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Labor energy policy will attack Coalition's plan for new coal investment, outline the path to 50 per cent renewable energy, and will likely include a focus on storage and energy efficiency.

The post Labor to exploit Morrison’s coal obsessions in new energy policy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A 50 per cent renewable energy target from Labour would be trivial in terms of new project and investment requirements. But it would have an impact on coal.

The post Know your NEM: The impact of Federal ALP policy, some speculation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Infigen says its Tesla big battery at Lake Bonney will be ready by April, but future battery investments tempered by lack of supportive markets and battery costs.

The post Infigen says its Tesla big battery will be ready by April, more “firming” to follow appeared first on RenewEconomy.

International law firm Ashurst has advised the lenders on the A$409 million refinancing of the Collgar Wind Farm in Western Australia.

The post Ashurst advises on A$409m refinancing of Collgar Wind Farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest power generation costs data reveals that coal industry’s preferred climate escape route of promoting CCS on coal power plants has disappeared as a financially viable option.

The post New renewables cost data shuts door on coal power’s CCS escape route appeared first on RenewEconomy.

California regulator paves way for gigawatt-scale lithium ion batteries from Tesla and others to replace ageing natural gas power plants.

The post California paves way for gigawatt-scale Tesla battery to replace gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Despite its global importance, the rainy 'Maritime Continent' around Indonesia is hard to capture using global climate models. But fear not - new research shows how to improve our forecasts. Andrew King, ARC DECRA fellow, University of Melbourne Claire Vincent, Lecturer in Atmospheric Science, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A scientist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich says resistant seeds could help beat the fatal disease.

Boy mauled while spearfishing off Arnhem Land a day after a man was attacked while learning to surf south of Wollongong

A teenager has been attacked by a shark while spearfishing off the Northern Territory coast.

The 17-year-old was bitten on his arm and leg about 30km offshore from Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Land on Sunday morning, NT police said.

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With demand for electricity set to rocket, the UK cannot rely on renewables alone

Your business leader misses the bigger picture, as indeed do other supporters of renewable energy, such as Greenpeace (“Moorside’s atomic dream was an illusion. Renewables are the way to a clean future”).

The bigger picture is that we can expect to see a substantial and sustained increase in electricity demand over the next 20-30 years due to the electrification of transport and heat. Heat alone, by the most conservative estimates, will add 300GW of peak thermal demand, which would add 100GW to the grid, dwarfing the current 65GW or so of peak UK demand. Yes, renewables backed up with energy storage and smart control can make an impact but a significant baseload method will still be needed. As pointed out in the late David Mackay’s excellent book Sustainable Energy – Without the Hot Air, the least bad option of meeting this is likely to be nuclear fission.
Chris Underwood, professor emeritus of energy modelling for the built environment
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne

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As diesel emission fears mount, a growing number of parents now consider clean air the main factor when choosing a school

An increasing number of parents are shunning good schools because of the local air quality while some are even looking to move out of cities altogether, as fears over the effects of diesel emissions on health mount.

Last week a major study published in the Lancet found that pollution from diesel vehicles was stunting the growth of children’s lungs, leaving them damaged for life.

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Farwiza Farhan on efforts to protect the forests where orangutan, rhinos, elephants and tigers co-exist.

Dutch artist Suzanne Jongmans creates photographs that echo the old masters, but with a modern twist: she crafts intricate costumes using recycled plastics, old blankets and used packaging. Jongmans finds inspiration in painters such as Jan van Eyck, Rembrandt and Holbein, whose level of detail she aims to replicate. “When you look at the old masters, you can really see the time that is put into the paintings,” she says. “And that fits with the method I developed.” There is an implicit environmental message in her work but, she says, her primary objective is giving a new life to these old materials. “I’m a collector mostly – I collect all kinds of things, like blankets, wool, things from nature. And I would like all these materials to tell a story.”

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Protesters plan to close five main bridges across Thames over extinction crisis

Thousands of people have descended on central London for a “day of rebellion” in protest over the looming climate crisis.

People began massing on five bridges over the River Thames from 10am on Saturday. A short time later groups of protesters began to block the roads on the bridges, some of the busiest and most important in the capital.

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Off Track explores the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) colony on Bowen Island in NSW. [Repeat]

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

California regulator ARB on Friday postponed a decision until next spring on whether to approve the Tropical Forest Standard (TFS) that could allow jurisdictions to link their sector-based offset programmes to the state’s carbon market, with stakeholders warning of the standard's environmental and social ramifications.

EU carbon prices ended above €19 on Friday as the UK government stuck to its efforts to pass a Brexit deal, while a huge drop in coal prices boosted the prospects for coal generators to ramp up EUA buying.

Scientists in Brazil find first evidence of plastic pollution in Amazon basin freshwater fish

Scientists have found the first evidence of plastic contamination in freshwater fish in the Amazon, highlighting the extent to which bags, bottles and other waste dumped in rivers is affecting the world’s wildlife.

Tests on the stomach contents of fish in Brazil’s Xingu River, one of the major tributaries of the Amazon, revealed plastic particles in more than 80% of the species examined, including the omnivorous parrot pacu, herbivorous redhook silver dollar, and meat-eating red-bellied piranha.

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Nodal Exchange and IncubEx launched their first tranche of environmental products in North American carbon, renewable energy, and other environmental markets on Friday, adding another player offering futures contracts in the market.