Around The Web

Haldon Forest, Devon: Britain’s hawfinch population has been boosted by hundreds of unexpected but welcome visitors from the continent

Towering electricity pylons bisect the western edge of Haldon Forest, their splayed metal arms echoing the shapes of surrounding conifer trees, as if they have broken ranks from the plantation pines. It is bitterly cold but I take a seat at the foot of a pylon. I have come in search of one of Britain’s most elusive birds and the surrounding woodland, I have been assured, is the place to spot it.

Hail soon begins peppering the ground around me and causing the power cables above to fizz alarmingly. I consider retreating to my car, but a sudden sharp pit! jolts my senses like a static charge. The storm passes and I hear the sound again, tracing its source to a bird perched deep within a stand of hornbeam trees. I can just make out a heavy head fronted by a powerful nutcracker of a beak. It is enough to identify it: a hawfinch. My luck is in.

Continue reading...

Australian renewables outfit Lacour wants to build a wind farm of potentially 800MW in Queensland, and at least 200MW of solar.

America's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has rejected energy secretary Rick Perry's request for rule change in competitive wholesale markets to favor coal and nuclear plants. Could cooler heads be prevailing?

The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by SA Power Networks to charge more for electricity distribution, which would have increased bills for all South Australians.

Despite Australia being considered the 'lucky country', 15% of us still experience food insecurity. Meanwhile, 40% of edible food is thrown away before it even reaches the market. Carol Richards, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

AusNet Services has once again joined forces with seven leading international energy companies to search for start-ups to participate in the second annual round of Free Electrons.

Multi-seat, cross-country electric airplanes are still a way off, but a test-flight of the Pipistrel Alpha electro shows real progress is being made.

Will 2018 be the year that mainstream media is not duped by professional spin doctors and fake experts paid to downplay and deny the realities of climate change?

SunWiz data – and eye-watering charts – reveal 2017 was a "magnificent record setting year" for solar installs, with 50% more rooftop PV capacity added across the country than in 2016, and some astonishing growth in the commercial solar sector.

The Australian Government has announced the Geological and Bioregional Assessment of the Isa Superbasin in Queensland.

New research shows nearly two-thirds of India’s coal power generation is no longer price competitive with new solar and wind.

On Friday, a 28-page text covering the main policy fields cursorily was published after a previous draft had been leaked. For energy policy, the changes are encouraging, but a lot of question marks remain.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has sold 6.7 gigalitres of Commonwealth environmental water allocations for a return of $2.878 million that will be used to improve the environment of the Murray Darling Basin.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder has sold 6.7 gigalitres of Commonwealth environmental water allocations for a return of $2.878 million that will be used to improve the environment of the Murray Darling Basin.

A mass die-off of antelopes in Kazakhstan was triggered by environmental factors, scientists believe.

Renewable energy investment touched a new high in Australia last year as spending on new power plants more than doubled, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Australia's scorching summers aren't just inconvenient: heatwaves are deadly. Yet new research has found many vulnerable people don't have a plan for extreme heat. Andrew Gissing, Adjunct Fellow, Macquarie University Lucinda Coates, Risk Scientist, Risk Frontiers Natural Hazards Research Centre, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Scientists capture "incredible" images of instructions contained in DNA being read

A group of divers has connected two underwater caverns in eastern Mexico to reveal what is believed to be the world's largest flooded cave, a discovery that could shed light on the ancient Maya civilisation. The Yucatán peninsula is studded with monumental relics of the Maya people, whose cities drew on an extensive network of sinkholes known as cenotes. Some cenotes had religious significance to the Maya, whose descendants remain in the region

• World's longest underwater cave system discovered in Mexico by divers

Continue reading...

Finnish start-up ICEYE releases a "first light" picture from its novel radar satellite.