Around The Web

A new mission aboard the International Space Station is taking storm chasing to new heights.

California carbon prices fell slightly this week on light volumes following the Easter holiday break and as a large portion of the market attended a major conference in San Francisco.

EU countries bumped up their allocations of free 2018 carbon allowances slightly over the past fortnight, data released late Friday showed.

The supersonic test flight of its SpaceShipTwo rocket ship was the first since a crash in 2014.

Howard Hardman suggests dumping the big six to stop the drilling; Austen Lynch says Lancashire’s fracking wells won’t provide much of an energy dividend; Neil Anderson on France’s tidal power station success

The news from Lancashire (Fracking firm Cuadrilla finishes drilling UK’s first horizontal well, 4 April) came as a disappointment, particularly in the wake of the Observer business leader that suggested fracking companies were running into difficulties in the UK (Fracking industry blows hot and cold amid fuel shortages and false starts, 11 March).

Perhaps the easiest method of thwarting them would be for millions of energy customers to switch their accounts away from the big six and other suppliers of shale gas, and towards the smaller, often local energy companies who only supply gas from renewable sources and unfracked gas.

Continue reading...

The Indonesian port city of Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo, has declared a state of emergency after an oil spill spread along the coast, killing several people when it ignited. The leak, caused by a burst undersea pipe belonging to the state oil company Pertamina, has spread at least 16 miles (26km) and coated large swaths of the coast in thick black sludge

Continue reading...

Whales, howler monkeys and signs of spring are among the pick of wildlife images from around the world

Continue reading...

The huge national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most dangerous conservation projects in the world. But thanks to the efforts of a committed force of rangers, populations of endangered species are recovering and locals say the park offers hope for the whole region

It is dawn on the shores of Lake Edward and the sun is rising over the volcanoes on the eastern skyline. Mist lies over the still water. In the forest there are elephant, hippopotamus and buffalo. Guarding them are 26 rangers in a single fortified post.

Then the silence is rudely broken. There are shouts, scattered shots, volleys from automatic weapons. Waves of attackers rush through the brush and trees. Some are close enough to hurl spears and fire arrows.

Continue reading...

EU carbon prices inched back towards €13 on Friday as a stronger auction raised hopes that this week's declines would not lead to a material correction.

Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China's regional pilot carbon markets this week.

New Zealand carbon allowances notched a third consecutive day of gains on Friday, climbing to a 6-week high amid steady demand while sellers were few and far between.

Vietnam is finalising a plan that will impose CO2 caps on all sectors of the economy and possibly on individual major emitters, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) said, though it remains unclear if the South East Asian nation will go for an emissions trading scheme or a carbon tax.

Two Sustrans staff members explain how offering residents of a women’s hostel the freedom of cycling is helping to improve their mental wellbeing

A cycling session at Queen Mary homeless women’s hostel in London starts with some reflection in the tea room. Eleven women discuss how they’re doing this week, how the cycling went for them last week and what they’re hoping to build on in today’s session. Then they push their bikes to a local basketball court to practise in the safety of an off-road environment. Supported by instructors from Westminster council’s training team, they practise riding by themselves; pushing off, cycling in a straight line, looking over one shoulder, turning, keeping going.

Continue reading...

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

Under company modelling major spill would pollute beaches and could disrupt southern right whale migration

Up to 750km of coastline was put at risk of contamination from possible oil spill by BP’s plan to drill in the Great Australian Bight, newly released documents show.

Government documents released under freedom of information laws show a major oil spill in the sensitive seascape would pollute up to 750km of beaches and shoreline, according to BP’s own modelling. The company also thought drilling could disrupt migration of the endangered southern right whale.

Continue reading...

Assynt, Sutherland, Highlands: The stromatolite fossils lie on the Eilean Dubh Formation, a geologic stratum often marked by coral and shell fossils

As I climb up from the green-brown valley near Inchnadamph, the early spring countryside changes character. Snow patches appear and soon become abundant, then all seems white as the mountains’ snow-blanketed slopes merge into silver-grey clouds. On this blustery day, when sleet and rain slash across the landscape and wind snatches at all things, it’s hard to believe the Highlands were ever anything but a cold, damp, mountainous place. But the curious circular rocks embedded in the foothills are evidence that the earth beneath my feet once lay under shallow seas in a considerably warmer climate.

Related: The natural wonder that holds the key to the origins of life – and warns of its destruction

Continue reading...

Proposed changes to the government's climate change policies may stall, or even close down, the market for 'carbon farmers' to profit from reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Andrew Hopkins, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Drones and fireworks deployed to disperse flocks that are stripping trees and annoying residents with squawking and droppings

They come at dawn and dusk.

At first they arrive by the tens, then the hundreds, some sticking to the treeline, others mustering on the oval.

Continue reading...

It's not just spiders, scorpions and snakes for the man in charge of pest control at Kandahar air base.

Australia's National Energy Market needs a massive shake-up to evolve to a smarter, more stable distributed renewables-based system. And not every participant will make it out alive.