Around The Web

Committee was set up by former prime minister Tony Abbott to handle complaints about wind turbine noise

• Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon

An independent scientific committee on wind turbines established by the Coalition in 2015 failed to hold one face-to-face meeting last year and failed to have its research accepted by peer-reviewed journals.

The independent scientific committee on wind turbines was created to advise on the science of potential impacts of wind turbines on people’s health.

Continue reading...

Utility owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway signs deal to build 1GW+ new large-scale solar in Nevada, with power purchase agreements starting at $US21.55/MWh – a record low in the US.

New research has suggested a fresh way to account for greenhouse gases with different lifetimes in the atmosphere. Dave Frame, Professor of Climate Change, Victoria University of Wellington Adrian Henry Macey, Senior Associate, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies; Adjunct Professor, New Zealand Climate Change Research Institute. , Victoria University of Wellington Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science, Leader of ECI Climate Research Programme, University of Oxford Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Korean car maker Kai unveils latest all-electric vehicle, the Niro EV, which cold be in Australia in 2019.

China, Gupta, storage. This past week has seen landmark developments that signal the pace of the energy transition is gathering speed, with huge implications for consumers (mostly good) and incumbent utilities (mostly not so good).

Pagham Harbour, West Sussex: Among the detritus, towers of red valerian shake in the wind and sea kale plants explode in a flurry of wavy green leaves

Continue reading...

Victoria says its renewables auction on track, but there is still concern that the NEG could scorch the earth around it.

NSW coal closures, China's solar bombshell, and falling lithium shares. Just another week in energy markets.

On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA is providing $2 million in funding to MSM Milling Pty Ltd to help switch its LPG gas fired boilers to a biomass fuelled boiler.

GreenSync is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Woodall as Chairman of the board, effective immediately.

Victoria's newest wind farm - Salt Creek - has begun exporting to the grid.

Sonnen says it is using combined capacity of 2,500 residential batteries it has installed in Australia to play in wholesale markets.

A new provision from California regulator ARB to provide Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits for two types of fuelling infrastructure for zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) may raise concerns about the programme’s commitment to technology neutrality and environmental integrity, according to stakeholders at the agency’s public workshop on Monday.

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

The US has more captive tigers than the rest of the world has wild ones. Why?

As Researcher in Climate Protection & Urban Governance, you will support our team in working on projects on national and European climate policy and urban governance. In particular, you will work at the interface between traditional emission reduction approaches and adaptation – especially in cities – to climate change. In addition, you will support the acquisition of new projects in these fields.

Carp that soak up the sun are fitter, and bold fish benefit more by sunbathing for longer

One magic late afternoon in summer, sitting on the bank of a clear, still lake in Hertfordshire, it was possible to see lines of motionless carp on the surface that appeared to be sunbathing. The idea that fish, like snakes and other ectotherms (“cold-blooded” creatures), might enjoy or benefit from sunbathing was dismissed as a childish fancy at the time, but many decades later has been vindicated.

A scientific paper shows that carp not only sunbathe, but also gain body heat, grow faster and are fitter as a result. These fish were warmer than their surroundings despite the fact that scientists thought this was impossible because the fish were immersed in cold water. Another key finding is that not all fish gained equally. The darker fish absorbed more warmth than their paler companions and grew faster.

Continue reading...

New Australia Institute paper finds neither Coalition nor Labor’s pollution reduction targets would see us doing our fair share

Pollution reduction targets for 2030 proposed by the Coalition and Labor will not see Australia contributing its fair share to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement, according to new research.

A paper from the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute finds the Turnbull government’s target of a 26-28% reduction on 2005 levels is “inadequate according to any recognised principle-based approach” and the Labor target of a 45% reduction is “the bare minimum necessary for Australia to be considered to be making an equitable contribution to the achievement of the Paris agreement’s two degree target”.

Continue reading...

EU carbon prices lost ground for a second day on Monday, sinking to a one-week low as traders grew preoccupied by coming weeks of high auction supply and a looming option expiry date.

Many of the oldest and largest specimens of Africa's baobab tree have died over the past 12 years.