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Have Australian drivers finally charged into electric vehicles?
EV sales are booming and longtime favourite makes and models are being ignored in favour of Tesla and BYD
Newcomer brands and luxury marques are dominating booming electric car sales as mainstream players struggle to match the pace of a fast-evolving EV market.
The top three selling electric vehicles in Australia in 2023 were from Tesla and BYD, between them accounting for two-thirds of the 87,217 electric cars sold, according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
Continue reading...Pattern found in world’s rainforests where 2% of species make up 50% of trees
From the Amazon to Africa and south-east Asia, diversity among rainforest species follows the same rule, study shows
Just 2% of rainforest tree species account for 50% of the trees found in tropical forests across Africa, the Amazon and south-east Asia, a new study has found.
Mirroring patterns found elsewhere in the natural world, researchers have discovered that a few tree species dominate the world’s major rainforests, with thousands of rare species making up the rest.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features
Continue reading...Dutch Caribbean islanders sue Netherlands over climate change
Bonaire citizens file formal legal challenge, as research shows part of island will be submerged by 2025
Eight people from the Caribbean island of Bonaire are suing the Netherlands, accusing it of violating their human rights by not doing enough to protect them from the climate crisis.
The group, with Greenpeace Netherlands, filed a formal legal challenge against the Dutch government in The Hague on Thursday, asking the district court to order it to cut its greenhouse emissions much more quickly and to help its most vulnerable territories adapt to the impact of the climate crisis.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabian tech company eyes production plant for its carbon-negative concrete
Euro Markets: Midday Update
Asset manager support for environmental, social issues has “catastrophically crashed”, warns investor pressure group
The fate of nuclear power at stake in Taiwan election
World’s biggest blue carbon project overcredited, but good on additionality -rating agency
South Korea urged to make major cuts in CO2 allocation in next ETS phase
Australian billionaire commits to a massive 14GW of new wind power
‘Astounding’ ocean temperatures in 2023 intensified extreme weather, data shows
Record levels of heat were absorbed last year by Earth’s seas, which have been warming year-on-year for the past decade
“Astounding” ocean temperatures in 2023 supercharged “freak” weather around the world as the climate crisis continued to intensify, new data has revealed.
The oceans absorb 90% of the heat trapped by the carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, making it the clearest indicator of global heating. Record levels of heat were taken up by the oceans in 2023, scientists said, and the data showed that for the past decade the oceans have been hotter every year than the year before.
Continue reading...Labour will be taking a risk sticking by its £28bn green energy plan. It should do it anyway | Larry Elliott
True, the Tories will accuse Keir Starmer of being spendthrift, but it’s better for the party to fight an election on its own terms
It’s official: 2023 was the hottest year since records began and by some distance. The Earth is now 1.48C warmer than it was before the dawn of the industrial age and rapidly approaching the target limit of 1.5C set by the international community in Paris in 2015.
The movers and shakers who will pitch up in Davos to attend next week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) are worried – as well they might be. The WEF’s global risks survey is unequivocal: in a highly dangerous world, the threat posed by the climate emergency is the one that gives most cause for concern in the long term.
Larry Elliott is the Guardian’s economics editor
Continue reading...Installation of rooftop solar panels in UK hits 12-year high in 2023
Industry data shows almost 190,000 installed last year as well as record number of heat pump installations
The number of households and businesses installing rooftop solar panels has reached its highest level in 12 years, while heat pump installations climbed to record highs in 2023, according to the industry’s official standards body.
The figures showed almost 190,000 rooftop solar installations were carried out last year, the highest level since the government slashed its subsidy scheme in late 2011.
Continue reading...More work needed to triple renewable power by decade’s end -IEA
World’s renewable energy capacity grew at record pace in 2023
IEA report says 50% growth last year keeps hope of achieving Cop28 climate target of tripling clean energy capacity
Global renewable energy capacity grew by the fastest pace recorded in the last 20 years in 2023, which could put the world within reach of meeting a key climate target by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The world’s renewable energy grew by 50% last year to 510 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, the 22nd year in a row that renewable capacity additions set a new record, according to figures from the IEA.
Continue reading...Tasmanian garden wins prize for world’s ugliest lawn
Winner says people can save water, help animals and free themselves from the tyranny of lawnmowing
It is not so much a lawn as a moonscape: pitted craters dug by bandicoots, exhausted tufts of withered yellow grass plucked by wallabies and pitiful plants shrivelled brown under the Australian sunshine.
But Kathleen Murray is the proud winner of the first World’s Ugliest Lawn competition after the Swedish contest to encourage water-saving, environmentally-friendly gardening went global.
Continue reading...Key milestone for WA’s biggest battery, with all storage units installed
WA government says all of the containerised batteries are in place for the state's biggest battery, the 200MW four-hour (800MWh) Kwinana 2 project.
The post Key milestone for WA’s biggest battery, with all storage units installed appeared first on RenewEconomy.
CP Daily: Wednesday January 10, 2024
Big solar records round out the year for NSW and Queensland
Latest Rystad Energy data reveals new big solar output records for December. Meanwhile, the wind blew strongest in the West.
The post Big solar records round out the year for NSW and Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.