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Fears that turning muddy route BR-319 into an all-season road will make it an artery for illegal logging and deforestation

Brazil’s environmental authority has granted an initial permit to allow a major highway to be paved through the centre of the Amazon rainforest, the minister of infrastructure said, in a move that threatens to increase deforestation.

On the campaign trail, Brazil’s rightwing president, Jair Bolsonaro, had pledged to repave the road, called BR-319, that would connect the largest Amazon city of Manaus year-round to the rest of Brazil.

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Transgrid and AEMO make case for VNI West as best option for linking north-west Victoria and south-east NSW, promise nearly $700m in net benefits.

The post Race on to build renewable “superhighway” as network makes case for VNI West appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Ad hoc, lot-by-lot efforts to house more people in our ageing suburbs are failing to increase liveability and sustainability. Our cities need strategic, precinct-scale regeneration. Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University Giles Thomson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Strategic Sustainable Development, Blekinge Institute of Technology Peter Newton, Emeritus Professor in Sustainable Urbanism, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology Stephen Glackin, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

For the first time, big batteries made more money out of energy arbitrage than they did out of frequency control markets.

The post Batteries and pumps revel in market volatility; the price cap not so much appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

Both California Carbon Allowance (CCA) and RGGI Allowance (RGA) prices tracked broader market sentiment this week, rebounding towards the latter part of the period, while the status of Pennsylvania’s Q3 auction volumes remained unresolved.

California electricity consumption in 2021 bounced back from a slight hit taken during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with fossil gas generation increasing further amid a continued dearth of zero-carbon hydroelectric generation, according to state figures.

Provisions to link federal wind and solar energy development to oil and gas leasing in the revamped US budget reconciliation package garnered heavy criticism from some environmental organisations on Thursday, though other green groups were supportive of the package’s methane fee and clean energy tax credits.

Australia’s protected areas have grown and grown. But at the same time, ecosystems are falling apart. How can that be? Benjamin Cooke, Senior lecturer, RMIT University Aidan Davison, Associate Professor, University of Tasmania Jamie Kirkpatrick, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania Lilian Pearce, Lecturer, Environmental Humanities, Centre for the Study of the Inland, La Trobe University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Tidal marshes can build up their soil to keep pace with sea-level rises – up to a point. It turns out the point when the marsh is drowned matches the average rise when global warming exceeds 1.5℃. Neil Saintilan, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The appointed body overseeing the UN's new carbon crediting mechanism met for the first time this week, agreeing a fee structure and to meet again twice before November's COP27 UN climate talks to keep pace with its aim of having the system ready by the end of 2023.

A Toronto-based VER investment firm on Thursday estimated its growing project portfolio will cross the 20-million credit mark by 2027, as the company also disclosed recent funding commitments and project milestones.

Parts of the crypto community have bandied together to form a special action DAO to try to crowdfund cash to bid in auctions for oil exploration and drilling rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A European soil carbon crediting company is planning to expand to the Americas and Australia after acquiring a British-based emissions auditing specialist.

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) request to beef up the stringency of the 2022 Scoping Plan will not affect the state’s existing target for 2045 carbon neutrality, a spokesperson for regulator ARB told Carbon Pulse.

Prices and liquidity on the CBL platform slid in the second quarter as the impact of the global economic slowdown amid rampant inflation took its toll on the voluntary carbon market, Xpansiv CBL revealed on Thursday.

But the senator’s insistence on more fossil fuel drilling was called a ‘climate suicide pact’ by one expert

Climate advocates reacted with surprise and delight to Joe Manchin’s decision to back a sweeping bill to combat the climate crisis, with analysts predicting the legislation will bring the US close to its target of slashing planet-heating emissions.

The West Virginia senator, who has made millions from his ownership of a coal-trading company, had seemingly thwarted Joe Biden’s hopes of passing meaningful climate legislation – only to reveal on Wednesday his support for a $369bn package to support renewable energy and electric vehicle rollout.

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Labour says UK government ‘asleep at the wheel’ of Cop26 presidency as just 16 of 197 member nations submit new climate action plans

International climate targets could be at risk because only a handful of countries have updated their emission reduction goals since last year’s Cop26 summit, campaigners have warned.

Just 16 out of 197 member countries of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have updated their plans for how to meet climate goals – known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs.

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Hydro power is not supposed to cost much, and last quarter it was rarely used but set the price nearly half the time - at an average of more than $300/MWh. Why?

The post “Opportunity cost:” The role played by Snowy’s hydro plants in electricity price spike appeared first on RenewEconomy.

AEMO says fossil fuel crisis makes it clear Australia needs to accelerate its shift to wind, solar and storage to deliver cheap and reliable energy.

The post AEMO urges quicker shift to renewables amid coal failures and soaring fossil fuel costs appeared first on RenewEconomy.