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Australian researchers have developed a chemical process that can break down all plastics in 20 minutes and that technology will now be deployed at a new $40-million chemical plant in Timor Leste.

The entire Cocos (Keeling) Island group is a little more than twice the size of the Melbourne CBD. So it’s hard to envision 414 million debris items washed up there. Jennifer Lavers, Research Scientist, University of Tasmania Annett Finger, Adjunct Research Fellow, Victoria University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Voters disagree on importance of climate change, universally dislike current energy and environment policy. Michelle Baddeley, Director, Research Professor Institute for Choice, University of South Australia Karen Cong, Senior Programmer, University of South Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

EU carbon prices slipped on Thursday to give back most of the previous session’s gains as a weak auction and softer gas prices deterred bulls.

With sitting Liberal MPs along coast under pressure from angry electorate, Coalition promises audit of regulator’s decision

A last-ditch effort to win votes in key seats in South Australia and Victoria has prompted both major parties to make changes to their policies on oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

The resources minister Matt Canavan – who has previously said offshore oil exploration should be a national priority – said on Thursday a re-elected Coalition government would commission an independent audit of the oil regulator’s consideration of exploration in the Bight.

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Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will hold a Credit Clearance Market under the state’s Clean Fuels Program (OCFP) next month for entities that did not meet the low-carbon fuel standard’s 2018 compliance deadline.

Long-awaited EU carbon auctions by the three non-EU states that participate in the bloc's ETS will commence on June 3, sale host EEX announced late Thursday, and will add up to 20.6 million tonnes this year’s auction calendar.

While the EU ETS is becoming more of a driver for emission cuts, it is also heightening competitiveness concerns as fewer firms hold a surplus of allowances amid rising prices, a survey found.

The much-maligned bedbug has been around for 115 million years - since dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

UK scientists have created an artificial version of the stomach bug E. coli that is based on an entirely synthetic form of DNA.

Debris on Cocos (Keeling) Islands was mostly bottles, cutlery, bags and straws, but also included 977,000 shoes, study says

On the beaches of the tiny Cocos (Keeling) Islands, population 600, marine scientists found 977,000 shoes and 373,000 toothbrushes.

Related: ‘Monstrous’: Indigenous rangers’ struggle against the plastic ruining Arnhem Land beaches

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Up to a million shoes are among the tide of plastic debris washed up on an Australian island say scientists.

Pangea Energy and vanadium battery producer CellCube to build a 50MW/200MWh storage system alongside a solar farm in South Australia.

The post CellCube to build huge grid scale vanadium battery in South Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Global energy investment reached $US1.8trn in 2018, but renewable generation saw declines in dollar terms and only a small increase in capacity growth.

The post Fossil fuel investment increased in 2018, as renewables stalled: IEA appeared first on RenewEconomy.

This summer's load shedding tell us that NEM institutions and policy makers are not yet focused on what can be done to reduce and manage demand before considering supply side options.

The post Victorian summer review: It’s time to prioritise peak demand reduction appeared first on RenewEconomy.

BNEF says electric cars will dominate global new car sales by 2040, but petrol car sales may already have peaked. Meanwhile, head of ARENA also gets bullish on EVs in Australia.

The post Global petrol car sales may already have passed their peak as consumers eye EVs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Almost a quarter of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is now unstable, according to a new study.

ACT becomes first state or territory to make formal declaration of climate emergency and calls on federal support for jurisdictions to prepare for climate change impacts.

The post ACT declares climate change emergency – slams federal government failure to act appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New research shows affected areas are losing ice five times faster than in the 1990s, with more than 100m of thickness gone in some places

Ice losses are rapidly spreading deep into the interior of the Antarctic, new analysis of satellite data shows.

The warming of the Southern Ocean is resulting in glaciers sliding into the sea increasingly rapidly, with ice now being lost five times faster than in the 1990s. The West Antarctic ice sheet was stable in 1992 but up to a quarter of its expanse is now thinning. More than 100 metres of ice thickness has been lost in the worst-hit places.

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The Tokyo municipal government will require facilities covered by its emissions trading scheme to cut CO2 emissions 25-27% below their baseline levels over the next five years, although most of the market participants have already achieved carbon cuts in that range.