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Banks love talking up their green credentials, so why has this bank refused a mortgage to new home owners whose land will host a wind farm?

The post Bank refuses mortgage for tree changers because of wind farm caveat appeared first on RenewEconomy.

It could be part of the solution to the impasse over the safeguard mechanism. Even if it isn’t, the logic for it should be irresistible

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New Orleans was still awash in the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the then prime minister, John Howard, was in climate doubt and delay mode when Anthony Albanese got to his feet in the Australian parliament to argue for a better way ahead.

Then a mid-ranking opposition frontbencher, the future PM gave a nod to the carnage in Louisiana before running through the “profound risks’’ that Australia would face if greenhouse gas emissions kept rising – a now-familiar list including worsening heatwaves, less rain in the south, more rain in the north, more severe bushfires, cyclones, storms and ocean surges.

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Greens secure deal to block coal and gas projects from Labor's $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, but safeguard negotiations remain stalled.

The post Greens deal blocks coal and gas from reconstruction fund, but stalemate sticks on Safeguard appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A new way of sucking carbon from the air is up to three times more effective than current technology.

Queensland advances plan to turn coal and gas generation facility into a green energy hub with battery storage, solar, and green hydrogen.

The post Queensland to convert coal and gas hub with giant battery, solar and hydrogen appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

The Rimba Collective is on course to deliver $1 billion for private sector-enabled forest protection and restoration to more than 500,000 hectares in Southeast Asia and is launching an incubation vehicle to kickstart projects to go beyond that, a conference heard this week.

Australia needs to clean up its key manufacturing industries, including steel, aluminium and ammonia production – or be left behind in a net zero world.

The post Australia can be world leader in green metals – or be left behind appeared first on RenewEconomy.

What will Australian coal miners do with their bulging cash balances? Those considering opening up new capacity would do well to rethink their strategy.

The post Coal miners made a motza from the war in Ukraine. But what will they do next? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Construction begins on Australia’s first commercial-scale vanadium flow battery electrolyte manufacturing facility.

The post Australia’s first vanadium flow battery plant begins construction in Townsville appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California reduced the number of offsets minted over the past two weeks by over 60% compared to its prior issuance, with the share of credits with direct environmental benefits to the state (DEBs) also trending lower, data from regulator ARB published Wednesday showed.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) prices ticked up this week despite utility Pacific Gas & Electric holding a massive auction, while a dairy digester in the state applied to generate credits under the transportation sector programme instead of the compliance offset market.

A new offset platform for Mexican nature-based projects is set to commence pre-selling credits from a blue carbon project, before greatly expanding its portfolio over the coming year.

Carbon capture, storage, and utilisation (CCUS) projects have taken the lion's share of grants awarded by the EUs flagship decarbonisation fund so far, raising concerns as to whether one technology should be receiving such a high share of carbon revenue funding ahead of other clean energy initiatives.

Over 30 years ago, the world banned CFC chemicals to save the ozone layer. But now, climate-fuelled bushfire smoke is putting it at renewed risk Ian Rae, Honorary Professorial Fellow, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

‘Cleanup is futile’ if production continues at current rate, amid rapid rise in marine pollution

An unprecedented rise in plastic pollution has been uncovered by scientists, who have calculated that more than 170tn plastic particles are afloat in the oceans.

They have called for a reduction in the production of plastics, warning that “cleanup is futile” if they continue to be pumped into the environment at the current rate.

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The current EUA price rise towards €100 reflects a variety of fundamental factors as much as it does speculative activity, but the rally seems unlikely to attract the attention of politicians as previous price spikes have done, according to a senior market participant.

The UK government has awarded a £737,000 tender contract to a London-based consultancy to evaluate the first phase of the country’s domestic cap-and-trade scheme.

Researchers have created eggs from the cells of male mice, raising the prospect of male couples having their own children.

Lead researcher says destruction was similar to process of Antarctic ozone hole forming each spring ‘but at much warmer temperatures’

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Particles in bushfire smoke can activate molecules that destroy the ozone layer, according to new research that suggests future ozone recovery may be delayed by increasingly intense and frequent fires.

A study published in the journal Nature has found that smoke from the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires temporarily depleted the ozone layer by 3% to 5% in 2020.

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