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Heat pumps are the most efficient heating technology ever invested. But with 69 brands and 420 different models on the market, and no energy star rating system for heat pumps, buying one can be confusing.

The post So you want to buy a heat pump? Here’s how appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Joshua Haveman employed tactical combat casualty care to patch up the wounded hiker’s badly mangled legs and help him to safety

An off-duty US air force flight instructor braved strong winds, hail and slippery conditions to rescue a fellow climber who had fallen about 80ft (24.4 meters) down a slippery slope at Yosemite national park this past Labor Day weekend, according to the military branch.

Joshua Haveman’s valiant actions not only earned him a hero’s praise from his air force colleagues – but they also prevented another hiking tragedy from occurring after the last few months have seen multiple hikers lose their lives amid a range of perilous conditions.

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

Climate campaigners dismiss government argument that controversial move will improve food security

Rishi Sunak plans to restrict the installation of solar panels on swathes of English farmland, which climate campaigners say will raise bills and put the UK’s energy security at risk.

Last year, then prime minister Liz Truss attempted to block solar from most of the country’s farmland. The plans were deeply controversial and unpopular, and were dropped when she left office.

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In the high-stakes world of forest carbon markets, robust MRV has long been the cornerstone of perceived accuracy and integrity, but new research calls into question the very possibility of achieving reliable measurements in the sector.

Oil major ExxonMobil will not be buying any of Guyana’s forest-generated carbon credits, opting instead to invest in other climate change-mitigating measures in the country, the government said this week.

The climate’s changing and so is the terminology

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Washington's Department of Ecology (ECY) reduced the volume of current vintage allowances on offer at its December auction compared to the Q3 sale, while also tendering future vintage allowances, according to a notice published Friday.

Regulated parties saw historic weekly gains in V23 net holdings of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and RGGI Allowances (RGAs), while financial players favoured additions in V24s CCAs, but reduced net length in both V23s CCAs and RGGI, and both parties added to their Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) holdings, according to US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

The BBC finds that there have been a record number of days in 2023 that breached the 1.5C temperature limit.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday unveiled a series of actions to accelerate the phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – the potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

The European Commission confirmed on Friday that its carbon management strategy will be published early next year, defying some stakeholder expectations that the plan would be unveiled as soon as next month.

The world’s largest carbon credit standard will ramp up use of digitisation and technologies such as remote sensing, in order to improve transparency for market participants and monitor projects on an ongoing basis, a conference heard this week. 

Former Gabon environment minister Lee White and three other officials of the previous Ali Bongo-led government have been placed under house arrest, according to state media agency Agence Gabonaise de Presse (AGP), heightening current uncertainty around the forest-rich nation's carbon policy.

Sustainable alternative fuels (SAF) should be included on a list of 'strategic technologies' to be given priority treatment as part of the bloc’s clean technology industry bill, a group of EU industry associations said in a joint letter published on Friday.

UK-based Biodiversity Futures Initiative (BFI) aims to provide scientific robustness to biodiversity credit projects and certifications, so buyers have confidence in outcomes and the projects have a greater impact on nature.

Voluntary carbon credit projects in India do little to help local people or the climate and may even lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, researchers said in a report published this week following extensive site visits and stakeholder interviews.

Dale Vince says he will concentrate his efforts on getting Tories voted out of government at next election

• Dale Vince: I helped fund Just Stop Oil, but no more

Dale Vince, the green energy magnate, has said he is to stop funding direct action climate groups such as Just Stop Oil and instead funnel money towards getting the vote out for Labour at the next general election.

The Ecotricity founder, who has funded a string of disruptive environmental protest groups, has supported Just Stop Oil since its inception, and has previously said his funding for the group has totalled “some hundreds of thousands”.

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Biodiversity credits have a slim chance of becoming a global market larger than the voluntary carbon markets, according to an executive at a global carbon and biodiversity credit firm.

The oil firm run by the head of COP28, Sultan Al-Jaber, is on course to increase emissions from its oil and gas operations by more than 40% by the end of the decade compared to 2023, an international NGO has calculated in a report published this week.