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A plan to generate enough wind power for 200,000 homes hints at a coal valley’s clean energy future

At exactly 5pm on 29 March 2017, Unit 1 of the Hazelwood station reported the last energy generation after 53 years of faithful operation. Hazelwood isn’t the first coal power station to close in recent years — in fact it is one of 13 that closed over a five year period — but, as one of the largest and dirtiest power stations in the country it has become totemic, for both the environment movement and Australia’s coal fetishists.

Now, two years on, fears of mass workforce dislocation — such as the Latrobe Valley suffered when the region’s power stations were privatised in the 1990s — have largely failed to materialise. More than 1,000 jobs have been created in the region and unemployment has dropped from 8% to 5.7%, in no small part due to the efforts of the Latrobe Valley Authority, set up by the state government to help ensure a “just transition” for the workers and local community.

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Dutch elm disease caused a catastrophic decline for the butterfly that relies on the elm to feed its caterpillars. But help is at hand

Most butterflies are still hibernating after a reassuringly normal March following the February heatwave. Our five hairstreak species all hibernate in their minuscule eggs, stuck fast to bare branches – a wise and robust strategy. The white-letter hairstreak, a diminutive dark butterfly with a white W on its underside, has declined by 93% since the 1970s because Dutch elm disease has destroyed the trees on which its caterpillars feed.

Related: Rare UK butterfly under threat as elms disappear

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A summary of legislative action on carbon pricing and clean energy bills at the US state level taken this week, including the passage of a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in Puerto Rico, an agreement between Hawaii and California to promote offsets, and California utility commission meetings to discuss alternatives to utility Pacific Gas & Electric's ownership.

Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) programme advocates offered a litany of complaints Thursday about the US EPA's plan to implement a series of restrictions on biofuel credit trading, while others felt the agency should go further in those potential measures. 

EUAs buckled on Friday afternoon after UK lawmakers voted down Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal deal for a third time, with the pre-weekend sell-off capping four days of gains that added nearly 10% to prices.

Six entities opened Compliance Instrument Tracking Service System (CITSS) registry accounts as another thirteen closed during the first quarter of 2019, California Air Resources Board (ARB) data showed on Friday.

Remarkable fossils shed light on the minutes and hours that followed the Earth-changing asteroid strike.

Ireland should quadruple its domestic carbon tax on fossil fuels to €80/tonne by 2030, a cross-party government committee has determined as part of its proposed strategy to help the country hits its climate targets and reach net-zero emissions by mid-century.

The UK government has formally extended the country’s 2018 EU ETS compliance deadline by a further two weeks after MPs delayed Britain’s scheduled exit from the bloc.

We are seeking a talented and experienced individual as Carbon/Environmental Products Market Analyst, to join our newly created Analytics Team, as part of Shell Energy Europe and Environmental Products Data Analysis and Systematic Trading unit.

A frog hopping onto a duck, bats hibernating in a fridge and a bee collecting nectar from a cherry blossom tree

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California Carbon Offset (CCO) prices have softened on the secondary market despite stronger California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices over the past month, numerous market participants told Carbon Pulse.

East Antarctica drilling project will give snapshot of Earth’s atmosphere and climate

Scientists are planning to extract ice samples from more than 1.5m years ago in a bid to discover more about our ancient climate – and hopefully learn more about our future climate.

The Beyond Epica project plans to extract samples from the bottom of a 2.75km-thick ice sheet in East Antarctica. The ice cores will be the oldest ever drilled for.

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China needs to move the operation of its national emissions trading scheme above  environment ministry level if the scheme is to succeed in helping curb emissions, a report said this week.

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

Japan’s environment ministry in principle will no longer back the building of coal-fired power capacity in the country because doing so would be incompatible with the Paris Agreement, it said this week.

Officials say chlorothalonil poses high risk to wildlife and may potentially harm humans

One of the world’s most common pesticides will soon be banned by the European Union after safety officials reported human health and environmental concerns.

Chlorothalonil, a fungicide that prevents mildew and mould on crops, is the most used pesticide in the UK, applied to millions of hectares of fields, and is the most popular fungicide in the US. Farmers called the ban “overly precautionary”.

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German utility EnBW advanced its hedging rates over Q4 2018 to leave a larger share of its output hedged compared to a year earlier, it said in financial results that could add to the slightly bearish signal for EUAs indicated by utilities.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator issued 330,000 carbon credits this week, taking the total number of offsets generated at emission reduction projects past 60 million since the programme began in 2012.

Millions of survivors face dire conditions after the tropical cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique’s coast, unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the country. More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, where the storm killed 60 and displaced nearly a million people. Hundreds are still missing in Mozambique and Zimbabwe

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