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Verra draws from Alberta, California government agencies for new hires
UPDATE – California lawmaker introduces bill to adopt governor’s higher 2030 climate target
Nearly 6 months on, flood victims are still waiting to be housed. This is what Australia must do to be ready for the next disaster
Look up this spring – you might see little ravens build soft, cosy nests from your garden trees
The Guardian view on England’s sewage crisis: a Tory stink | Editorial
As environment secretary, Liz Truss made cuts that undermined regulation. Now coastal communities are suffering
Untreated sewage pouring into coastal waters around England is far from the only crisis afflicting the UK in this worrying summer. But there could be few more dispiriting signs of the state we are in than the fact that holidaymakers on some of our most popular beaches are being warned to stay out of the sea because of the risks to health from swimming with faeces, while the majority of rivers are on “red alert”. In some locations, including Littlehampton in West Sussex, there are no working monitors, meaning that there is no way to measure pollution.
Rightly, the water companies and Ofwat, their ineffective regulator, are coming in for heavy criticism. And the headline figures and facts that sum up the sector’s dismal performance are worth repeating. Between 1991 and 2019, English and Welsh water companies paid out £72bn in dividends, and took on around £55bn in debt. But the investment in infrastructure that was supposed to follow privatisation never came. Not one new reservoir has been built in 30 years, while Scottish Water, which remains publicly owned, has invested 35% more per household. On a host of measures, from leaks to river water quality, the UK’s performance is poor, with leaked data showing that at current rates it will take 2,000 years to replace the pipe network.
Continue reading...Crypto company builds infrastructure to undercut OTC voluntary market
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, SustainCERT – Amsterdam
Roll up, roll up and meet the watery overlords pumping sewage on to our shores this summer | Marina Hyde
Why focus just on the politicians where there are plenty of CEOs out there with excrement on their hands?
I have an idea in the public policy/apocalyptic light entertainment space. No water company boss should be allowed to collect their salary or bonus unless they take a long and exhaustively reported dip in the waters of one of the beaches they’ve pumped sewage into that same morning. Just think of it. The first wild swimming article you’d genuinely want to read.
In the meantime, the water firms keep on doing it, with one of the hottest summers on record punctuated by daily reports of both drought and sewage discharge. Environment Agency data suggests the amount of raw sewage pumped into seas and rivers by the water companies has increased 2,553% in the past five years. To Jonathan Swift, scatological humour seemed the rational satirical response to the state of early 18th-century politics. To us, it’s simply the factual state of affairs. There’s no real need to write a metaphorical poem about parliamentarians dabbling in their dung, since any MP who has holidayed on these shores this summer has literally done it.
Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
Marina Hyde will be in conversation with Richard Osman at a Guardian Live event in London on 11 October. Join them in person or via the livestream – book tickets via the Guardian Live website
Continue reading...Water companies in England ‘expecting sewers to last 2,000 years’
Leaked data shows water companies are replacing 0.05% of England’s crumbling pipe network a year
It would take English water companies 2,000 years to replace their pipes at current rates, leaked data reveals.
Analysis of Water UK data from 2021 by the Angling Trust has found that on average, water companies replace 0.05% of their pipe networks a year.
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Australian lithium miner ready to tap into solar to cut costs and emissions
Australian lithium miner Pilbara Minerals is almost ready to flick the switch on its first solar plant as it seeks to decarbonise as it expands.
The post Australian lithium miner ready to tap into solar to cut costs and emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Just Stop Oil activists stage protests at Essex and Midlands terminals
Essex police arrest 18 people at three locations as protesters try to disrupt distribution of fuel
Dozens of environmental protesters have blocked critical oil infrastructure in Essex and the Midlands as they revived a campaign to “just stop oil”.
At daybreak on Tuesday, about 50 people took part in protests targeting three oil terminals, from where fuel is distributed to petrol stations, the activist group Just Stop Oil said.
Continue reading...Record profits for grain firms amid food crisis prompt calls for windfall tax
Sales at world’s top four traders have soared, raising concerns of profiteering and speculation
Companies at the centre of the global grain trade have enjoyed a record bonanza amid soaring food prices around the world, raising concerns of profiteering and speculation in global food markets that could put staples beyond the reach of the poorest, and prompting calls for a windfall tax.
The world’s top four grain traders, which have dominated the global grain market for decades – have seen record or near-record profits or sales. They are forecasting demand to outstrip supply at least until 2024, which is likely to lead to even higher sales and profits in the next two years.
Continue reading...China expands domestic natural gas production, though demand remains slow -report
Japan’s MOL gets approval to design large-scale LCO2 carrier to transport 1 MtCO2 a year
Wind turbine blades could be recycled into gummy bears, scientists say
Researchers design composite resin for blades that can be broken down to make new products including sweets
The next generation of wind turbine blades could be recycled into gummy bears at the end of their service, scientists have said.
Researchers at Michigan State University have made a composite resin for the blades by combining glass fibres with a plant-derived polymer and a synthetic one. Once the blades have reached the end of their lifespan the materials can be broken down and recycled to make new products including turbine blades – and chewy sweets.
Continue reading...Carbon farming skill shortages must be addressed to scale Australian offset sector, industry groups say
European Commission’s top climate official Petriccione dies
Epaulette sharks can walk on land for two hours, researchers say
A species of carpet shark is evolving to better survive warming seas and the climate crisis
Researchers at a Florida university say a small but feisty species of carpet shark with an extraordinary ability to walk on land is evolving to better survive warming seas and the climate crisis.
The epaulette shark, commonly found on shallow reefs of Australia and New Guinea, can walk for up to 30 meters on dry land using paddle shaped fins, and survive hypoxia – a deficiency of oxygen – for up to two hours.
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