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A Japanese university will invest in a direct air capture (DAC) venture that aims to begin capturing CO2 via nano-separation membranes later this decade.

A Swedish drone firm has been granted a €2.7-million grant by the government for a three-year project to refine forest-thinning technology it says will reduce the need for energy intensive, habitat-wrecking heavy machinery on the ground.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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Letter says government pushing ahead with new fossil fuel projects while criminalising activists who raise alarm

Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Ben Okri have joined the former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and leading climate scientists to highlight what they describe as a “collective act of madness” that is driving “the destruction of life on Earth”.

A letter signed by more than 100 actors, authors, scientists and academics says the UK government is ignoring the scientific reality of the climate and ecological crisis, pushing ahead with new fossil fuel developments and criminalising peaceful protesters who raise the alarm.

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Yes, the fallen foliage can be messy. But the trees know just what they’re doing – and they won’t thank you for interfering

It’s a 66m-year-old decision. Some trees got there much quicker; some took a little longer. But most of the broad-leaved trees that we know and love – the magnolias, plane trees, elms, beech, walnuts, limes, oaks, maples and horse chestnuts – made a calculated decision to drop their leaves come autumn. Large, soft leaves are hard to protect in the winter weather, so the trees evolved to lose them, but not their valuable resources.

Leaf fall is a precision art for a deciduous tree – it’s a salvage operation on the greatest scale as the tree works quickly to bank the resources hidden inside the pigments of the leaves. The greens of chlorophyll go first, then the yellows of the xanthonoids, and then the orange carotenoids, until all that is left is brown – at which point the tree lets its foliage go.

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‘Bog oak’ study finds more than 400 well preserved yews, which could help solve mystery of historic rapid sea level rise

The flat landscape of the East Anglian Fens is known for its vast arable fields and absence of trees. But just over 4,000 years ago, these lowlands were dominated by dense woods of ancient yew trees.

A study of hundreds of tree trunks inadvertently dug up by fenland farmers has found that this woodland abruptly disappeared 4,200 years ago, probably because a rapid rise in the North Sea flooded the low-lying region with saltwater.

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Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto has bought a stake in a local Australian carbon project developer to secure a supply of carbon credits to offset emissions from its operations under the Safeguard Mechanism.

Brad Hopkins, from AEMO Services, discusses the successful battery storage tender in NSW that could serve as a blueprint for Chris Bowen's massive 32 GW capacity scheme.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Bowen’s capacity scheme, and NSW’s “free” batteries appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Chris Bowen's capacity plan is good news for the transition from coal to renewables, but it may need to overcome the comically incapable Planning department in NSW.

The post Bowen may still fall short of his 82 pct renewables target, but it’s bad news for coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Bowen's grand capacity scheme may loosen the big utilities' stranglehold over the energy market, but will there be enough wind projects to meet the target?

The post Bowen capacity plan means a power shift from big utilities, but will there be enough wind? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The biggest wind project in South Australia is now fully registered, although not yet generating as some wind turbines seek a new road route to the site.

The post South Australia’s biggest wind farm now fully registered, although not yet complete appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Researchers are finding alarming concentrations of persistent pollutants such as PFAS in Australian dolphins. These record-breaking levels are cause for alarm. Chantel Foord, Research Associate, Marine Mammal Foundation, PhD researcher, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Osmi Australia says the 200MW project, proposed for a pine plantation next to an ex-coal plant, can now continue through the Planning Permit process.

The post Latrobe Valley wind farm targets 2024 construction after amendments approved appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Sarah Ott spent years as a climate change sceptic - now she's an advocate for clean energy.

A giant ice block more than twice the size on Greater London is on the move, years after its formation.

After weeks of negotiations, the National, Act, and NZ First government on Friday revealed the makeup of their cabinet, having agreed to a power sharing arrangement which says the review into the country’s emissions trading scheme will be scuppered.

Australia needs to create markets for local energy trading that properly value energy generated and stored from rooftop solar, batteries and EVs.

The post How can network incentives be aligned for an age of consumer energy resources? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

This Associate Scientist position, housed in Conservation International’s (CI) Moore Center for Science, will lead methodological development technical analysis, stakeholder engagement, and project coordination associated with the joint CI-UCSB project 'Spatial Planning for Climate Change: Land Use for Conservation, Agriculture, and Energy' (SPARCLE).

NBN Co signs its third renewable Power Purchase Agreement – a 10-year deal that will help to underwrite the construction of a new 120MW solar farm.

The post NBN inks 10-year contract with new solar farm in race to 100 pct renewables by 2026 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Nine countries bordering the North Sea announce plans to synchronise offshore wind tenders, with auctions for around 15GW each year, up to almost 100GW by 2030.

The post North Sea countries co-ordinate plans to seek 100 GW of offshore wind by 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.