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Artificial intelligence has been identified as one of the top three emerging technologies in conservation, helping protect species around the world

There’s a strand of thinking, from sci-fi films to Stephen Hawking that suggests artificial intelligence (AI) could spell doom for humans. But conservationists are increasingly turning to AI as an innovative tech solution to tackle the biodiversity crisis and mitigate climate change.

A recent report by Wildlabs.net found that AI was one of the top three emerging technologies in conservation. From camera trap and satellite images to audio recordings, the report notes: “AI can learn how to identify which photos out of thousands contain rare species; or pinpoint an animal call out of hours of field recordings – hugely reducing the manual labour required to collect vital conservation data.”

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Activists say one in three people in England cannot access green spaces, with the poorest most deprived

Everyone in the UK should be legally entitled to equal access to nature, wildlife campaigners will tell the government.

Communities and NGOS would have the ability to take local authorities to court if they failed to provide healthy green space, under plans set out by more than 60 nature, planning, health and equality organisations. They argue that despite the fact there is strong evidence that accessible, nature-rich spaces boost our physical and mental wellbeing, and reduce mortality, one in three people in England cannot access nature near their home.

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AGL’s board has knocked back a billionaire-led bid to shut its coal generators. Serious negotiations will now begin – and Mike Cannon-Brookes has form on transforming Australian power generation. Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Genex locks in funding for Bouldercombe big battery project and strikes longer term funding partnership to build more big batteries.

The post Genex secures funds for Bouldercombe battery, flags more big battery projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Japanese power giant issues international call for supplies of zero emissions ammonia, a major opportunity for potential Australian suppliers.

The post Green ammonia call from Japan’s biggest coal generator excites Australian projects appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The Carbon Farming Business Development Specialist role will support the Elders business strategy deliver and expand the Elders carbon farming service offering to the Australian agricultural industry.

Urban gardens, parks and green walls are crucial ways to tackle flash floods and city heat. But new global research finds its effectiveness varies from city to city. Mark O. Cuthbert, Principal Research Fellow & Reader, Cardiff University Denis O'Carroll, Professor & Managing Director, UNSW Water Research Laboratory, UNSW Sydney Gabriel C Rau, Assistant Professor, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Ukrainian emitters have warned that a number of factors are impeding their ability to comply with measures intended to pave the way towards launching a national carbon market.

Companies have opened eight more trading accounts in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme so far this year, government data shows, bringing the total to 136.

Bid by Cannon-Brookes and Brookfield for AGL is an assault on the citadel itself, from the inside out, and we should all be cheering from the sidelines.

The post Cannon-Brookes’ unstoppable billions pierce the bubble of fossil fuel denial appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Cannon-Brookes says grid can reach net zero by 2035, and Australia should have cheapest power prices in world thanks to wind and solar.

The post Cannon-Brookes: We have $20 billion to push net zero on grid by 2035 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia's biggest coal generator AGL rejects tech billionaire's bid as too low, insists it can "continue to reinvent itself." Cannon-Brookes responds.

The post AGL rejects Cannon-Brookes early closure bid, insists it can reinvent itself appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Quirks of our geology made Australia unusually abundant in coal. But as the world goes green, we can switch to vital clean mineral resources so coalminers aren’t left behind. Melanie Finch, Lecturer in Structural Geology and Metamorphism, James Cook University Emily Finch, Beamline Scientist at ANSTO, and Research Affiliate, Monash University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

New data exposes a strategic failure to drive growth in sectors that can provide the good jobs of the future

In the lead-up to Cop26 in November, Boris Johnson was at his most panglossian as he extolled the economic benefits of the country’s transition to net zero. “The UK’s path to ending our contribution to climate change,” the prime minister forecast, “will be paved with well-paid jobs, billions in investment and thriving green industries … by moving first and taking bold action, we will build a defining competitive edge in electric vehicles, offshore wind, carbon capture technology and more.”

Back in the real world, matters stand rather differently. Far from forging ahead of the rest, Britain risks falling behind in the new industrial revolution, as latest figures from the Office for National Statistics make depressingly clear. The green economy more or less flatlined between 2014 and 2020, the ONS found. Employment in the low-carbon and renewable energy sectors – which include manufacturing, energy supply and construction – actually fell. This dismal state of affairs predated the Covid pandemic and the accompanying recession.

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The proposal is bad enough, but does it have to be couched in such dreadful language?

I don’t normally take much interest in planning applications, appeals and disputes, but one that is local to me piqued my curiosity as it involves a burning issue, literally. This is the application by the waste management company Veolia to build an incinerator not too far from Jane Austen’s house at Chawton. Given that it is in an area of breathtaking countryside and despite objections from Alan Titchmarsh, CPRE Hampshire, the South Downs National Park Authority and Historic England, among others, the authorities appear to be giving it the go-ahead.

What particularly caught my eye was the following: “But despite this overwhelming opposition, the report states the proposal will ‘allow residual waste, which cannot be reused or recycled, to be managed at the most reasonable level of the waste hierarchy, diverting it from landfill’.”

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Billionaire Mike-Cannon Brookes joins forces with Canadian Asset Manager Brookfield to make a bid for AGL Energy, with the goal of shutting down its coal plants early.

The post Cannon-Brookes leads green bid for AGL, to fast-track coal closures appeared first on RenewEconomy.

NSW wants to build wind towers, batteries and electrolysers to boost local jobs in the big switch from coal to renewables.

The post NSW wants to make wind towers, electrolysers and batteries, be “Tesla” of green industry appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Simon Nellist from Cornwall who had moved to Sydney praised as a wonderful human being with a gift for empathy

The family of a British man killed by a shark in Australia have paid tribute to “a wonderful human being” who had a “rare gift” of connecting with people.

Simon Nellist, 35, died in the great white shark attack on Wednesday off Little Bay, east Sydney – the first fatal attack in Sydney for 60 years.

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Volunteers are picking leftover produce on farms to reduce waste and help food banks

“It’s like a vegetable treasure hunt,” says Jenni Duncan, 54, ankle deep in mud, looking at the rows of cauliflower plants stretching out in front of her as the Cornish drizzle gets heavier by the minute.

This field near Hayle in west Cornwall has already been harvested, but not all the produce met supermarket standards and so some was left unpicked. This is where Duncan and her team of volunteers come in, working down the rows, peeling back the leaves of plants that have been left behind, hoping to find small but perfectly formed cauliflowers still tucked deep inside.

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Saul Griffith says Australia should lead world on electrifying everything, starting with cars and households. He plans to turn his old Monaro into an EV too.

The post The Driven Podcast: Let’s electrify everything, starting with cars appeared first on RenewEconomy.