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AEMC chief John Pierce has had a long run at AEMC chief, perhaps long enough. And why sale of Loy Yang B is good for competition.

Homeowners will be able to make a positive impact on their finances as well as the environment, through a new solar initiative launched this week by NAB and Origin.

The current chaos around climate and energy policy brings to mind George Santayana’s caution that: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. That is exactly what we are witnessing.

Young people are taking to bins to protest food waste. Chamila Perera, Lecturer, Swinburne University of Technology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Guardian readers share their stories on the success of dowsing

Re your article “Water firms admit they still use ‘medieval’ dowsing rods” (22 November): in the 1950s, our family lived on a farm in an isolated part of northern Somerset. The farmer submitted an application for planning permission to build two new houses in a field, including details of water supply and drainage (there were no mains services at all). He had already walked over the field with his L-shaped birch twig, and we watched as the point of the L creaked downwards in his hands as he walked over a spot he had marked on the ground. A man from the water board arrived and looked at the site with geological maps. After half an hour he said “it’s anyone’s guess”, went back to his van and brought back his own birch twig. When he walked across the mark, the point of the L creaked upwards in his hands. He said that was the right place to dig a well, which the farmer and my father dug, and it never dried up.

I believe that when dowsers were tested many years ago, they were taken to a field under which was an underground reservoir. None of them located water. The farmer in Somerset told us that his own technique of dowsing only locates running water, so the reservoir would not have been indicated by this method.

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A structure that allows sound information to be processed extremely fast has been identified in bats' brains.

The EU will renew glyphosate's licence for five years, despite some health concerns.

EU votes to reauthorise the pesticide, ending a bitterly fought battle that saw 1.3 million people sign a petition calling for a ban

Glyphosate, the key ingredient in the world’s bestselling weedkiller, has won a new five-year lease in Europe, closing the most bitterly fought pesticide relicensing battle of recent times.

The herbicide’s license had been due to run out in less than three weeks, raising the prospect of Monsanto’s Roundup disappearing from store shelves and, potentially, a farmers’ revolt.

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Targets for reducing illegal levels of NO2 pollution from vehicles will be achieved more quickly than the government expects, a study says.

World land-speed record-holder Andy Green describes the performance of his new new car - Bloodhound SSC.

AEMO says it "ready for summer". While it expects no major outages, the biggest risk remains catastrophic failure of network or fossil fuel assets, and highlights importance of demand response, storage, solar PV, and new market rules.

The United States Global Change Research Program report paints a bleak picture of the consequences of climate denial

The United States Global Change Research Program recently released a report on the science of climate change and its causes. The report is available for anyone to read; it was prepared by top scientists, and it gives an overview of the most up to date science.

If you want to understand climate change and a single document that summarizes what we know, this is your chance. This report is complete, readily understandable, and accessible. It discusses what we know, how we know it, how confident we are, and how likely certain events are to happen if we continue on our business-as-usual path.

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More than a third of about 2,800 planned new dams are in protected areas, threatening rivers and biodiversity

Hydropower constructions have rocketed by 300% across the western Balkans in the last two years, according to a new analysis, sparking fears of disappearing mountain rivers and biodiversity loss.

About 2,800 new dams are now in the pipeline across a zone stretching from Slovenia to Greece, 37% of which are set to be built in protected areas such as national parks or Natura 2000 sites.

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Cycling has its challenges as the nights draw in and the frosts arrive – but it can also be more rewarding and straightforward than one might think

The nights have well and truly drawn in, and for many Britons the frosts have arrived. Time to pack away the bike for a few months?

Don’t be tempted. Cycling, particularly bike commuting, can bring its challenges in winter. But it’s compellingly rewarding, and can be much more straightforward than many would think.

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Biodiversity in Lake Victoria has fallen by 50% since the 1980s.

Brendon Common, Exmoor The ponies have been part of Exmoor’s bleak uplands for hundreds, probably thousands, of years

When the first of the herd appeared on the horizon over Withycombe Ridge, the horse I was riding began to tremble. Excitement pulsed up the reins and I could feel his heartbeat thumping through the saddle. He stared transfixed, head high, pink nostrils flared, as the feral ponies flickered into view, their dark brown coats almost plum-coloured next to the dun moorland. They came closer, flowing down the hillside and splashing through the tiny ford at Lank Combe. We could see the light, mealy-coloured patches marking out their eyes and muzzles: a distinct feature of the Exmoor pony, Britain’s oldest native pony breed.

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ARENA says much of its remaining $700m-plus could be could be directed towards large-scale energy storage projects, to bring down costs as it has done with large-scale solar.

The first stage of huge solar and "water battery" storage project in an old gold mine in Queensland about to start exporting to grid.

Tesla battery testing shows major charging and discharging – a novelty to the grid. Both AEMO and SA government sound pretty happy.

Our modelling shows renewable energy can help hit Australia’s emissions reduction target of 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2030 effectively for free.