Around The Web

Value of European agriculture could fall 16% in 30 years due to drought and higher rainfall

Any advantages to European agriculture from a warming world will be outweighed by the losses from extreme events and environmental stress, leading to a probable large economic loss for farming in the next 30 years, research on the impacts of the climate crisis has found.

While some have pointed to longer growing seasons and a wider range of crops becoming viable in northern Europe as benefits from temperature rises, the effects on rainfall and extreme conditions mean farming is already suffering.

Continue reading...

New data shows that the cost of solar PV continues to fall dramatically, while Victoria’s solar rebate program hits another hurdle just days after government broadened the program.

The post Solar Insiders Podcast: Solar’s stunning cost fall, and Victoria’s rebate hurdles appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Hurricane Dorian has devastated the Bahamas, with the death toll expected to rapidly rise as rescue work gets under way. Dale Dominey-Howes, Professor of Hazards and Disaster Risk Sciences, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Distributed Energy Resources Lab at ANU to model devices including home batteries, rooftop solar, inverters, and controllable loads for industry and researchers.

The post Canberra to host distributed energy test lab, to fast-track a smarter grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The latest report card on Australia’s greenhouse gas production is the same old news: emissions are up again. We’ve heard it before, but the news should never stop being confronting. It’s 2019. The first assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which outlined the serious consequences of unmitigated climate change, was released the...

The post Nice try Mr Taylor, but Australia’s gas exports don’t help solve climate change appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The first major roll out of acoustic listening devices to monitor the health of wind turbines will go live in Australia today.

The post Ping flicks switch on wind turbine listening devices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Queensland government to tip $132m into new transmission line linking pumped hydro facility with main grid in move that will open up more wind and solar capacity.

The post Genex to add more solar and wind to pumped hydro after Queensland funds new link appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Endangered carnivorous plants are being reintroduced in an attempt to reverse their decline.

Solar Victoria's online application portal to re-open Thursday September 5 at 9am, with around 6,000 home solar rebates still up for grabs.

The post Victoria rooftop solar scheme to re-open Thursday – 6,000 rebates still on offer appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

UK emitters will only be subject to a £16/tonne (€17.62/t) carbon tax from Nov. 4 if Britain leaves the EU without a deal at the end of October, the government said on Tuesday, countering expectations that the levy would be applied retrospectively for the whole of 2019.

Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton discusses Australia's Renewable Energy Target.

Alterations to California’s Tropical Forest Standard (TFS) this summer did little to change supporters’ and opponents’ views of the possible precursor to jurisdictional REDD offsetting in domestic and international carbon markets, according to public comments released late last week.

The massive ice sheet covering Greenland may have melted by a record amount this year, scientists say.

The Clean Energy Regulator has declared Australia’s 2020 renewable energy target to be officially met, after the Cattle Hill wind project in Tasmania took the total amount of committed wind, solar and other renewable projects to more than 6,400MW. That’s the capacity that the CER estimates is required to meet the 2020 target of 33,000GWh...

The post Tasmania wind farm delivers Australia renewables target, with more in pipeline appeared first on RenewEconomy.

All plants take up carbon dioxide when they grow, but when they are harvested or cut down, they release the greenhouse gas back into the atmosphere. Sebastian Leuzinger, Associate Professor, Auckland University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Australia is one of the sunniest and windiest countries on the planet, but emissions are still rising. How do you justify that? Tim Baxter, Fellow - Melbourne Law School; Senior Researcher - Climate Council; Associate - Australian-German Climate and Energy College, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

‘The fight goes on,’ say activists after ignoring injunction at Cuadrilla site in Lancashire

Three anti-fracking activists have been given suspended prison sentences after breaking a ban on demonstrations which their lawyers argued “severely curtails the right to protest”.

The trio were convicted after ignoring an injunction brought by the energy company Cuadrilla to protect its Preston New Road site near Blackpool, Lancashire.

Continue reading...

Prince Harry has faced flak for his carbon footprint but others face similar dilemma

Their style could hardly be more different, though their aims are the same: as Greta Thunberg sailed into New York last week on a low-carbon high-tech yacht to highlight the climate crisis, Prince Harry faced flak for taking private jets for short-hop breaks while campaigning against global heating. But the contrast between the two reflects broader dilemmas in the environmental movement.

On Tuesday, the Duke of Sussex invited further ridicule as he flew into Amsterdam – a direct Eurostar train from London takes three hours and 41 minutes – to unveil a new initiative for the tourism industry, Travalyst, aiming to reduce the impact of holidaymakers – while encouraging travel.

Continue reading...

Market participants largely see a bearish outcome for the upcoming RGGI Q3 auction due to weak quarterly emissions data, complementary state-led GHG-cutting efforts, and limited near-term mechanisms to tighten the Northeast US carbon market's supply-demand balance.