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Western Downs Regional Council, west of Brisbane, has approved its 15th large-scale solar farm – a 148MW project at Cameby, west of Chinchilla.

The post Queensland’s “solar capital” approves 15th large-scale PV project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Neoen's 150MW Coleambally solar farm in NSW is setting new records – not just in size and output, but also speed of installation and connection.

The post Australia’s biggest solar farm at Coleambally sets new production records appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CDP is seeking a highly motivated individual to join the Technical Reporting team which develops the CDP questionnaires and the reporting guidance.

BNEF analysis for Australia shows wind and solar are killing coal and gas on cost, and that the Coalition is barking up the wrong tree trying to shovel new investments into coal.

The post The stunning wind, solar and battery costs the Coalition refuses to accept appeared first on RenewEconomy.

MIT scientists create the first plane to fly without moving parts.

Two replicas, based on gold and silver fragments found in the Staffordshire hoard, go on show.

Spreading particles in stratosphere to fight climate change may cost $2bn a year

Cooling the Earth by injecting sun-blocking particles into the stratosphere could be “remarkably inexpensive”, according to the most detailed engineering analysis to date.

The fear of a rogue nation or military force unilaterally taking control of the global climate is unfounded, the researchers added, as the many thousands of high-altitude flights needed to affect global temperatures could not escape detection.

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National Audit Office says that with 39m meters still to be replaced, government has no chance of hitting 2020 deadline

Consumers face paying half a billion pounds more than expected for the rollout of smart meters and the programme has no chance of hitting its deadline, the UK’s spending watchdog has warned.

The National Audit Office said that with 39m old-fashioned meters yet to be replaced, there is “no realistic prospect” of meeting a goal of all homes and businesses being offered one by the end of 2020 as planned.

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South Australia is shifting its focus from renewable energy production to energy storage to address intermittency issues across its electricity system.

The post South Australia launches $50m grid-scale storage fund appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A new unit at a Serbian coal-fired power station focuses concerns on China's role in global warming.

70 years ago a six-day fog enveloped London, but its message did not hit home

Air pollution history is littered with early warnings that were not heeded. November 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of one of these. On Friday 26 November 1948, a dense fog developed in London. It lasted six days. Football matches were cancelled and transport disrupted. Traffic convoys were formed to follow trams, each guided by a conductor with a torch. Initially, conductors walked alongside buses but this became impossible as they ran into lamp-posts. There were train accidents too, but the greatest death toll came from breathing the smog. Five weeks later the medical statistician William Logan reported an estimated 300 extra deaths.

The warning was ignored. Four years and one week later 12,000 Londoners died in the so-called great smog of 1952. The pattern of ignoring warnings continues. In 2000, researchers at London’s King’s and Imperial Colleges warned of difficulties in controlling nitrogen dioxide from traffic. The UK is still failing to meet legal limits for this pollutant. This month, 21 researchers published a nine-year study. It concluded that air pollution in London was stunting children’s lung growth and this may be storing up problems for their long-term health.

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

American Progress has an immediate opening for a Director of International Climate Policy. The Director of International Climate Policy will lead the Energy and Environment team’s work to develop and execute a program to support the framework of the Paris climate agreement and engage state and local governments, tribes, universities, and other subnational actors in climate diplomacy.

New research disputes a theory that early humans helped wipe out many large mammals that once roamed Africa.

Federal Labor has promised to give rebates of up to $2,000 to 100,000 households to install batteries to store power from solar panels. Is this good energy policy, or just middle-class welfare? Guy Dundas, Energy Fellow, Grattan Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

High court orders government to get prior community consent before granting mining rights in Pondoland

Environmental activists in South Africa have won a landmark legal victory after the high court ordered the government to get prior community consent before granting mining rights.

The judgment represents a major victory for campaigners in Xolobeni, a community in Pondoland, who have been involved in a protracted and sometimes violent struggle against a proposed titanium mine.

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The German government will seek to postpone publication of the final report of its coal exit commission until January amid opposition, according to media reports.

Western Australian Browse project could emit more than 200m tonnes of CO2

Oil and gas giant Woodside Petroleum has applied for environmental approval to build one of Australia’s biggest emitting industrial developments – a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant 425km north of Broome – without a plan to reduce or offset its greenhouse gas pollution.

Documents submitted to the federal government for the long-mooted $28bn Browse LNG project show the offshore part of the development alone is expected to emit up to 200m tonnes of carbon dioxide over 50 years, peaking at 7m tonnes a year.

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Marine biologist who pioneered research into the conservation of coral reefs

Ruth Gates, who has died aged 56 of complications following an operation, pioneered research into the breeding of “super corals” that are able to withstand rising sea temperatures resulting from global warming. Her work examined the traits that make some corals better survivors than others – with the aim of reinforcing those traits through selective breeding and then transplanting the more resilient corals on to damaged reefs. “I have watched some reefs disintegrate before my eyes,” she said in 2016. “I just can’t bear the idea that future generations may not experience a coral reef. The mission is to start solving the problem, not just to study it.”

Much of Ruth’s work was based at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, where she had been director since 2015. Conducted with Madeleine van Oppen of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, her experiments were intricate and time-consuming, involving the collection of temperature-tolerant coral colonies from the field. Those individuals that did not bleach during natural bleaching events – when sea temperatures were high – then had their reproductive products collected in the laboratory after spawning. The offspring were raised and tested for improved temperature tolerance.

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Self-styled 'Resource Goddess' Cat Fletcher is paid to comb abandoned office buildings for items that can be re-used rather than discarded.