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President Xi holds firm on China’s pollution fight, backs away from climate leadership role
Who or what has caused a rise in banned CFC's?
Kilauea: What happens when lava meets the sea
Could illegal mines in Ghana lead to an increase in chocolate prices?
Electric rally car lines up for Finke Desert Race
No tender process for $444m Great Barrier Reef grant, Senate hearing told
Department says it approached the non-profit group just weeks before the budget and had still not signed an agreement
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The government approached a non-profit group that will receive a record grant for reef protection only a few weeks before it announced the deal in the federal budget.
Continue reading...We have no idea how much microplastic is in Australia's soil (but it could be a lot)
Drax power station to lead fresh carbon capture trial
Biomass-burning unit to use pioneering technology that aims to cut emissions
Drax Group will lead a £400,000 trial to capture and store carbon at its north Yorkshire power station in an attempt to kickstart a technology that has repeatedly failed to get off the ground in the UK.
The company was part of earlier efforts to build a £1bn prototype carbon capture coal plant, but pulled out in 2015 after it missed out on renewable energy subsidies. Now the firm will try again with a pioneering form of the technology, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), to cut emissions from one of its four biomass-burning units. Experts believe the project is a world first.
Continue reading...Know your NEM: California leads way with cleaner grid, lower bills
Clean-air campaigners call for ban on school run to cut pollution
Government urged to take steps to reduce the impact of toxic air on vulnerable children
Clean-air campaigners have written to the government calling for a ban on parents driving their children to school in an attempt to cut down on toxic levels of air pollution.
Environmental groups and medics warn that pollution from the school run is having a serious impact on young people’s health.
Continue reading...GoodWe awarded EuPD Research Top Brand PV Seal for the Netherlands
Tempted by the taste of the swift nest - Country diary, 21 May 1918
21 May 1918 Doubtless this gummy mess, if boiled and strained, would make good soup
Swifts, which for a fortnight have been arriving in small numbers, came with a rush at the weekend, and now the air is full of noisy birds. The swift comes late and leaves early; it has but little time to rear its young, which should be strong enough on the wing to start the return journey in August.
Related: Without the common swift, another silent summer beckons | Andrew Mayers
Continue reading...Victron Energy aims for large-scale storage projects with new MultiPlus-II battery inverter-charger
Mayor Khan out to make London greenest city in the world
Country diary: adders find their place in the Scottish sun
Aigas, Highlands: Emerging from hibernation, these snakes seek out a warming rock to get energised for the hunt ahead
Warmth is what it takes, that’s all. Every spring that first burst of sun in clear skies brings our adders back to life. In common with most other reptiles the world over, Vipera berus has to warm up. They are cold-blooded and have been hibernating underground for more than six months. Their metabolism will have all but closed down. They need to fire it up again.
Related: Why we must make the adder count | John Baker
Continue reading...RES plans 176MW solar and battery plant near Adelaide
Neoen wins approval for huge wind and battery plant near Cairns
Neoen wins council approval for 500MW solar farm and storage
University fires controversial marine scientist for alleged conduct breaches
Peter Ridd fired after ignoring previous warnings from James Cook University
A controversial Australian marine scientist who rejects research showing major human-caused impacts on the Great Barrier Reef has been fired from Queensland’s James Cook University for alleged multiple breaches of its code of conduct.
Peter Ridd was fired on 2 May, according to the termination letter posted on Ridd’s website, after ignoring previous warnings and disciplinary action from the university.
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