Feed aggregator

The Australian government is helping to keep the nation’s steelmaking industry alive with A$200 million ($131.45 mln) in grants to two of the country’s three remaining steel mills, while also hoping to reduce carbon emissions.

Record low coal and gas generation pushed wholesale electricity prices lower in the last quarter of 2023, as every region of the country notched up new solar output records.

The post Greening grid muscles out fossil fuels, pushes down power prices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Construction of Edfiy Energy's Townsville green hydrogen on track to begin in 2025 with new funding boost.

The post Queensland solar and battery backed hydrogen hub wins major federal funding boost appeared first on RenewEconomy.

December was a bumper month for new connection approvals for wind, solar and storage, but they are still not getting on to the grid quickly enough.

The post December was bumper month for wind, solar and battery approvals, but still not fast enough appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A Massachusetts-based non-profit dedicated to marine research will receive a donation of $25 million to support ocean-based climate solutions that can help strengthen the operations of the emerging blue carbon market.

The first critical industrial funding via the PRF shows how hard greening steel will be.

The post Steel companies get $200m federal grant to cut emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Analysis finds difference between greenhouse gas emissions the automakers declared and the researchers’ estimates averaged 27%

Some of the world’s biggest automakers are still “grossly under-reporting” greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report, despite improvements in their estimates.

The research, undertaken by consultancy firms Carbon Tracker and Nomisma, was released on Wednesday and found car manufacturers ranked among the world’s highest carbon producers and needed to improve the way they declared their environmental impacts.

Continue reading...

A century ago, millions of koalas were killed for their fur. The backlash was fierce. Ruby Ekkel, PhD student in Australian History, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Country may be the first to do so, amid increasing concerns about the health and environmental risks posed by the virtually indestructible chemicals

New Zealand is banning so-called “forever chemicals” in cosmetics from 2026, in what could be the first example of a country doing so.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) said it has banned the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cosmetics to protect people and the environment from the chemicals.

Continue reading...

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

The Canadian province of Ontario announced Tuesday that it will pour C$9.4 mln ($7 mln) into 14 projects for research, innovation, and modernisation initiatives around the use of forest biomass, although one expert has criticised the programme for threatening local forest carbon stocks.

A report from an industry-labour-NGO partnership released Tuesday recommended a slew of policies to the US government to mobilise over $25.4 billion of available funding plus tax credits to achieve industrial net zero emissions by mid-century.

Just 8% of carbon credits are to be fast-tracked for the ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles (CCP) label, while almost half of the units in the voluntary market come from methodologies deemed too contentious to be immediately approved, the cross-stakeholder initiative announced Wednesday.

Nature-based solutions such as parks and ponds are recommended – as is giving heatwaves names

The UK urgently needs a plan to prevent thousands of heatwave deaths a year as the climate continues to warm, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned.

More than 4,500 people died in heatwaves in 2022, the MPs’ report said, and this number could rise to 10,000 a year by 2050 without action. Heatwaves are “silent killers”, the MPs said, pushing up heart rate and blood pressure, with those over 65 and with existing health problems most at risk.

Continue reading...

Oregon's low carbon fuel programme, which regulates transportation fuel producers and importers in the state, looks to adjust its carbon intensity (CI) assessment model and verification of electricity transactions for credit generation, mostly in line with California’s LCFS scheme, staff detailed in a Tuesday workshop.

The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) will delay validating the programme’s first nature targets till July after initially planning their debut for Q1 of 2024, according to Executive Director Erin Billman, in the interest of supporting ambition among the 17 firms participating in the pilot phase.

EnergyAustralia, the third biggest energy retailer in the country, takes $1.1 billion hit to the value of its retail business as the energy business is reshaped.

The post EnergyAustralia takes $1.1 billion hit on retail unit as business model shifts appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia has committed another A$70 million ($46 mln) to develop a renewable hydrogen production centre as part of its Hydrogen Hub initiative, this time in Northern Queensland.

The primary objective of this project is to facilitate the further development of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in Morocco. The project aims to establish perspectives for implementing NBS in Morocco by 2030, 2040, and 2050, addressing challenges related to climate change, biodiversity conservation, and development. The consultant will play a crucial role in delivering the project’s outputs, as defined by Morocco’s Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development.

The EU risks missing its 2030 emissions reduction target as five countries have so far failed to set out adequate plans to develop their renewable power, hydrogen, land use, bioenergy, and CO2 storage within the next six years, according to a report released on Wednesday.