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The World Bank has approved $1.5 billion in additional financing to help India accelerate the development of its national carbon market, boost green hydrogen production, and scale up renewable energy capacity.

Self-healing solar cells could solve some major hurdles for perovskite technology, in what a multinational research team is calling a "breakthrough" for the next generation PV technology.

The post Monash Uni self-healing perovskite breakthrough paves way for future appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tilt Renewables has slashed the number of turbines for its South Australia wind project, but bigger machines mean its capacity will be little changed.

The post South Australia wind farm open for public view after winning infrasound court case appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In the last financial year, the share of renewables in the main grid inched forward - but in South Australia it actually went backwards. But the pipeline is bigger!

The post Australia inches towards renewable targets as most advanced wind and solar state goes backwards appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Plans to install eight megawatt turbines and a huge four-hour battery are seeking green light to help power Tasmania's nation-leading green hydrogen plans.

The post Australia’s biggest wind turbines and 4-hour battery proposed near Tasmania green hydrogen hub appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A senior carbon trader with Shell has left to join the emissions desk at trading house Trafigura, Carbon Pulse has learned.

Only about 61% of dairy farm operators had reported their use of synthetic nitrogen a year after reporting rules came into force. Mike Joy, Morgan Foundation Senior Research Fellow in Freshwater Ecology and Environmental Science, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Megan Cornforth-Camden, Visiting Scholar, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Rescue operation run by specialised whale disentanglement crews cut off ropes and buoys to let it to swim freely again

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A humpback whale which became tangled in 800kg of fishing equipment has been rescued off the Gippsland coast, almost a week after it was first seen to be in trouble.

The whale was spotted near Loch Sport in Central Gippsland on Sunday 23 June by a commercial helicopter, but then disappeared until Friday when it was seen near Lake Tyers off the south-east coast.

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The full-size adult whale was first spotted a week earlier with approximately 200 metres of rope and fishing buoys wrapped around it. In a multi-agency operation, rescuers were able to free the animal of 800kg ropes and buoys. However, because of how the rope was wrapped around the whale and safety concerns for rescuers, the crew were not able to disentangle all of the rope. Ellen Dwyer, an incident controller in the rescue team, says they are 'pleased' they have been able to 'successfully remove a significant amount of weight and rope from the whale'

• Humpback whale tangled in rope rescued off New South Wales coast – video

• Low-flying drones could disrupt whale migration off Australia’s east coast, experts warn

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Bilbies have the biggest genome of any marsupial, which could be down to how it evolved its incredible sense of smell

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Genetic research has revealed the threatened Australian native bilby – with its ridiculously oversized ears and stretched snout – does not only look odd from the outside.

“Bilbies are weird and cool. The genome has been fascinating,” said Prof Carolyn Hogg, of the University of Sydney, who led research that sequenced the greater bilby’s genome for the first time.

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The fire is the second for Pacific Blue this year, after a turbine blaze in South Australia in February.

The post Turbine fire at Victoria wind farm under investigation appeared first on RenewEconomy.

There are many loopholes to the ban, but environmentalists see it as a crucial first step.

European firms are not only adapting but also thriving under rising carbon costs imposed by the EU ETS, new research published by the IMF has found.

Retrofitting for better energy efficiency often doesn’t require dramatic structural change. Some simple steps can make a big difference

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If you own or rent one of Australia’s 6 million-plus homes built 30 years ago or more, the words “coldest start to winter” can be especially depressing.

These older dwellings are leaky, rely heavily on heating and cooling, and emit more carbon than modern homes. This exacerbates health issues, spikes bills and notches up emissions. “Before time” houses, built prior to the National Construction Code’s introduction of energy standards in 2003, typically score just 1.8 stars on the 10-star Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme. New builds are generally rated between 6 and 7 stars.

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Absorption through skin could be ‘significant source of exposure’ to toxic forever chemicals, study shows

New research “for the first time proves” toxic PFAS forever chemicals are absorbed through human skin, and at levels much higher than previously thought.

Though modeling and research has suggested the dangerous chemicals are absorbed through skin, University of Birmingham researchers say they used lab-grown tissue that mimics human skin to determine how much of a dose of PFAS compounds can be absorbed.

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There are just 300 electric HGVs in the 500,000-strong lorry fleet – and only one public charging point, says RHA

The road haulage industry is calling on the new government to urgently tackle investment in infrastructure for electric trucks, after pointing out there is just one public charging point for HGVs in the whole of the UK.

Takeup of electric cars is soaring, with about 1.1m fully battery-powered cars on British roads and about 63,000 charging units in 33,000 locations, according to Zapmap data.

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We’ve been making short-term decisions about our planet for a long time. The consequences are horrific to behold

The slashing rain turned the dirt roads into muddy creeks, the bus’s wipers shoved the torrent back and forth across the windshield, and Don Schreiber handled the wheel like Sandra Bullock in Speed as he wisecracked from under a big gray moustache. The vehicle swerved and slid in the storm, lightning flashed on the horizon, thunder shook the air. Whether the old yellow bus would make it back to the ranch house, get stuck or slide and flip depended on his driving.

Don, in his white Stetson and a blue and white checked western shirt, was our tour guide on this land in northwestern New Mexico that he knew intimately and had dedicated his retirement to protecting. When he and his wife Jane Schreiber bought the ranchland about 200 miles north-west of Santa Fe in 1999 to retire to, they – like many westerners – found that they owned the land, but not the subsurface rights. The fracking boom came, and gas companies began gouging holes for gas wells, laying pipelines and cutting roads across the fragile desert soil. Big trucks rolled across the land night and day to service the wells that studded the landscape. At the well we stopped at, the pressure gauge was broken.

Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell’s Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility

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Funding for more than 420 neighbourhood batteries approved to boost rooftop solar and storage capacity in local networks, and share benefits with local communities.

The post More than 420 neighbourhood batteries approved to boost rooftop solar and storage capacity appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Cold or Wet? You think, squishing a sock betwixt red, swollen fingers. Cold or Wet? You wonder as you slide into icy sheets

Complaining is a universal language that creates social bonds quicker than chatting about positive topics. In these economic times it is a cheap way to treat yourself. When was the last time you had a little whinge? I indulged mere moments ago. Some call it negativity, I call it self-care, and there’s no better time than winter to complain because it is so cold.

My daily winter outfit in our sunburnt country is leggings, thermals, hoodie, flannelette shirt, beanie and slippers, and I’m considering buying gloves and a balaclava due to chilblains. Along with draping myself in blankets this has been a staple winter outfit for years in Melbourne and Sydney houses prone to mould, crumbling foundations and draftiness that could be attributed to poor insulation or ghosts. I like to imagine ghosts because they’re less spooky than landlords.

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Volunteers work to herd Atlantic white-sided dolphins found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, into deeper water

More than 100 dolphins have become stranded in the shallow waters around Cape Cod on Friday in what an animal welfare group is calling “the largest single mass stranding event” in the organization’s 25-year history.

A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were found Friday in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, about 100 miles south-east of Boston, in an area called the Gut – or Great Island at the Herring River – which experts have said is the site of frequent strandings, due in part to its hook-like shape and extreme tidal fluctuations.

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