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Scott Morrisson is right to dismiss new coal generation as uneconomic, but his estimates of existing coal costs is half what NSW back coal generators charged for off-peak baseload this past winter. It is time the Coalition stopped kidding itself.

Scott Morrisson is right to dismiss new coal generation as uneconomic, but his estimates of existing coal costs is half what NSW back coal generators charged for off-peak baseload this past winter. It is time the Coalition stopped kidding itself.

The supply of California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) is forecast to balloon over the next few years regardless of looming post-2020 limitations on their use, according to analysts.

100-megawatt Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project in Northern Cape, with 1,200 megawatt-hours of energy storage, will reliably deliver non-intermittent power to South Africa’s electricity grid – even well after the sun has set.

100-megawatt Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project in Northern Cape, with 1,200 megawatt-hours of energy storage, will reliably deliver non-intermittent power to South Africa’s electricity grid – even well after the sun has set.

LGC market endured a mundane March, but the small-scale market was abuzz with activity and speculation surrounding the target for 2018.

LGC market endured a mundane March, but the small-scale market was abuzz with activity and speculation surrounding the target for 2018.

Costa Rica already has close to 100% renewable power for electricity. Its newly elected president now promises to replace petrol and diesel in the transport system.

Costa Rica already has close to 100% renewable power for electricity. Its newly elected president now promises to replace petrol and diesel in the transport system.

Global warming of 1.5°C is imminent, likely in just a decade from now. That’s the stunning conclusion to be drawn from a number of recent studies.

The robot connects to the internet so web users can control it and donate to pay maintenance costs.

The Russian capital has no recycling programme and its expanding rubbish landfills are causing health problems.

Has Australian weather always been this way or is the increasing frequency of bushfires, storms, floods, and drought due to climate change?

Scientists have been developing a technique to count animals that is usually used to map stars.

It's understandable to want to shield children from the impacts of disasters. But research suggests that they should be given a voice in disaster planning and a role in reducing the risks. Christine Eriksen, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research, University of Wollongong Avianto Amri, PhD Candidate, Macquarie University Briony Towers, Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University Emma Calgaro, Sydney Research Fellow in Sustainability Science, University of Sydney John Richardson, Honorary Fellow, Beyond Bushfires Research Team, University of Melbourne Katharine Haynes, Snr Research Fellow, Department of Geography and Planning, Macquarie University Scott McKinnon, Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Wollongong Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A dozen black holes may lie at the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, researchers say.

Five years after the implementation of the Murray-Darling basin plan, our great river system is under stress. Follow our 3000km journey along the rivers, travelling from inland Queensland to the Murray mouth, to understand where the plan has failed those who live and work on this land

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The Coalition’s backbench group of coal fans have a history of attacking climate science

There seems to be three rules for membership of the Coalition’s new backbench Monash Forum that wants taxpayer subsidies for new coal fired power stations.

Firstly, you have to really love the life-giving and not-really-all-that-deadly rock from the late Permian and Carboniferous which, if they made it into a snack bar, you would totally want to eat it and then rub the bits left sticking to the wrapper all over your naked form.

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More than five years and $9bn since the basin plan began, the Murray-Darling river system is in crisis. In a series of in-depth features and articles this week, Guardian Australia will explore what’s gone wrong

Kate McBride stands on the banks of the Lower Darling river as it flows past her family property, Tolarno, south of Menindee in New South Wales. She surveys the stagnating waterholes that were once a river. They are turning an alarming shade of chartreuse, thanks to blue-green algae.

The sometimes mighty river has ceased to flow again this summer – an increasingly regular occurrence in these reaches of the Murray-Darling system.

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Andy Stirling and Phil Johnstone reply to criticism of their analysis of the government’s infatuation with nuclear power

Thanks to Mike Clancy (Letters, 2 April) for responding to our analysis that intense UK government attachments to civil nuclear power are (to a significant – but dangerously undiscussed – extent) aimed at supporting the national industrial base underpinning nuclear submarine capabilities. He accuses us of “speculation”, yet fails to address any of the strong evidence that we cite. We show at length that UK nuclear attachments do not reflect economic performance. A host of ways to manage intermittency are routinely priced at a small fraction of the growing cost advantage of renewable energy. As a member of the UK Nuclear Industry Council (itself with a dual civil/military remit), Mr Clancy could assist much-needed factual scrutiny by addressing the points we raise. As a union leader, he might help democratic debate by explaining why his own organisation – and UK unions more generally – are so much more supportive of jobs in the nuclear than in the renewable sector.
Professor Andy Stirling and Dr Phil Johnstone
SPRU, University of Sussex

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