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Australian energy storage company ships largest-ever order of zinc-bromine flow batteries, to provide energy storage for Fiji’s new digital television network.

Developers confirm works set to begin on first of two new solar farms in NSW, totalling more than 460MW of large-scale PV capacity.

A 112MW wind farm that will deliver a one-third increase to Tasmania’s wind power capacity has reached financial close, after an investment from the CEFC.

Threatened coral reefs can be protected by eradicating destructive rats that have invaded tropical islands, scientists say.

Young drivers increasingly want to buy electric cars - but myths are still deterring older drivers, survey shows.

Can we use roads to generate power, make toilet paper and help increase the bee population?

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

The Northwest Territories (NWT) will begin taxing carbon-based fuels in July 2019 at a rate in line with the federal government’s pan-Canadian framework, it announced Wednesday, with an accompanying rebate system designed to defray the costs for residents of the remote subarctic jurisdiction.

Quebec's environment ministry granted almost 41,000 offsets this week to seven landfill gas projects in its first issuance since Sep. 2017, as traders said this fall’s approaching WCI compliance deadline is creating a supply crunch throughout the market.

Exclusive: UK attempted to weaken new EU regulations of a lucrative whitening chemical, Ti02, found in cosmetics and sunscreens

Michael Gove has been accused of “green Brexit hypocrisy” for trying to weaken regulation of a suspected carcinogen found in sun creams, paints and toothpastes, in a proposal seen by the Guardian.

The European commission had proposed mandatory labelling and a cosmetics ban for titanium dioxide (TiO2) – a whitening chemical – after the European Chemicals Agency (Echa) declared it a “suspected carcinogen” last year.

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California has reduced emissions included in the state’s GHG inventory four years ahead of schedule, achieving the target laid out in the state’s landmark climate policy but still exhibiting increases in several sectors.

After cascading ecological catastrophes in the 90s, China spent 20 years seriously investing in sustainability. Now that effort is paying off. Brett Bryan, Professor of Global Change, Environment, and Society, Deakin University Lei Gao, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Gladys Berejiklian’s government accused of allowing companies to conduct ‘production by stealth’

Licences needed for coal seam gas exploration in New South Wales have been effectively extended indefinitely past their expiry date, due to a legal loophole.

Gas exploration – both conventional and coal seam gas – in the state requires a petroleum exploration tenement. Analysis of the NSW government’s tenements database shows 14 titles listed under “current titles” that are past their expiry date.

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Scientists say they've found the earliest evidence of a human presence outside Africa.

A nationwide carbon tax on the US electricity sector would yield more emissions reductions and fewer ratepayer impacts than previously thought thanks to falling prices for renewables and natural gas, according to an environmental think-tank.

The record-breaking high temperatures across much of North America appear to be shaping people’s thinking, a survey finds

The warm temperatures that have scorched much of the US appear to be influencing Americans’ acceptance of climate science, with a new poll finding a record level of public confidence that the world is warming due to human activity.

Related: Planet at its hottest in 115,000 years thanks to climate change, experts say

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Norway has the capability to store all of Europe’s CO2 emissions, the Nordic country’s environment minister Ola Evestuen said Wednesday, adding that CCS is essential for reaching the ultimate goal of net zero greenhouse gas output.

Leading expert on heather and moorland landscapes who was a dedicated environmentalist

Travel north through the uplands of Britain in August and you enter the world heartland of the purple, heather-quilted landscape known as moorland. Its principal plant, ling heather, known scientifically as Calluna vulgaris, and the fire and grazing management that governs its growth and distinctive appeal, was the subject of Charles Gimingham’s pioneering research and quiet advocacy.

Based at the University of Aberdeen from 1946, first as research assistant, then lecturer, and promoted on to be professor of botany from 1969 until 1988, Charles, who has died aged 95, became the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes, and a considerable force for scholarly environmentalism.

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Watch the 10,000-tonne hull of Britain's new polar ship being moved into position for launch.

Alastair Chisholm urges the UK government to strengthen its national adaptation policy; Robert McCartney writes that China produces twice the CO2 as the US

Your editorial warning that extreme events are likely to become a new and dangerous normal (The heatwave in Britain is part of a large and dangerous pattern, 10 July) highlights that what the UK can most effectively do in response is to plan to adapt. While decarbonisation across our economy and society is vital and the UK must improve its commitments on a range of fronts, we are also a highly populated island exposed to diverse and complex weather and climate risks from storms and floods to heatwaves and drought.

Tuesday’s report by the National Infrastructure Commission makes the economic case for early, planned adaptation clear: it is way cheaper than responding to emergencies. This summer the government publishes its latest national adaptation programme. The first programme was spread too thinly and progress against it was hard to quantify. The latest version must establish an ambitious, targeted and measurable plan of action which ensures society is resilient to the worst the weather can throw at us in coming decades.
Alastair Chisholm
Director of policy, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management

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