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Massive Queensland green hydrogen project signs up 600MW solar farm, the first of a dozen similar deals to reach its 2030 production targets.

The post Acciona signs solar supply deal for 3GW green hydrogen plant in Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Climate Analytics says Scarborough project’s emissions expected to be 1.37bn tonnes of CO2, which would slow push to reach net zero

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Energy giant Woodside and Australian governments are betting against the success of the Paris climate agreement by backing a gas development that would substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report.

Woodside last month announced it had made a final investment decision to develop the $16bn Scarborough to Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off Western Australia’s north-west coast.

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EU energy ministers are still at odds over whether to intervene in the EU ETS amid a long-lasting energy price spike, with a few member states still pushing for temporary relief at Thursday's Council meeting.

Oil giant cites weak economic case as reason for deciding not to go ahead with controversial project off Shetland

Shell has pulled out of a controversial new oilfield off the Shetland Islands, plunging the future of oil exploration in the area into doubt.

Shell, which was planning to exploit the field along with the private equity-backed fossil fuel explorer Siccar Point, cited a weak economic case as its reason for deciding not to go ahead with the project.

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Australian Energy Market Operator predicts no supply shortfalls for second summer in a row, but is keeping a close eye on rain, Yallourn, and the solar duck.

The post Solar and La Niña boost summer reliability outlook, but failing coal still a worry appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Study finds some pollutants are correlated with higher levels of boys and others with more girls

A swathe of pollutants and indicators of poverty have been linked to changes in the ratio of baby boys to girls born to millions of parents.

A study of half the US population and the entire Swedish population examined more than 100 possible factors and found, for example, that mercury, chromium and aluminium pollution correlated with more boys being born, while lead pollution increased the proportion of girls. Proximity to farming also affected the sex ratio, possibly due to higher chemical exposures.

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Landmark ruling says mining permits issued in Los Cedros protected area breach Ecuador’s constitution

Ecuador’s highest court has ruled that plans to mine for copper and gold in a protected cloud forest are unconstitutional and violate the rights of nature.

In a landmark ruling, the constitutional court of Ecuador decided that mining permits issued in Los Cedros, a protected area in the north-west of the country, would harm the biodiversity of the forest, which is home to spectacled bears, endangered frogs, dozens of rare orchid species and the brown-headed spider monkey, one of the world’s rarest primates.

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The sheer scale of emissions from the expansion, and projects linked, to it will make achieving 2030 emission targets much harder for Western Australia and by extension, Australia and the world. Bill Hare, Director, Climate Analytics, Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University (Perth), Visiting scientist, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Open access to COVID-19 research accelerated the development of solutions. The urgency of climate change demands the same approach, but more than half of Australian research is still behind paywalls. Lucy Montgomery, Program Lead, Innovation in Knowledge Communication, Curtin University Cameron Neylon, Professor of Research Communications, Curtin University Karl Huang, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Culture and Technology, Curtin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

EU allowances set their 12th record in 15 days on Thursday morning as buyers dominated the market, while a mixed bag of energy prices failed to offer any fundamental support.

National Trust rangers predict record year as they begin count of grey seal pups

“This is what it’s all about,” said Richard Bevan, beaming. “To see this many seals when 10 years ago there would not have been any.”

Bevan is a zoologist surveying the shore of Inner Farne island off the coast of north Northumberland. As far as the eye can sea there are about 100 female grey seals and their dependant pups. In the water hopeful males splash about, none more obvious than a dominant bull with a roman nose and scar. “We’ve called him Pacino,” said a ranger.

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An overcrowded ship with asylum seekers leaves Libya bound for Europe – triggering a high-stakes showdown between a Doctors Without Borders vessel wanting to escort it to safety and the Libyan Coast Guard fighting to turn it back. As the Libyans issue armed threats the tension grows below deck. With European countries' responsibilities toward refugees once again in the spotlight, here is an inside view of the desperate hope that is the deadly race for Europe

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An Australian investor has signed a €10 million offtake deal that will secure it several hundred thousand voluntary carbon credits created from cookstove projects in East Africa over the next five years.

One of Australia’s four big banks has appointed a former emissions broker as its new associate director for carbon trading.

As the United States turns to electric vehicles, solar and wind for its clean energy transition, the demand for lithium – used in rechargeable batteries – is on the rise. In a remote corner of the Nevada desert sits Thacker Pass, the site of a planned lithium mine that would make a major contribution to domestic supply of the mineral. But the project faces opposition from members of nearby Indigenous communities, who say the area holds spiritual, cultural and historical importance and would be irreversibly damaged by large-scale mining activity

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As Cop26 president, UK must act on meat, fossil fuels and overseas aid, says Climate Change Committee

The UK must “walk the talk” on climate action over the next 12 months, which is critical in tackling the climate emergency, according to an assessment of the Cop26 summit by the Climate Change Committee.

The UK has one of the most ambitious 2030 emissions targets in the world, according to the government’s official advisers, but it does not have all the policies in place to deliver it.

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A Chinese province has announced its local coal-fired power plants have a surplus of millions of CO2 allowances ahead of this month’s ETS compliance, despite some being punished for failing to report emissions.

Ministers are told they must agree tougher policies to get the UK on track to meet goals set at COP26.

US oil and gas major ExxonMobil has for the first time set emissions targets for 2030, extending a commitment that it made last year to cut the emissions intensity of its operations by 2025.

Environmental groups say scheme falls far short of farming reforms promised after Brexit

Farmers will be paid for looking after England’s soils for the first time from next year, when the first stage of the government’s new support payments begins.

Environmental groups criticised the measures as puny and accused ministers of failing in their promises to use the UK’s departure from the EU to strengthen environmental protections and reduce the damaging impacts of farming.

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