Around The Web

Why consumers should install solar, and join pressure groups

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-07-18 15:13
Mark Diesendorf urges those who care about climate change to go further than installing solar panels and voting and join pressure groups.
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Gupta’s grand solar plans in South Australia get network tick

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-07-18 15:05
AEMO says two South Australian regions could add 2GW of renewables without any transmission upgrades, and suggests Roxby Downs could emerge as major solar energy region.
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How many hippos are too many? Proposed cull raises questions

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-07-18 15:00

By resurrecting a proposal to allow trophy hunters to shoot 250 hippos annually, Zambia stirs controversy.

The hippo — really? That’s the common response when tour guides in Africa tantalize travelers with this question: “What’s the most dangerous animal on the continent?” Lion? Rhino? Elephant? No, no, no. Eventually, the tour guide delivers the answer with a twinkle in their eye: the hippo, yes, that water-loving, one-tonne mammalian oddity. Despite their hefty and somnolent appearance, hippos are fast and aggressive — a dangerous mix — and may kill several hundred people a year (of course the most dangerous animal in Africa is not really the hippo at all, it’s the mosquito — but no one likes a know-it-all).

Despite being one of the most unusual animals on the planet — their closest relatives are whales and dolphins — hippos don’t get a lot of love. They tend to be overshadowed by the continent’s other remarkable mega-mammals. Who can compete with elephants and giraffe and lion? Perhaps, that’s why it’s not exactly surprising that the announcement of a hippo cull in Zambia didn’t exactly make global news.

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Rooftop solar may overtake coal by 2040, and save billions

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-07-18 14:52
Rooftop solar on Australian homes and businesses could account for 22 per cent of national demand and overtake the combined output of black and brown coal at that time.
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Tritium notches up new EU deal, for Hungary EV charging network

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-07-18 14:46
Another European deal for Australia's Tritium, this time to supply 12 of its Veefil DC fast chargers for an EV network in Hungary.
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ISP’s Devil is in the detail, but the pressure is on coal

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-07-18 14:45
ISP details reveal that the pressure is on coal, solar is assumed to be cheaper than wind, small solar is cheaper than big solar, and transmission for many renewable energy zones won't be available before 2040.
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Country diary: the heather is a burnt burgundy, the grass yellowed

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-07-18 14:30

Rombalds Moor, West Yorkshire: We can’t blame the heatwave for this desiccated landscape – we’ve spent decades deliberately drying out our peatland habitats

The moors are a tinderbox. Parched and crisped by weeks of dry summer heat, the heather is a burnt brown-to-burgundy, the moorland grass yellowed. The bracken looks all right – still a deep pea-green (it takes a lot to bother bracken) – but finger-wide cracks have opened in the colourless peat of the footpath. It’s early morning; the day hasn’t yet been fully cranked up, and the broken sky is a messy palette of blues and greys. A loose flock of a dozen meadow pipits forages for caterpillars.

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Renew Estate plans 100MW solar farm near Canberra

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2018-07-18 13:59
Renew Estate proposes 100MW solar farm on outskirts of the national capital.
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Welcome to the Meghalayan Age - a new phase in history

BBC - Wed, 2018-07-18 12:03
Geologists classify the last 4,200 years as being a distinct age in the story of our planet.
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Adani says it still needs a loan for rail line if coalmine is to go ahead

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-07-18 12:01

Major hurdles to Carmichael mine remain despite comments by Karan Adani that the company has ‘completed financing’

Adani says its Carmichael coalmine remains contingent on a loan to build a rail line to the Galilee Basin – comments that analysts believe will ramp up pressure on the Australian government to further subsidise the project.

Karan Adani, the son of company boss Gautam Adani, and the head of the conglomerate’s ports business, told India’s Economic Times the company had “completed financing on the mine” and that it had received all necessary approvals.

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The real cabbage soup diet: What Britons ate down the ages

BBC - Wed, 2018-07-18 09:34
Ancient Britons were eating dairy, peas, cabbage and oats, according to gunk trapped in their teeth.
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Are young people going cool on cars?

BBC - Wed, 2018-07-18 09:34
More and more young people are living without the car. Will the government change its road-building plans?
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CP Daily: Tuesday July 17, 2018

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-07-18 08:17
A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.
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Plantwatch: phosphate leading to widespread pollution

The Guardian - Wed, 2018-07-18 06:30

Phosphate fertilisers are causing dangerous levels of pollution in waterways that harm aquatic plants and animals

Much of the environment is awash with fertilisers, boosting thuggish weeds such as stinging nettles that swamp other wild plants. Nitrate is a big villain in this onslaught, but far less notice is taken of phosphate.

Phosphate is crucial for plant growth and development, and it is estimated that half the world’s food supplies rely on phosphate fertilisers, but this is a dwindling resource that is used very inefficiently, which is leading to widespread pollution. Unlike nitrate, phosphate binds very strongly to the soil, which makes it difficult for plant roots to get hold of. And so farmers apply even more phosphates in fertilisers and manure, although much of that phosphate then sticks to the soil again, driving the levels of phosphate in the soil even higher.

Related: Conservationists claim 'legal victory' in dispute over government protection of rivers

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Indigenous peoples are crucial for conservation – a quarter of all land is in their hands

The Conversation - Wed, 2018-07-18 06:05
A new map shows that more than 25% of all land outside Antarctica is held and managed by Indigenous peoples. This makes these communities vital allies in the global conservation effort. Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, Researcher, University of Helsinki Catherine Robinson, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Erle C. Ellis, Professor of Geography and Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Hayley Geyle, Research Assistant, Charles Darwin University Ian Leiper, Geospatial Scientist, Charles Darwin University James Watson, Professor, The University of Queensland John E. Fa, Professor of Biodiversity and Human Development, Manchester Metropolitan University Kerstin Zander, Senior Research Fellow, Charles Darwin University Micha Victoria Jackson, PhD candidate, The University of Queensland Pernilla Malmer, Senior Advisor, Stockholm University Tom Duncan, Charles Darwin University Zsolt Molnár, Scientific Advisor, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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S&P Dow Jones launches equity indexes that weigh future carbon price risks

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-07-18 05:04
Share index compiler S&P Dow Jones has launched a series of equity market indexes to measure the performance of companies against their valuation at risk from predicted 2030 carbon prices.
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Republican lawmaker’s US carbon fee plan set to clash with party’s anti-tax push

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-07-18 04:51
Debates over a nationwide US carbon tax are heating up this week as a Republican lawmaker’s proposal to phase out environmental regulations in favour of a CO2 fee circulated on Tuesday, while other GOP lawmakers moved closer to voting on a symbolic anti-carbon tax resolution.
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EU Market: EUAs climb back above €16 despite another weak auction

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-07-18 03:49
EU carbon prices lifted back above €16 on Tuesday as buyers stepped in despite another weak auction and lower energy prices.
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Scottish govt levies £75k in EU ETS non-compliance fines on Shell, Engie

Carbon Pulse - Wed, 2018-07-18 03:36
The UK's partly-devolved Scottish government has fined two installations operated by energy majors Shell and Engie a total £75,000 for non-compliance under the EU ETS.
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The new sharks coming to UK waters

BBC - Wed, 2018-07-18 02:58
Research suggests new kinds of shark could migrate to UK waters as the oceans warm.
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