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The difference between Queensland's new coal royalties and the lack of them in NSW is a staggering $10-20 billion, in a single year.

The post Coal royalties: Queensland wins where NSW’s renewable energy superstar fears to tread appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Climate change has forced Australia’s grape growers to band together to secure water, as well as plant new varieties and cut water use. Bill Skinner, Postdoctoral research associate, University of Adelaide Douglas Bardsley, Associate professor, University of Adelaide Georgina Drew, Associate Professor and Program Director, Stretton Institute, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

AEMO says a "clear improvement" in conditions will allow it to restore electricity market trading, as 4,000MW of capacity returns from outages.

The post AEMO to restore market trading as 4,000MW returns to operation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Infinite Green Energy lays out plans to build up to 235MW of wind and solar to produce green hydrogen at its Arrowsmith project in Western Australia.

The post Infinite Green lays out wind, solar and battery plans for renewable hydrogen project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

Guyana has received a number of foreign offers to buy forest carbon credits, the country’s vice president has said, as the government assesses the proposals on the table.

The national electricity market is a failed 1990s experiment. A new government-owned body should take control of the power system

A crisis, as the saying has it, combines danger and opportunity. The dangers of the current electricity crisis are obvious. The opportunity it presents is to end to the failed experiment of the national electricity market.

Having suspended the market last week, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) is now directing generators when to supply electricity. It’s also paying them lavish compensation for the financial shortfalls they suffer as a result.

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Market forces must be brought to bear on direct air capture (DAC) projects, shifting interest from the primary to the secondary voluntary carbon market to help drive the costs of the technology down to scalable levels, according to a study published on Wednesday. 

Analysis finds 58% of rapeseed oil in Europe is burned for fuel despite soaring prices and climate impact

Europe and the UK are pouring 17,000 tons – or about 19 million bottles – of cooking oil into vehicle fuel tanks every day, even though it is up to two-and-a-half times more expensive than before 2021, according to new analysis.

The equivalent of another 14 million bottles a day of palm and soy oil – mostly from Indonesia and South America – is also burned for fuel, the research says.

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Steady carbon allowance prices have enabled margins for coal-fired generation to improve dramatically in 2022, as the EU turns to the solid fuel as a means of helping the bloc wean itself from an overwhelming dependence on Russian natural gas.

Environmental advocacy groups are urging California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) to set higher climate ambition for the state ahead of a Thursday hearing to discuss Air Resources Board (CARB)'s 2022 Draft Scoping Plan.

For decades, Indonesia’s mangroves have been degraded or turned into aquaculture. But there are signs of progress, with a new focus on restoration and income-generating alternatives. Benjamin Brown, Postdoctoral research associate, Charles Darwin University Satyawan Pudyatmoko, Professor of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

It’s time for a national grid that serves the public and meets the challenges of a warming world. A new government-owned and operated body should take control of Australia’s electricity system. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

An inflated price paid for carbon removal credits is going to enable a Finnish biochar project to scale over the next few years and hopefully drive its cost of removing a tonne of CO2 down to around $200 a tonne, a webinar heard on Tuesday.

Two Gold Standard-accredited reforestation projects have been placed on watch for a potential change in their grading by a carbon credit ratings agency in its latest update.

The EU could consider phasing out free allowances in the EU ETS more quickly to help meet the bloc’s greater investment needs in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission’s former top climate official told a conference on Tuesday.

Former ADF chief backs study saying threats ‘continue to escalate in the absence of far stronger climate action than we have seen thus far’

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Anthony Albanese will ask Australia’s most senior intelligence chief, Andrew Shearer, to personally lead a review of the security threats posed by the climate crisis.

The move has been backed by a former Australian defence force chief, retired Admiral Chris Barrie, who warned the government to plan for climate risks including disruptions to trade, more severe drought, and increasing demands on emergency services and the military.

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Australian Conservation Foundation says global heating from fossil fuel development will compound coral bleaching on Great Barrier Reef

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An environment group has launched a legal bid to halt a $16bn gas development in Western Australia, arguing the effect of its greenhouse gas emissions on the Great Barrier Reef will be significant and should be assessed under national environment law.

Documents lodged by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) in the federal court on Tuesday said Woodside’s Scarborough gas project would likely affect the 2,300km reef system’s world and natural heritage values by adding to mass coral bleaching.

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Participants in emissions trading mechanisms around the world have near-doubled their outlook for carbon prices when compared last year, according to an annual report published on Tuesday, but their expectations still fall well short of levels thought needed to limit global warming to 1.5C.

With G7 leaders due to gather in less than two weeks in the Bavarian Alps, many expect Berlin to champion a long-trumpeted idea of a climate club to spur climate cooperation beyond the EU.