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South Korea on Wednesday announced it has cancelled plans to auction off 5.1 million CO2 permits next week with no plans to make those available before the June 30 annual compliance deadline, after the spot price in the secondary market has collapsed by nearly 20% in the past two days.

Parties that back schemes such as low-traffic neighbourhoods outperformed critics in mayoral election

• The evidence is in: low-traffic neighbourhoods are popular

Schemes to promote cycling and walking condemned by some critics as controversial and unpopular actually appear to be welcomed by many voters, according to analysis of last month’s election results in London.

Examination of the London mayoral election on 6 May on a ward-level basis showed that votes for parties that support such projects tended to rise in areas where they had been introduced, while parties that opposed them were more likely to shed votes.

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The London election proves that measures to make streets safer are a vote-winner, says a former Labour leader of Ealing council

• Cycling schemes popular with London voters, finds analysis

Are measures to make streets safe for walking and cycling unpopular? Are they vote-losers? Have we failed to take communities with us – and will we, as local politicians, pay the price?

As a former Labour leader of Ealing council in west London, I was at the heart of this debate. The low-traffic neighbourhood schemes we installed in my borough, using cameras to stop rat-running in more than a hundred streets, caused a row noisy even by the standards of cycling scheme rows. Demonstrators marched to the council offices with “Julian Bell – end this hell” placards. The “Bell” and the “end” were placed together to make a further well-loved phrase.

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Heat pumps are regarded as a miracle of low-carbon heating technology, but a new report suggests the refrigerants they use carry environmental risks.

The post Heat pumps may cause dangerous water pollution, report warns appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia's abundant wind and solar resources mean we're well placed to produce the hydrogen a green steel industry needs. But there are technical and economic challenges ahead. Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer and DECRA Fellow, University of Newcastle Tom Honeyands, Director, Centre for Ironmaking Materials Research, University of Newcastle Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

This is a lightly edited transcript of the recent Energy Insiders podcast, featuring the Clean Energy Council CEO Kane Thornton. Giles Parkinson  00:29 Hello, and welcome to this latest episode of the Energy Insiders podcast. My name is Giles Parkinson. I’m the editor of Renew Economy, and joining me as usual is David Leitch, ITK Principal. […]

The post Transcript: Energy Insiders podcast interview with CEC’s Kane Thornton appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Federal court hears AGL Energy's legal challenge to Greenpeace's use of its logos in campaign labelling the energy company "Australia's Greatest Liability".

The post AGL vs Greenpeace: legal showdown starts over logo use in environmental campaigns appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EnergyAustralia says it may build pumped hydro storage facility next to Mt Piper coal generator in NSW.

The post EnergyAustralia may build pumped hydro plant next to Mt Piper coal generator appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Nigel Morris talks about the transition to electric motorbikes with animator and film-maker and electric motorcycle YouTuber Sam Baker.

The post The Driven Podcast: The future of electric bikes appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese tells Minerals Council it needs to focus on technologies that support transition to renewables, not fossil fuels.

The post “Running dead on renewables:” Albanese slams Morrison in clean energy pitch to Minerals Council appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Coal shipped out of Australia's ports last year carried 897 million tonnes of embedded CO2 emissions, almost double Australia's domestic emissions.

The post Australia’s monster coal exports emit more C02 than entire German economy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

BP snaps up pipeline of 9GW of solar projects in US in transaction hailed as biggest green energy deal to date.

The post BP acquires 9GW solar pipeline in US in biggest green power deal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

GE unveils concept for a 12MW floating wind turbine, comparing the challenge to putting a bus on a tall pole, and then sticking it in the ocean.

The post “Like putting a bus on a tall pole:” GE unveils 12MW floating wind turbine appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Here's some new scenarios for 100 per cent renewables. We will need more wind than solar, but gas won't be needed if we have green hydrogen.

The post We will need more wind than solar for 100 pct renewables, and lots of storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

Opposition among UK farmers is rising towards the trade deal close to being concluded with Australia.

WWF report finds puffins, penguins and many other species will face issues such as habitat loss and food insecurity

Corals will bleach, penguins will lose their Antarctic ice floes, puffins around the UK coast will be unable to feed their young, and the black-headed squirrel monkey of the Amazon could be wiped out if the world fails to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Beyond a 1.5C rise, many species will face increasing problems finding food or surviving, according to a report from WWF on the effects of climate breakdown on 12 key species across the world.

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New data comes amid warning that world’s growing awareness of coal exports’ impact risks further damaging Australia’s reputation on climate

Emissions from coal mined in Australia but exported and burnt overseas were almost double the nation’s domestic greenhouse gas footprint in 2020, according to new data.

Australia and Indonesia were the biggest exporters of coal for making steel and burning in power stations, together accounting for 59% of the world’s seaborne coal market.

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Voluntary emissions reduction (VER) prices this week maintained their upward trajectory seen over late spring, with voluntary carbon market (VCM) participants continuing to attribute the uptick to large buyers scooping up low-cost renewables credits.

Switzerland intends to procure carbon offsets from Thailand under a joint statement signed by the two nations on Friday, marking the fourth arrangement for Paris-era international emissions trade orchestrated by Bern to date.