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A proposed new European carbon market for buildings and transport could hit the poorest the hardest, MEPs said in a hearing on Thursday, with several calling for a faster phaseout of free EU carbon allocations for industry and airlines under the bloc's main ETS.

Dutch farmers could be forced to sell land and reduce the amount of animals they keep to help lower ammonia pollution

Dutch politicians are considering plans to force hundreds of farmers to sell up and cut livestock numbers, to reduce damaging ammonia pollution.

After the highest Dutch administrative court found in 2019 that the government was breaking EU law by not doing enough to reduce excess nitrogen in vulnerable natural areas, the country has been battling what it is calling a “nitrogen crisis”.

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Activists say almost 2,000 people on waiting list for place to stay owing to lack of affordable accommodation

Scotland-based climate campaigners have condemned “the most exclusionary Cop ever”, as they reveal a waiting list of nearly 2,000 delegates and activists who were still seeking affordable accommodation for November’s summit in Glasgow.

The Cop26 Homestay Network, which was launched in May, and is described by organisers as a “non-corporate Airbnb”, aims to match local hosts from across the central belt of Scotland with visiting climate change campaigners, scientists and non-governmental organisations.

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Academic researchers say the fossil fuel industry engages in ‘wokewashing’ to divert attention away from the crisis

ExxonMobil has been touting its commitment to “reducing carbon emissions with innovative energy solutions”. Chevron would like to remind you it is keeping the lights on during this dark time. BP is going #NetZero, but is also very proud of the “digital innovations” on its new, enormous oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile Shell insists it really supports women in traditionally male-dominated jobs.

A casual social media user might get the impression the fossil fuel industry views itself as a social justice warrior, fighting on behalf of the poor, the marginalized, and women – at least based on its marketing material in recent years.

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Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) held in the national registry increased by almost 25% in the three months to June, as quarterly issuance levels rose to record highs, outstripping demand, the Clean Energy Regulator said Thursday.

An influential environmental advisory body has become the latest to call on China to put an absolute cap on CO2 emissions under its carbon trading scheme.

An agreement between the Port of Townsville and Ark Energy could see the export of renewable hydrogen to South Korea in the next decade, the Queensland state government in Australia has announced.

Widespread use of chemicals that can harm wildlife means French state has failed to protect the country’s flora and fauna, say NGOS

The French government is being threatened with court action by two NGOs who accuse it of failing to meet its obligations to protect nature.

Notre Affaire à Tous and Pollinis have issued an ultimatum to the French state for failing to tackle the biodiversity crisis by implementing adequate laws and regulations. The announcement was made at the IUCN world conservation congress in the French port of Marseille and will be followed by a civil disobedience rally.

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The first big standalone battery in Queensland grid has begun charging and discharging in the first phase of is commissioning process.

The post Queensland’s first big standalone battery charges up for first time appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The alarm went off as the space station's batteries were being charged, Russia's space agency says.

Offshore energy boom in China will grow world’s windfarm capacity by more than 12GW in 2021

Windfarm installations are expected to double to record global levels this year, after a short-lived Covid-19 slowdown, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

The group’s annual report found that the world’s offshore windfarm capacity grew by 6.1GW last year, down slightly from a record 6.24GW in 2019, but would rebound to more than 12GW in 2021 powered by an offshore wind boom in China.

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Climate policies commit us to a calamitous 2.9C of global heating, but catastrophic changes can occur at even 1.5C or 2C

If there’s one thing we know about climate breakdown, it’s that it will not be linear, smooth or gradual. Just as one continental plate might push beneath another in sudden fits and starts, causing periodic earthquakes and tsunamis, our atmospheric systems will absorb the stress for a while, then suddenly shift. Yet, everywhere, the programmes designed to avert it are linear, smooth and gradual.

Current plans to avoid catastrophe would work in a simple system like a washbasin, in which you can close the tap until the inflow is less than the outflow. But they are less likely to work in complex systems, such as the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere. Complex systems seek equilibrium. When they are pushed too far out of one equilibrium state, they can flip suddenly into another. A common property of complex systems is that it’s much easier to push them past a tipping point than to push them back. Once a transition has happened, it cannot realistically be reversed.

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Commissioner rebuked by judge presiding over civil case that is being watched closely for its ruling on whether a wind farm can be considered a "nuisance."

The post Court admonishment and site visits feature in wind turbine “nuisance case” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

ARENA says it is still bringing itself "up to speed" on CCS technologies, as agency pivots to Angus Taylor's preferred technologies in new investment plan.

The post ARENA “getting up to speed” on carbon capture as it rolls out new investment plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Scotland's thriving space sector is trying to have a reduced impact on the planet.

The world is moving away fossil fuels, and there’s nothing Australia can do about it. Racing to dig up and sell whatever fossil fuels we can before the timer stops is not a future-proof strategy. Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University Mark Howden, Director, Climate Change Institute, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Japanese company plans to build autonomous battery ships to transfer offshore wind electricity to the main grid.

The post Battery ships: Japanese company’s innovative plan to transfer offshore wind power appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New report identifies which fossil fuel companies and lobby groups are exerting the greatest control over the federal government on climate policy.

The post How carbon lobbyists control the climate policy debate in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia has easily beaten its previous record for the share of renewables on its main grid, reaching 58.3 per cent  just after noon on Thursday – and also setting a new record for the share of wind and solar in the grid. The new record, according to data from OpenNEM, was set at 12.30pm, and […]

The post Australia smashes renewables record again, hits 58.3 per cent on main grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New documents reveal that gas company Santos paid for a specially chartered flight for Keith Pitt to attend a company media event in Darwin.

The post Gas company Santos flew resources minister Keith Pitt on chartered jet to Darwin event, documents reveal appeared first on RenewEconomy.