Around The Web

New customers of Tesla Powerwall 2 battery storage system face significant price hike, due to equipment upgrade and focus on Model 3 electric vehicle deliveries.

The post Tesla Powerwall 2 battery prices jump, as production focuses on Model 3 EV appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Nissan unveiled their new Australian-version Leaf this morning with a bigger 40kWh battery giving a fully charged range of what the company calls ‘real world’ 270kms.

The post Nissan turns new Leaf in Australia with boosted range appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The government says it has a clear plan, but many in the nuclear sector are concerned for the future.

Using technologies to keep global temperature rise below 1.5C is "crazy" but may be the only way.

The industry is blamed for damaging the environment, fuelling climate change and polluting water.

Rooftop solar pushes mid-day prices into negative territory in Western Australia on four occasions in single week.

The post Rooftop solar, low demand, sends W.A prices negative four times in a week appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Water shortages mean the laundry industry is adopting various technologies to reduce consumption.

Threat to major population centres is increasing as planners fail to prepare for impacts of global warming, report says

London, Jakarta, Shanghai and Houston and other global cities that are already sinking will become increasingly vulnerable to storms and flooding as a result of global warming, campaigners have warned ahead of a landmark new report on climate science.

The threat to cities from sea level rises is increasing because city planners are failing to prepare, the charity Christian Aid said in the report. Some big cities are already subsiding – the ground beneath Shanghai, for instance, is being pressed down by the sheer weight of the buildings above – and rising sea levels resulting from global warming will make the effects worse.

Continue reading...

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

California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) reversed course this week after sliding over the second half of September, while the post-auction bull run in the northeast US RGGI market persisted as prices extended 2018 highs.

A group of Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US states are not discussing a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) to tackle transportation emissions as they remain focused on cap-and-trade, but a future system could take hold in the Midwest if Illinois signs on, experts said.

A Quebec-based carbon fund and US-based offset project developer and operator have entered into a long-term agreement to expand a mine methane abatement initiative at an Appalachian coal mine, the companies announced on Thursday.

Developers are focusing on investing in and promoting carbon-cutting projects they think most likely to be eligible under the CORSIA aviation offset scheme, in an effort to encourage airlines to buy the units ahead of rules being finalised.

How far will we go to protect high-risk beachfront property? New research suggests local councils are too willing to spend public money to protect private landowners from coastal climate change. Tayanah O'Donnell, Honorary senior lecturer, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

80% say they would pay up to $10 per week for better services

Two-thirds of Australians believe their household recycling is sent to landfill and 72% said they would recycle more if they knew that their household waste was reliably recycled, a survey has found.

But despite the desire for better recycling, the survey, released on Friday by the University of New South Wales, also found that only half of the respondents were prepared to pay more for better recycling services.

Continue reading...

It’s not about more money for farmers. It’s about long-term settings for a changing climate – and taking the politics out of it

• Read part one and two of The New Normal
  

Central to the Australian meaning of drought is the idea of a rainfall deficiency, a term that suggests less than “normal”. But what is normal and how should it govern drought policy? In this part of our series The New Normal, we look at the history of drought policy and how the conversation is changing.

Away from the glare of nightly television reports showing farmers feeding starving stock, there is a more complex conversation going on among landholders. It discards the idea that policy should be built on the notion of average rainfall, and instead accepts Australia has a drying climate where wet seasons are the exception rather than the rule. It accepts that governments need to put in place a framework for encouraging good management practice for farmers, not only as food producers but environmental stewards, given they manage 60% of the Australian landmass.

Continue reading...

$27m program says it will use virus-carrying insects to engineer crops, but some worry it’s a way to develop biological agents

Government-backed researchers in America are aiming to use virus-carrying insects to genetically engineer crops – raising fears the technology could be used for biological weapons.

A new article in the journal Science explores the shadowy program funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).

Continue reading...

EU carbon nudged higher for a second day on Thursday in another calmer session that contrasts with the recent wild volatility.

Children's drawings of nightmarish scenarios illustrate climate change's impact in the Mekong Delta.

Protecting and restoring forests would reduce 18% of emissions by 2030 and help to avoid global temperature rise beyond 1.5C

The role of forests in combating climate change risks being overlooked by the world’s governments, according to a group of scientists that has warned halting deforestation is “just as urgent” as eliminating the use of fossil fuels.

Razing the world’s forests would release more than 3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide, more than the amount locked in identified global reserves of oil, coal and gas. By protecting and restoring forests, the world would achieve 18% of the emissions mitigation needed by 2030 to avoid runaway climate change, the group of 40 scientists, spanning five countries, said in a statement.

Continue reading...