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In Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel The Ministry for the Future, climate disasters kill tens of millions of people – and that’s a scenario he portrays as relatively optimistic

To really grasp the present, we need to imagine the future – then look back from it to better see the now. The angry climate kids do this naturally. The rest of us need to read good science fiction. A great place to start is Kim Stanley Robinson.

Robinson is one of the most brilliant writers of the genre. During Covid quarantine, I read 11 of his books, culminating in his instant classic The Ministry for the Future, which imagines several decades of climate politics starting this decade.

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Renewables developer Total Eren partners with Gransolar to build solar and battery based microgrid in the Galápagos Islands.

The post Galapágos Islands to be powered by solar and big battery micro-grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The test site is being built in Moray as part of the development of a space port in the Highlands.

EUA prices slumped back from their record-breaking rally early on Thursday as options traders covered short call positions and unloaded EUAs purchased as a hedge against those positions, sources said.

Scientists working on the Search For The Lost Fishes project have spotted the freshwater Batman River loach, which has not been seen since 1974

A freshwater fish that scientists thought was extinct has been found in south-east Turkey, after an absence of nearly 50 years.

“I’ve been researching this area for 12 years and this fish was always on my wishlist,” said Dr Cüneyt Kaya, associate professor at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University. “It’s taken a long time. When I saw the distinctive bands on the fish, I felt so happy. It was a perfect moment.”

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In the face of the impending climate catastrophe, there has been a growing clamour to repopulate the trillions of trees our planet has lost over the centuries. But large-scale tree planting is not helping, and in some cases it's creating more problems for the environment. Josh Toussaint-Strauss discusses how we've been getting tree planting wrong, and what we should be doing instead to safeguard precious ecosystems and reduce greenhouse gases

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Questions remain around who will bankroll the tens of gigawatt-hours of battery storage needed for energy arbitrage in Australia.

The post Big batteries had “breakout year” in 2021, but how will the boom play out? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Global commodity trader Trafigura has added to the growing hydrogen project pipeline in Australia with plans to develop a A$750 million ($540 mln) facility that will be integrated with a large smelter, the South Australian (SA) state government announced on Thursday.

Trump’s energy department blocked a rule intended to phase out less efficient bulbs. Now Biden plans to move forward, slowly

The Biden administration has moved to reverse the depredations endured by one of the more unusual targets of Donald Trump’s culture wars during his time as US president: the humble lightbulb.

The US department of energy has put forward a new standard for the energy efficiency of lightbulbs that would essentially banish the era of older, incandescent technology in favor of LED lighting.

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The decline of "baseload" has been predicted for many years, now South Australia is showing a grid can operate without it.

The post “Baseload” generators have had their day, and won’t be needed in a modern grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australian households could save billions in energy expenditure, while slashing emissions, by going electric and renewable.

The post Electrification and renewables could save Australians $60bn a year in energy costs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

California regulator ARB this week distributed the fewest number of new compliance offsets since April, as the number of credits in circulation plummeted as the agency accounted for cap-and-trade retirements from 2018-20.

The answer isn’t as clear cut as you might think and depends on a number of factors, including the terrain and whether it’s pack vs pack. Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The risk to humans is low but diseased birds should not be touched, officials say.

Gaia Environment is looking to hire a junior carbon trader.

Morrison government slammed for deeply inadequate "climate policy pamphlet" and failure to break Australia's "dangerous" coal addiction.

The post Australia slammed for “dangerous” coal addiction and climate “cosplay” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Genex strikes revenue sharing deal with Tesla, which will operate its Autobidder system at new Queensland battery that features its Megapack technology.

The post Genex strikes “world first” revenue sharing deal with Tesla for Queensland big battery appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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Virginia Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday announced he will use executive authority to exit RGGI, sending allowance prices in the power sector cap-and-trade scheme tumbling.