Around The Web

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

Hold-ups reach southern ports as analysts warn that trade could dry up amid China restructuring and diplomatic tension

The number of Chinese ports restricting or delaying Australian coal imports has continued to rise, threatening to end the export bonanza that is bloating federal coffers and signalling possible painful long-term structural change to the economy.

In an ominous development for Australia’s trade balance and federal budget, traders and buyers in China reported on Thursday that the hold-ups for Australian shipments that began in February have spread from the northern port of Dalian to Fuzhou in the south-eastern Fujian province and Rizhao in Qingdao.

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Banana blossom, jackfruit, fungi, yellow pea protein, and even insects have all been used to create what is, essentially, fake meat.

A Canadian carbon capture firm has completed its latest funding round that will allow it to build its first commercial scale direct air capture (DAC) facility, potentially leading to deployment of the technology that could remove greenhouse gases at a lower cost.

BP and Phillips 66 offered competing opinions Thursday on a Washington state bill to implement a WCI-modelled cap-and-trade programme by 2021, months after both companies spent millions to defeat a voter-led $15 carbon tax proposal.

EU carbon prices dropped below €21 on Thursday as gas prices resumed their downward slide and the bloc’s leaders met in an attempt to stave off the prospects of a no-deal Brexit.

Background Briefing's Ann Jones reveals how one of Australia's largest conservation groups unknowingly published evidence that was misleading, and in some cases fake, over the course of a two-year fundraising campaign.

Invasive tropical fire ants spread by eating their fat useless sons. Pauline Lenancker, PhD student in biology and ecology, James Cook University Lori Lach, Associate Professor, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

RGGI allowance (RGA) prices jumped significantly this week after the March auction results surprised market participants and prompted aggressive buying, while California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices continue their surprising increase in early 2019.

The UK government has imposed fines totalling nearly £900,000 on more than 40 entities for EU ETS non-compliance in the latest round of climate-related penalties.

Czechia-based utility CEZ was lagging behind its historical hedging rates by the end of Feb, it said in financial results this week, potentially pointing to an uptick in its carbon buying for the coming months.

While the ultimate goal is to stop plastics from entering the water in the first place, cleanup projects play an important role

Somewhere in Hilo, on Hawaii’s Big Island, a team of scientists and engineers are tending to The Ocean Cleanup’s 600-metre-long rubbish-herding device, after its maiden voyage to the Great Pacific garbage patch was cut short in December 2018, because it fractured into two pieces.

The project has had its fair share of problems since it was unveiled in May 2017 and has been criticised by marine scientists and environmental groups for its potential negative environmental impact. However, some still herald The Ocean Cleanup for having a positive effect on plastic pollution.

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The philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock has died at the age of 94.

US Representative Paul Tonko (D) unveiled a set of nine principles for climate action on Thursday, aiming to shore up lawmaker and stakeholder support in pursuit of a comprehensive national plan.

Munich Re, world’s largest reinsurance firm, warns premium rises could become social issue

Insurers have warned that climate change could make affordable cover for ordinary people unaffordable after the world’s largest reinsurance firm blamed global warming for $24bn (£18bn) of losses in the Californian wildfires.

Ernst Rauch, Munich Re’s chief climatologist, told the Guardian that the costs could soon be widely felt, with premium rises already under discussion with clients holding asset concentrations in vulnerable parts of the state.

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China will publish new green bond standards later this month that will for the first time deem ‘clean coal’ ineligible, Reuters reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

The Bloodhound supersonic car is back and preparing to renew its pursuit of the land speed record.

Feral horses are a clear point of division between parties in this weekend's election. Labor has pledged to repeal the Coalition government's bill to preserve large numbers of brumbies. Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Within six months, I single-handedly organised, lobbied and arranged funds for a $100k, 100kW solar installation for my school in Sydney’s south. Here's how it was done.

The post How I got solar installed at my NSW school – and how you could, too appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Hyundai Australia confirms all-electric Kona available "in coming weeks", but numbers limited, as an early video review comes to light.

The post Hyundai Kona sales face limits and delays, as video reveals nearly all appeared first on RenewEconomy.