was killed, I left with my young son on a migrant caravan
I am seeking asylum in the US because of a hydroelectric dam. I fled Honduras fearing for my life after being teargassed and arrested by police when our community resisted a dam which contaminated the water we rely on for drinking, cooking and washing.
Related: Mexican man feared dead after falling into mass of polluted suds
Continue reading...Victoria drafts new guidelines to smooth way for solar farms
Victorian Labor flags changes to streamline development process for large-scale solar farms, while South Australia flags updated rules for both big wind and solar.
The post Victoria drafts new guidelines to smooth way for solar farms appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Taylor a no-show at clean energy summit as Labor piles on pressure
He might be a no-show at the Clean Energy Summit, but at least Australia's minister for emissions reduction is getting a grilling in Parliament.
The post Taylor a no-show at clean energy summit as Labor piles on pressure appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Wind and solar turn up ramping pressure in South Australia and Queensland
Daily price ramp in Australia's wholesale electricity market is quite strong in most states right now – but particularly in South Australia and Queensland.
The post Wind and solar turn up ramping pressure in South Australia and Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.
“Nuclear energy is never profitable”, new study slams nuclear power business case
Study by leading German economic think-tank finds every 1,000MW of nuclear power plant built since 1951 resulted in an average economic loss of $A7.7 billion.
The post “Nuclear energy is never profitable”, new study slams nuclear power business case appeared first on RenewEconomy.
This is why Bob Brown’s words fuelled a right wing trash fire
Bob Brown's words on the Tasmania wind farm created a national, politicised media firestorm of noise and fury. There was an alternative approach.
The post This is why Bob Brown’s words fuelled a right wing trash fire appeared first on RenewEconomy.
CSIRO report highlights gymnastics needed to justify LNG on emissions
CSIRO study done with gas industry finds Australian LNG production on 'low end' for fugitive emissions, but questions remain over contribution of Australian gas exports to global emissions.
The post CSIRO report highlights gymnastics needed to justify LNG on emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Queensland drops bidding directions, says wind and solar less than $50/MWh
Queensland drops bidding restrictions on state generators, as energy minister celebrates cheap wind and solar below $50/MWh and mocks LNP push for new coal and nuclear.
The post Queensland drops bidding directions, says wind and solar less than $50/MWh appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Solar Insiders Podcast: Should Victoria ditch its solar rebate?
Some in the solar industry are so frustrated they’d prefer the Victoria government to ditch the solar rebate rather than carry on as is. A few modifications would end the pain.
The post Solar Insiders Podcast: Should Victoria ditch its solar rebate? appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Chile oil spill: 40,000 litres of diesel spilled into sea off Patagonia
Chile’s navy confirmed it was working to mitigate damage caused by the spill at Guarello island
Forty thousand litres of diesel oil has been spilled into the sea in a remote and pristine area of Patagonia, Chile’s navy confirmed on Sunday.
The spillage occurred in the Chilean section of Patagonia – a region that encompasses the southern tip of South America and spans both Chile and Argentina.
Continue reading...Nasa’s Valkyrie robot could help build Mars base
The new electricity boom: renewable energy makes staggering leap but can it last?
Australia now has enough projects committed to meet the national 2020 renewable energy target
Thriving doesn’t quite cover it. New data released quietly late last week underscores the staggering pace of growth of renewable energy across Australia.
Nearly 3.5 gigawatts of large-scale clean energy projects were built in 2018. In capacity terms, this is more than twice the scale of Hazelwood, the giant Victorian brown coal plant that shut abruptly a couple of years ago, and it more than tripled the previous record for renewable energy installed in one year, set in 2017.
Continue reading...Putting ecocide on a par with genocide | Letters
Calls for a new Geneva convention to protect wildlife and nature reserves in conflict zones are welcome (Make environmental damage a war crime, say scientists, 25 July). But we should go further. Humanity is waging a veritable war on wildlife and nature every day. We are destroying habitats, changing the climate and persecuting animals that encroach on farmland that was once their home. The pursuit of wildlife for “trophies” to adorn our walls and with which to pose is the cruellest wildlife crime of all. Scientists have warned that “sport” hunting of lions is leading to a loss of genetic diversity that puts their survival at risk. The combined rate of deaths from poaching and trophy hunting is now greater than the birth rate of elephants. Permits are granted to hunters to shoot species that are extinct in the wild and of which just small numbers remain in private collections.
The late Polly Higgins, the acclaimed environmental lawyer, called for ecocide to be considered a crime on a par with genocide. If we are serious about protecting wildlife, world leaders should implement her recommendation. We must also take steps towards abolishing trophy hunting, a “sport” that is as senseless as it is damaging to wildlife. We can begin by banning the import of hunting trophies into Britain, and by calling on Cites at its conference next month to close the loophole that presently allows trophy hunters to shoot endangered species.
John Cooper QC, Rosalind Coward Author, Greenpeace UK board member 2003-11, Eduardo Gonçalves President, Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting
Experts call for ban on glass skyscrapers to save energy in climate crisis
Leading architects and engineers are calling for all-glass skyscrapers to be banned because they are too difficult and expensive to cool.
“If you’re building a greenhouse in a climate emergency, it’s a pretty odd thing to do to say the least,” said Simon Sturgis, an adviser to the government and the Greater London Authority, as well as chairman of the Royal Institute of British Architects sustainability group. “If you’re using standard glass facades you need a lot of energy to cool them down, and using a lot of energy equates to a lot of carbon emissions.”
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