Around The Web

Experts say some members of ‘enormously important’ myrtle family could be extinct within five years, with others to follow

Australia must roll out an emergency national response to an invasive plant disease that is rapidly pushing at least four plant species to imminent extinction, experts have told Guardian Australia.

A draft emergency action plan for the fungal disease myrtle rust proposes that a rapid collection of seeds and plant material needs to be mobilised before several species disappear altogether.

Continue reading...

My colleague John Lanchbery, who has died suddenly of sepsis aged 71, was a physicist and climate change expert.

A veteran of international climate change negotiations, John attended the Rio Earth summit in 1992, and every UN summit on climate change since, representing the RSPB and BirdLife International since 1998.

Continue reading...

The Amazon boss puts up his New Shepard space vehicle from Texas for a series of Nasa experiments.

Activists want 5% of transport spending to go on active travel, as happens in Scotland

It is possible a million or more people have cycled past the Houses of Parliament in the past 12 months, but you could be forgiven for thinking this has gone unnoticed by those on the other side of the black railings.

On Wednesday, as the cycle superhighway through Parliament Square whisked commuters to work, inside, the transport select committee heard the government would miss its cycling target. It is predicted to achieve just a third of the 800m hoped-for extra cycling trips by 2025, with much of that predicted growth restricted to London.

Continue reading...

SEI US is recruiting a highly motivated software developer with a strong background in environmental and/or social data processing and analysis to join our Transparency for Sustainable Economies – Trase – initiative in our office in Davis, California.

Scientists have long known that there is too much water being taken out of the Murray-Darling system.

Wednesday’s South Korean CO2 auction sold out with the clearing price 2% above the secondary market, reflecting a supply dearth.

Five mayors warn their towns could run out of water within weeks and call for their needs to be prioritised over irrigators

The mayors of several western New South Wales councils have warned their townships face major water crises within weeks and have urged the state government to impose a one-month embargo on irrigators pumping from the upper part of the Darling River system.

Continue reading...

Subsidies for coal, oil and gas are not falling despite EU pledges to tackle climate change

The UK leads the European Union in giving subsidies to fossil fuels, according to a report from the European commission. It found €12bn (£10.5bn) a year in support for fossil fuels in the UK, significantly more than the €8.3bn spent on renewable energy.

The commission report warned that the total subsidies for coal, oil and gas across the EU remained at the same level as 2008. This is despite both the EU and G20 having long pledged to phase out the subsidies, which hamper the rapid transition to clean energy needed to fight climate change.

Continue reading...

Statkraft to supply 3,000GWh of renewable electricity for large industrial consumers in steel, cement, metallurgy, chemical, paper, and industrial gases sectors in Spain and Portugal.

The post Statkraft signs 3,000GWh renewables PPA to power industry in Iberia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

France and Spain reject controversial STEP gas pipeline, a move which protestors hope will starve investment, and perhaps scrap the pipeline altogether.

The post France and Spain nix international gas pipeline
 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Around 1GW of coal-fired power generation goes missing in Victoria ahead of summer heatwave – and as federal government prepares short-list of proposals for subsidised “reliable” power generation to shore up the national grid.

The post Coal units cut out as report warns ‘HELE’ plants “just as unreliable” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

First of 56 turbines being installed at Bulgana Green Power Hub – Neoen Australia's ground-breaking wind power and battery storage project in Victoria.

The post First turbine goes up at Neoen’s wind and battery hub in Victoria appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New science funding initiatives are accused of pandering to political imperatives.

Works are underway on Maoneng's 255MW Sunraysia Solar Farm near Balranald in New South Wales.

The post Construction begins on 255MW Sunraysia solar farm in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The violent Manaro Voui volcano forced the people of Vanuatu’s Ambae island to flee their home numerous times over the last year. After living in makeshift camps on surrounding islands, the displaced residents are now anxious to return to their ash-covered homes, even if the danger has not yet passed

Continue reading...

Oregon can improve the environmental and economic performance of its planned cap-and-trade programme by freely allocating carbon allowances to the industrial sector rather than exempting those companies from the scheme entirely, according to a study released Tuesday.

Is using timber for furniture, decks and building houses sustainable? To what extent is timber carbon neutral?

The pending bankruptcy filing of California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is raising new questions about the future of the state’s lone nuclear power plant slated to close in the next decade and how the plant could influence future emissions.