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Recycling crisis: why don't we have a national container deposit scheme?

The Guardian - Fri, 2018-07-13 04:00

Difficult to coordinate, yes. But it could ameliorate Australia’s waste and recycling woes

In June, a wide-ranging Senate inquiry into the state of Australia’s recycling system recommended a national container deposit scheme (CDS) be rolled out across the country.

Of all 18 inquiry recommendations, a national scheme is one that is at least part way there, all states except Tasmania and Victoria with an existing scheme or one soon to be implemented.

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California LCFS Roundup: Prices extend record highs ahead of quarterly data release

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2018-07-13 03:27
Average credit prices in California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) continued to set new highs in June, as market participants await more information on credit figures from Q1 2018 and regulator ARB’s rulemaking package.
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EU Market: After touching fresh high, EUAs dip below €16 to end 8-day rally

Carbon Pulse - Fri, 2018-07-13 03:02
European carbon prices fell on Thursday, briefly dipping below €16 amid tumbling energy prices to end a 10% rally that had built up over eight straight days of gains.
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A whale would have been a right catch for a Roman fisherman | Letters

The Guardian - Fri, 2018-07-13 02:58
Far more likely the Romans merely exploited any dead whales found floating or cast ashore, suggests Pete Eiseman-Renyard

The researchers first quoted in your article (Romans had whale industry, research suggests, 11 July) have made a very bold extrapolation from very small evidence. I would agree with Dr Erica Rowan, cited towards the end of the piece, that one might expect documentary evidence if the Romans actually had a whaling industry. Far more likely they merely exploited any drift whales (dead whales found floating or cast ashore).

Right whales (so called because they were the right whale to catch, being slow-swimming, floated once killed, and had a thick layer of blubber and a mouth full of baleen) certainly were exploited in the post-Roman period, and the Biscayan community had been rendered extinct by the Basque whalers by medieval times.

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Source of cosmic 'ghost' particle revealed

BBC - Fri, 2018-07-13 01:44
Researchers believe a galactic "monster" is a source of cosmic neutrinos detected on Earth.
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Ireland becomes world's first country to divest from fossil fuels

The Guardian - Fri, 2018-07-13 01:12

Bill passed by parliament means more than €300m shares in coal, oil, peat and gas will be sold ‘as soon as practicable’

The Republic of Ireland will become the world’s first country to sell off its investments in fossil fuel companies, after a bill was passed with all-party support in the lower house of parliament.

The state’s €8bn national investment fund will be required to sell all investments in coal, oil, gas and peat “as soon as is practicable”, which is expected to mean within five years. Norway’s huge $1tn sovereign wealth fund has only partially divested from fossil fuels, targeting some coal companies, and is still considering its oil and gas holdings.

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Whale killing: Iceland accused of slaughtering rare whale

BBC - Fri, 2018-07-13 01:09
Campaigners say that what appears to be a rare blue whale has been killed by Icelandic whalers.
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Swarms of moon jellyfish like 'oil slick' off Ceredigion coast

BBC - Thu, 2018-07-12 23:42
Dolphin spotters on a boat trip were surrounded by thousands of jellyfish near New Quay harbour.
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Brexit white paper sheds little new light on UK’s future role in EU ETS

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2018-07-12 23:19
A government white paper released Thursday that outlines the UK’s proposed post-Brexit relationship with the EU offered few further details on whether the country would seek to remain in the bloc’s carbon market, stacking up uncertainty as the format exit date approaches.
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Can Norway help us solve the plastic crisis, one bottle at a time?

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-07-12 20:10

A bottle deposit hub on the outskirts of Oslo has had a stream of high-level international visitors. Can its success be replicated worldwide?

Tens of thousands of brightly coloured plastic drinks bottles tumble from the back of a truck on to a conveyor belt before disappearing slowly inside a warehouse on the outskirts of Oslo.

As a workman picks up a few Coke bottles that have escaped, Kjell Olav Maldum looks on. “It is a system that works,” he says as another truck rumbles past. “It could be used in the UK, I think lots of countries could learn from it.”

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Rising ocean waters from global warming could cost trillions of dollars | John Abraham

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-07-12 20:00

We’ll need to mitigate and adapt to global warming to avoid massive costs from sea level rise

Ocean waters are rising because of global warming. They are rising for two reasons. First, and perhaps most obvious, ice is melting. There is a tremendous amount of ice locked away in Greenland, Antarctica, and in glaciers. As the world warms, that ice melts and the liquid water flows to the oceans.

The other reason why water is rising is that warmer water is less dense – it expands. This expansion causes the surface of the water to rise.

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Sixty NZ businesses to take climate action, cut emissions

Carbon Pulse - Thu, 2018-07-12 19:55
Sixty New Zealand companies on Thursday vowed to measure and report their CO2 output and set GHG reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement, a move that will impact half the nation’s emissions.
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Federal Politics: ACCC, Timor-Leste and robocalls

ABC Environment - Thu, 2018-07-12 18:35
RN Drive unpacks the biggest stories from the week in politics.
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Government responds to ACCC report amid speculation over energy policy

ABC Environment - Thu, 2018-07-12 18:06
"I do not care whether it comes from coal or gas or solar or wind or chook poo, the important thing is that it's the cheapest, most reliable and affordable option."
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Australia’s regulators still can’t imagine a clean energy future

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-07-12 14:50
This has been the story of Australia's energy market for more than a decade. Almost every report done by a statutory authority has refused to contemplate what a decarbonised grid might look like. Sims falls into the same trap.
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Three revolutions and the future of cars: An interview with Dr. Dan Sperling

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-07-12 14:45
Abby Figueroa sat down with Dr. Sperling to discuss the future of transportation and his book Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared, and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future.
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If we cherry-pick data, use discredited projections, and ignore CO2 … then EVs are bad!

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-07-12 14:34
Another report that ignores the positive carbon benefits of EVs; misrepresents EV infrastructure investments; and fails to provide adequate context to compare EV subsidies, costs, and impacts. We set the facts straight.
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Country diary: soft sounds of sparrow seduction

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-07-12 14:30

Sandy, Bedfordshire: The house sparrows are busy caring for their young, but can still find time to mate dozens of times a day

Lolling in the shade under a hazel bush, I had become the inadvertent eavesdropper on a private conversation. Out of the canopy came a whispered “brrr” whirr of wings and then the soft sounds of sparrow seduction, a love song of tenderness that was scarcely imaginable from a bird known for its strident chirps.

Gentle, soothing, piteous peeps drifted down, an intimate dialogue that was both charming and disarming. I caught a glimpse through the sparrows’ bower and saw the female, mouth agape, wings a-flutter. The male rode her for a second or two only. House sparrows may mate up to 40 times a day, but it’s always a quickie.

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Is Rod Sims having a lend of us ?

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-07-12 14:30
The ACCC has done a good job shedding light on some of the darker places of the electricity industry. But the recommendations range from unrealistic to downright dangerous. And some run across policy work of the ESB.
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Electric Mini in works as BMW signs China EV factory deal

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-07-12 14:14
BMW Group seals deal with China’s Great Wall Group to build state-of-the art EV factory in Jiangsu Province.
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