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Australian and Chinese researchers whose worked delivered the stunning cost reductions in solar PV presented with world's top engineering prize.

The post Australian solar pioneers presented with world’s top engineering prize appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Gianluca Grimalda says he was fired when he refused to return at short notice from Solomon Islands research trip by plane

A climate researcher who refused to comply with his employer’s demand to fly at short notice back to Germany from the Solomon Islands says he has been fired from his job.

Gianluca Grimalda is still waiting in Bougainville for a cargo ship, set to depart on Saturday, to begin his return journey to Europe, after six months investigating the impacts of climate breakdown and globalisation on the island’s inhabitants.

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More than 60% of EU companies say they have experienced losses due to climate change, an increase on last year, but only around half of those firms are taking action to build climate resilience amid increasingly stringent financial conditions across the region, according to a report released Thursday.

My company in Germany has demanded my swift return from climate-change fieldwork near Papua New Guinea. I can’t do it

Two weeks ago, my employer presented me with a stark ultimatum: return to my offices in Kiel, Germany, within five days, or lose my job. I am a climate researcher and since March 2023, I have been completing vital fieldwork into the social impact of climate change almost 24,000km away by overland routes, on the island of Bougainville off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

My fieldwork had been mired in unforeseeable problems, from natural disasters to security threats, and my employer was, unsurprisingly, unhappy that my return had been delayed by many weeks. The urgency of their request to return meant I would have to jump on a plane if I was to meet the deadline; but for me, this was not an option. I have been practising conscientious objection to flying for more than 10 years. My employer has supported me on a “slow trip” in the past. I do not boycott flying altogether, but I will only catch a plane when no other alternative exists.

Gianluca Grimalda, formerly senior researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, is a social scientist interested in social cohesion and adaptation to climate change

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European carbon prices were modestly higher in thin trading on Thursday morning as energy prices resumed their upward march with natural gas rising to a seven-month high and triggering short covering that briefly took EUAs above a key level.

France has extended the life of two coal fired generators to help meet expected power shortages this winter as it struggles with reliability in its ageing nuclear fleet.

The post Nuclear dependent France extends life of coal generators to avoid winter blackouts appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Climate Change Committee also says rowing back on climate policies has harmed investment into UK

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Rishi Sunak’s reversals on key climate policies have damaged the UK’s ability to meet its carbon-cutting goals and will keep energy bills high for millions of households, with the effect of “making net zero considerably harder to achieve”, the UK’s climate watchdog has warned.

Rowing back on policies to phase out gas boilers and petrol and diesel vehicles, and the general sense that the government is “weakening its commitments” to shifting to a green economy, have also harmed the prospects of inward investment into the UK, and sent adverse signals to consumers, businesses and other governments.

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The UK's climate advisers say recent changes to net zero policies make it harder to meet climate goals.

UK has led the way, with countries across the continent making mass arrests, passing draconian new laws and labelling activists as eco-terrorists

Human rights experts and campaigners have warned against an intensifying crackdown on climate protests across Europe, as Guardian research found countries across the continent using repressive measures to silence activists.

In Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK, authorities have responded to climate protests with mass arrests, the passing of draconian new laws, the imposing of severe sentences for non-violent protests and the labelling of activists as hooligans, saboteurs or eco-terrorists.

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Guardian investigation finds growing number of countries passing anti-protest laws as part of playbook of tactics to intimidate people peacefully raising the alarm

As wildfires and extreme temperatures rage across the planet, sea temperature records tumble and polar glaciers disappear, the scale and speed of the climate crisis is impossible to ignore. Scientific experts are unanimous that there needs to be an urgent clampdown on fossil fuel production, a major boost in renewable energy and support for communities to rapidly move towards a fairer, healthier and sustainable low-carbon future.

Many governments, however, seem to have different priorities. According to climate experts, senior figures at the UN and grassroots advocates contacted by the Guardian, some political leaders and law enforcement agencies around the world are instead launching a fierce crackdown on people trying to peacefully raise the alarm.

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The best way to remind yourself why we need mass agriculture is to try it on a very small scale yourself

Recently, my family welcomed a new arrival. This event was keenly anticipated. We had watched it grow, fretted over its development. And then suddenly, there it was, sitting in the kitchen: a bright orange pumpkin, about the size of my head and equally as weirdly shaped. While I was thrilled to see it, I can take none of the credit for its production. The farmer was my wife, Pat, who fretted appropriately over the way the pumpkin plant clearly shut down all other production to bring forth this one beauty. A reasonably productive tomato plant kept it company. We also got a couple of chillies from a tiny seedling brought to the house by a lunch guest. Tom and Barbara Good had nothing on us.

For a while we fretted over what to do with the pumpkin. We thought about carving it into a lantern for Halloween but in truth we’ve opted out of being mugged by children for sugar. Ours are adults. We’re done. Round our way if you don’t put out a pumpkin, the door knocker stays unmolested. So we thought about roasting and even pickling it.

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Luisa Neubauer, of Fridays for Future, cites language used by the chancellor amid protest crackdown

Severe policing and “scary” political rhetoric is fuelling abuse against climate activists, Germany’s best-known environmentalist has said.

“It’s not a shift any more, it’s a slide,” said Luisa Neubauer, from the German branch of Fridays for Future, the protest movement that grew out of Greta Thunberg’s school strikes. “There’s an increase in hate language, there’s an increase in threats, and the threats are getting more concrete. So they’re not saying any more ‘I hate you’ but they’re saying ‘We should come to your place, we should go get you.’”

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A wide disparity between some carbon credit prices and measures of their quality has been revealed after a rating agency teamed up with a marketplace platform.

Concrete is one of the world’s most emissions intensive industries with few ways to quickly and easily decarbonise, but an Australian junior has partnered with the UK’s largest cement maker with a new technology that could cut them by 15%.

Biochar has the potential to remove up to 3 billion tonnes of CO2e per year, about 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and can accelerate global decarbonisation, according to a report published this week.

A renewable energy investment outfit is already achieving biodiversity net gain as a result of the UK’s compliance scheme, but they want a similar process across the European continent, according to the company's chief investment officer.

The Australian government has brought forward consultation on its overhaul of the country’s environmental laws, which observers hope will create vast improvements on the way climate and biodiversity issues are handled.

New Zealand’s centre-right National party is all but certain to win this weekend’s election, which will likely provide short-term stability to the country’s emissions trading scheme, but higher emissions in the long term as it looks to wind back key climate policies.

The cost of producing green hydrogen has been a focus since the clean energy source began gaining popularity at the end of the last decade, but actual pricing for sale is less clear.

Research by Material Focus shows everyday items such as disposable vapes are a big contributing factor

Almost half a billion small, cheap electrical everyday items from headphones to handheld fans ended up in landfill in the UK in the past year, according to research.

The not-for-profit organisation Material Focus, which conducted the research, said the scale of the issue was huge and they wanted to encourage more recycling.

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