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A new government is reversing outdated policies in Europe’s sunniest country.

The post Spain scraps solar tax in energy market shakeup that threatens coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A bill put forth last week by leading Puerto Rico senators pushing for major energy policy reform for the island makes some noteworthy commitments to renewable energy.

The post Cyclone struck Puerto Rico aims for 100% renewables, but new rules favour gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Bees are at the heart of Australia’s multibillion-dollar agriculture industry, as 75% of our food crops rely on animal pollination. However, native bees face serious threats. Habitat loss, exotic species, climate change and pesticides are all affecting bee populations. The author and photographer James Dorey has created the book Bees of Australia, showcasing the species unique to Australia using macro photography

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Geometric icebergs can form around Antarctica, although such a perfect rectangle is unusual. Sue Cook, Ice Shelf Glaciologist, Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems CRC, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Conservative MP says drilling and pollution are ‘alarming prospect’ for communities

Zac Goldsmith has warned ministers that their plans to fast-track fracking risk turning whole regions of the country against the Conservatives and igniting a political backlash.

The Tory MP for Richmond said people had legitimate concerns about fracking and that government proposals to bypass local planning decisions on shale gas wells were a mistake.

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Royal College of Nursing, British Medical Association and BMJ among those calling for shake-up to tackle toxic air crisis

The UK’s leading health professionals are calling on the government to implement the biggest shake-up of air quality legislation for 60 years in an effort to tackle the country’s growing air pollution crisis.

The UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC) – representing major medical bodies including the Royal College of Nursing, the British Medical Association and the BMJ – is demanding ministers introduce a new clean air act amid growing concern about the devastating health impacts of the country’s toxic air.

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Crucial role of Britain’s shelf seas in absorbing carbon dioxide is under threat, says report

The shallow seas around Britain absorb tens of million of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, scientists have discovered. This plays a critical role in stabilising the country’s ecology and in lessening the impact of carbon emissions.

But researchers warn that shelf seas are increasingly vulnerable to climate change and the impact is likely to worsen. In particular, rising temperatures and increased numbers of intense storms threaten to disrupt the coastal regions’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide. This could accelerate climate change, they state in Shelf Seas: The Engine of Productivity, published this week.

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As air pollution fears rise, Cheltenham ‘put people before traffic’ and banned cars from part of its centre. But not everyone is happy

In the Regency spa town of Cheltenham, famous for its mineral springs and horse racing festival, an angry rebellion is gathering steam.

At its centre is a stone fountain supported by three cherubs. The landmark used to be on a roundabout, with cars, buses and trucks swirling around both it and pedestrians trying to cross the high street. Several decades ago the road layout changed to create a tiny plaza around the fountain, which became known as Boots Corner. But heavy traffic still rumbled by.

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Tremor at Cuadrilla site in Little Plumpton is 18th since fracking restarted 12 days ago

A second tremor in a 24-hour period has been recorded at the UK’s only active fracking site near Blackpool.

Cuadrilla was forced to halt operations for 18 hours on Friday after a 0.8-magnitude tremor. Fracking restarted on Saturday morning before a second tremor was detected.

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Exclusive: Simple act of breathing is killing 7 million people a year and harming billions more, but ‘a smog of complacency pervades the planet’, says Dr Tedros Adhanom

• Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Air pollution is the new tobacco. Time to tackle this epidemic

Air pollution is the “new tobacco”, the head of the World Health Organization has warned, saying the simple act of breathing is killing 7 million people a year and harming billions more.

Over 90% of the world’s population suffers toxic air and research is increasingly revealing the profound impacts on the health of people, especially children.

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Native to North America, it was an extraordinary string of luck including a gold rush, cyclones, the rise of ornamental gardening that led to the naturalisation of the monarch butterfly in Australia.

Len Fisher offers ideas for getting politicians to see beyond the electoral cycle.

The transport secretary says the government will back major development on the Oxford-Cambridge arc.

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

General Motors (GM) advocated Friday for the US federal government to establish a national zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) programme similar to California’s system to promote the adoption of clean cars and lower emissions, as the Trump administration moves to eliminate state initiatives.

In October 1903 a relentless series of Atlantic lows brought rain almost every day and many crops rotted in the ground

We in Britain are used to variations in our weather from month to month and year to year. But few periods in history were quite so variable as the period around the turn of the twentieth century, which saw both the driest month on record (February 1891), and the wettest (October 1903), since reliable rainfall records began in 1766.

In October 1903, across most of Britain, it rained almost every day. The cause was a relentless series of Atlantic lows, sweeping rapidly across the country from the west, and dumping their contents over the land.

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"Water cooler moment" as greener cooling idea is scaled up to help chill homes and buildings.

Governments at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) this week got off to a slow start in agreeing measures to help meet emission reduction goals, but the group took steps to keep in play the launch of a market-based measure from 2023.

It’s known in the biz as a side hustle – the job you have on the side outside your normal day job and farmer James Walker has multiple side hustles

European carbon tumbled nearly 5% on Friday, breaking below key technical supports to potentially set up further losses next week amid wider bearish conditions.