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Labor's Chris Bowen says medium-term emissions targets need to drive "greatest economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution".

The post “Not doing so well:” US puts pressure on Australia as Labor flags new interim target appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New analysis finds chemicals tested on animals in moisturisers, lipsticks, hair conditioner and sunscreen, despite ban

Hundreds of cosmetic products sold in the UK and Europe contain ingredients that have been tested on animals, despite bans that outlawed such testing years ago, a new analysis has shown.

Banned tests were performed on ingredients used in products including moisturisers, lipsticks, sunscreen and hair conditioner, the analysis found, with more than 100 separate experiments performed on animals including mice and rabbits.

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Origin Energy prepares pivot into big batteries and green hydrogen after $2.3 billion loss, another legacy company wrestling with the energy transition.

The post Origin ready to ‘pull trigger’ on big batteries after recording $2.3 billion loss appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AEMO to build an "online twin" of the main grid to allow wind and solar developers to more easily model the impact of their project proposals.

The post “Digital twin”: Online simulator to help wind and solar farms connect to the grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Vote. Divest. Plant trees. Recycle. Remove fossil fuel subsidies. Go renewable. We don’t need to accept the inevitable demise of life on the planet

Imagine if scientists had just informed the world that there was a huge meteor heading our way that would likely wipe out life as we knew it. Or if the sun started doing really dangerous and frightening things that were likely to fry us. What would we do? Party like there was really no tomorrow? Or just crawl under the doona to wait out the inevitable?

The silver lining to the climate change catastrophe is that it’s not caused by a meteor, or the sun. It’s us. And because we’ve caused it, and we know how, we can fix it – or at least slow it down a lot.

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Wind turbines face a price hike of around 10 per cent over the coming year due to rising mineral prices, logistics and Covid problems.

The post Cost of wind turbines to jump 10 per cent due to mineral prices, logistics and Covid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Regulator cites "1,000 days of baseload outages" as reason for highest electricity prices on record. And it wants a "capacity" market?

The post 1,000 days of baseload outages: Coal failures send electricity prices to record highs appeared first on RenewEconomy.

CFC chemicals once used in refrigerators would have driven 2.5C of extra warming by 2100 if they had not been outlawed, researchers claim

The ozone-wrecking chemicals once commonly used in refrigerators would have driven 2.5C of extra global heating by the end of the century if they had not been banned, research has found.

Modelling by climate scientists found that the 1987 Montreal protocol curbing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) gave humans a fighting chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C as set out by the Paris agreement.

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Europe's biggest utility plans to add another 1,000MW of renewables capacity in Australia and is seeking a retail licence to focus on industrial customers.

The post Italian energy giant plans another 1,000MW renewables in Australia, seeks retail licence appeared first on RenewEconomy.

BHP is banking profits from its failing assets, while washing its hands of the responsibility for its past and ongoing contribution to climate change. Jeremy Moss, Professor of Political Philosophy, UNSW Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

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A second member of a gang of Oxbridge-educated forest carbon investment fraudsters has been handed another decade in a British jail for failing to repay £10 million in ill-gotten gains.

Australian National University researchers set new efficiency record for double-sided solar cells and hope deliver a boost solar farm output.

The post Australian researchers set new efficiency record for double-sided solar cells appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Studies show some animals can recognise the threat of fire, and behave in a way that increase their chance of survival. But what about wildlife who have evolved in areas where fire was once rare? Dale Nimmo, Associate Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University Alex Carthey, Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University Chris J Jolly, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Charles Sturt University Daniel T. Blumstein, Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Tearing down old structures and throwing up new ones is how we usually make our streetscapes. It’s also ruinous for the climate

A new and highly swanky hotel lands in Edinburgh, a mass of shimmering bronze-coloured coils, and all anyone can think to say is: doesn’t that look like a giant poo emoji? Londoners are confronted with plans for a giant burning-red orb, which will supposedly serve as a concert venue, and it brings on the shudders.

New buildings can amuse or repulse us, induce awe or yawns, but there is a case for thinking of them less as objects to walk around and more as processes to worry about – because the process of building is one of the most wasteful and carbon-hungry engaged in by humanity. We tear down old houses or shops, and to create new ones, we cover the Earth with materials that have gobbled up fossil fuels: Concrete, of which the world pours enough each year to patio over every park and mountain and back garden, every square inch, in England; steel, of which every tonne produced emits nearly two tonnes of carbon dioxide; plastics. While Conservative MPs argue over who is going to foot the bill for green energy for our homes, hardly anyone in Westminster discusses the upfront carbon costs of building houses and office blocks and shopping malls. Yet construction directly accounts for about 10% of our carbon emissions. Turning approximately 50,000 buildings to rubble every year creates two-thirds of all the waste produced in this country. If the UK is ever to translate its net zero ambitions into reality it will need to change the entire building industry.

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This year there will be a special focus on the species many of us are likely to see in lockdown

Bird of the year is back! The Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll for 2021 will begin on 27 September with a list of 50 shortlisted species.

In 2017 the magpie fought off strong support for the white ibis to win. In 2019 the highly endangered black-throated finch, which is under threat from the expansion of the Adani Carmichael coalmine, triumphed after backing from a highly organised online campaign.

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A global treaty banning ozone-depleting chemicals in 1987 may have averted a climate catastrophe today.

Country’s vice-president’s remarks after investigation highlighted concerns about ExxonMobil deal

Guyana will seek much better terms for any future oil deals than their contract with ExxonMobil, the country’s vice-president said on Tuesday.

The tiny South American country has become one of the most desired oil exploration spots after an ExxonMobil-led group, which also includes the US-based exploration firm Hess Corp and the Chinese oil company CNOOC, discovered about 9bn barrels of recoverable oil and gas off the coast.

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Hundreds of dead fish have appeared along shores of one of Europe’s largest saltwater lagoons

Prosecutors in the southern Spanish region of Murcia have launched an investigation after hundreds of dead fish began washing up along the shores of one of Europe’s largest saltwater lagoons.

Residents in the area sounded the alarm this week, posting footage on social media that showed scores of small fish and shrimp littering the beaches of the coastal lagoon known as Mar Menor in south-east Spain.

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Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston saw his party win an unexpected majority government in Tuesday’s election, rendering uncertain the future of the Canadian province’s cap-and-trade programme.