Around The Web
Flood waters inundate Townsville homes as army called in – in pictures
Hundreds of residents in Townsville have been evacuated and two men are missing as the area is hit with a year’s worth of rainfall in nine days
• Townsville flooding: two missing as questions mount over dam release
Continue reading...France relies on German coal to heat homes in cold winter
Germany posts record energy exports in January as France looks for more power to heat homes in absence of eight nuclear plants.
The post France relies on German coal to heat homes in cold winter appeared first on RenewEconomy.
$3m deal charges UNSW drive for an integrated renewables future
UNSW Sydney's $3m deal with Providence Asset Group will accelerate research into reliable energy networks and fund a new centre supporting global development of renewables markets.
The post $3m deal charges UNSW drive for an integrated renewables future appeared first on RenewEconomy.
ICE seeking listing for California offset, WCI and RGGI auction-indexed contracts
French, Indian firms awarded UN offsetting contracts in 2018
Changing shape of solar power: How tracking technology killed the solar bell curve
Carnegie Clean Energy illustrates the benefits of using single axis tracking in large-scale solar projects.
The post Changing shape of solar power: How tracking technology killed the solar bell curve appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Massachusetts distributed nearly 570k additional carbon units under GWSA market, with more to come
Connecticut aiming to finalise RGGI regulation by spring
EU Market: EUAs rally by nearly €2 intraday after hitting 2019 low
'Moth busters' take on unwanted residents of a 17th Century house
There's insufficient evidence your sunscreen harms coral reefs
Virginia publishes revised RGGI proposal, as controversy threatens governor’s tenure
Climate change: Warming threatens Himalayan glaciers
Tasmania is burning. The climate disaster future has arrived while those in power laugh at us | Richard Flanagan
Scott Morrison is trying to scare people about franking credits but seems blithely unaware people are already scared – about climate change
As I write this, fire is 500 metres from the largest King Billy pine forest in the world on Mt Bobs, an ancient forest that dates back to the last Ice Age and has trees over 1,000 years old. Fire has broached the boundaries of Mt Field national park with its glorious alpine vegetation, unlike anything on the planet. Fire laps at the edges of Federation Peak, Australia’s grandest mountain, and around the base of Mt Anne with its exquisite rainforest and alpine gardens. Fire laps at the border of the Walls of Jerusalem national park with its labyrinthine landscapes of tarns and iconic stands of ancient pencil pine and its beautiful alpine landscape, ecosystems described by their most eminent scholar, the ecologist Prof Jamie Kirkpatrick, as “like the vision of a Japanese garden made more complex, and developed in paradise, in amongst this gothic scenery”.
“You have plants that look like rocks – green rocks – and these plants have different colours in complicated mosaics: red-green, blue-green, yellow-green, all together. It’s an overwhelming sensual experience really.”
Continue reading...'Among the worst in OECD': Australia's addiction to cheap, dirty petrol
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries CEO says improving quality of high sulphur fuel could offer 5% improvement on CO2 emissions ‘overnight’
Australia’s cheap, dirty petrol ranks among the worst of the OECD nations, yet the peak industry body representing Australian petrol refiners has rejected the criticism, saying the industry should be given until 2027 to adjust to stricter regulations.
Paul Barrett, the chief executive of the Australian Institute of Petroleum, hit back at critics who have described Australian petrol as low quality thanks to its sulphur content.
Continue reading...Europe's most deprived areas 'hit hardest by air pollution'
Exposure to particulate matter and ozone highest in poor eastern European states, says study
Europe’s poorest, least educated and most jobless regions are bearing the brunt of the air pollution crisis, according to the first official stocktake of its kind.
Nearly half of London’s most deprived neighbourhoods exceeded EU nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limits in 2017 compared with 2% of its wealthiest areas.
Continue reading...Edward Goff obituary
My friend Edward Goff, who has died aged 73, was a real dairy farmer producing real food. He stood at the forefront of the organic farming revolution in the UK.
He set about converting his farm, Hindford Grange, in Shropshire, in 1983, long before most farmers had even heard of organic production. Relying largely on clover to provide the fertility for forage and growing cereals and fodder beet, he developed a self-sufficient farm providing virtually all the feed for his 70-strong dairy herd. I worked with him as an adviser over the years.
Continue reading...Larsen ice shelf: Mission to explore uncovered Antarctic ecosystem
Government's fracking policy will cause energy crisis, says UK's richest man
Ministers are playing politics with the country’s future, says Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe
The UK’s richest person has launched an attack on the government’s fracking rules, accusing ministers of policies that will cause an “energy crisis” and “irreparable damage” to the economy.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chairman of petrochemicals firm Ineos, pledged four years ago to start a UK fracking revolution but the company has been bogged down in planning battles and is yet to drill or frack a single well.
Continue reading...