Feed aggregator

LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. announced today that Fraunhofer ISE CalLab of Germany certified a photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 22.71% on the company's monocrystalline PERC cell, which is a new world record for this cell type.

Victoria's proposed ban on single-use plastic bags is a step forward, but what about all the other unnecessary packaging? A truly effective waste policy should offer a comprehensive plan for packaging. Trevor Thornton, Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Exclusive: Lawson’s claim that global temperatures are not rising went unchallenged, breaching guidelines on accuracy and impartiality

The BBC has apologised for an interview with the climate sceptic Lord Lawson after admitting it had breached its own editorial guidelines for allowing him to claim that global temperatures have not risen in the past decade.

BBC Radio 4’s flagship news programme Today ran the item in August in which Lawson, interviewed by presenter Justin Webb, made the claim. The last three years have in fact seen successive global heat records broken.

Continue reading...

US astronaut Paul Weitz, who helped save a Nasa space station after it was damaged during launch, has died aged 85.

New report also reveals rise in large-scale illegal ivory shipments which could be due to panic sell-off by traffickers as countries implement domestic bans

Elephant poaching in Africa has declined for the fifth year in a row, experts have said.

But elephant populations continue to fall due to illegal killing and other human activities, while seizures of large-scale illegal ivory shipments were at record highs in 2016, a new report reveals.

Continue reading...

Farmers must be incentivised to tackle decline in biodiversity, says environment secretary at launch of parliamentary soil body

The UK is 30 to 40 years away from “the fundamental eradication of soil fertility” in parts of the country, the environment secretary Michael Gove has warned.

“We have encouraged a type of farming which has damaged the earth,” Gove told the parliamentary launch of the Sustainable Soils Alliance (SSA). “Countries can withstand coups d’état, wars and conflict, even leaving the EU, but no country can withstand the loss of its soil and fertility.

Continue reading...

Energy Security Board instructed to ignore Paris climate goals as main business lobby group asks for seat at table in talks around proposed National Energy Guarantee. This comes as more confirmation received on hurried and secret proposals, and as Coalition launches another scare campaign about renewable energy costs.

Glyphosate is found in 60% of UK bread and environmentalists welcome a ban but industry warn of uproar among farmers if herbicide is phased out

A pivotal EU vote this week could revoke the licence for the most widely used herbicide in human history, with fateful consequences for global agriculture and its regulation.

Glyphosate is a weedkiller so pervasive that its residues were recently found in 45% of Europe’s topsoil – and in the urine of three quarters of Germans tested, at five times the legal limit for drinking water.

Continue reading...

Marine archaeologists say the object - discovered off the coast of Oman - is an astrolabe.

Productivity Commission warns Australia's inevitable shift from petrol fuelled cars to EVs will take a huge chunk out of the federal government budget.

Four charts show that in the global race to build new energy capacity, wind is fast, solar is faster, and batteries will be faster again. Meanwhile, coal power...

Emerald solar farm, Australia’s first large-scale offsite renewables corporate PPA, reaches financial close and begins construction.

Readers of RenewEconomy may find access to the website unexpectedly slow or difficult today, because of measures it introduced to deal with repeated denial of service attacks.

The story behind a small ivory sculpture that was carved 40,000 years ago.

It is difficult not to lapse into despair about Australia’s energy policy morass, which is dominated by a deeply entrenched culture of half-truths, vested interests, ideology and wishful thinking.

Once again, California is leading the way, this time on state contracts for infrastructure, where suppliers work to keep their carbon pollution low.

Nicaragua signs the Paris agreement, leaving only two countries not supporting it.

New Zealanders were urged to 'vote kea' in a video campaign for the world's only alpine parrot, resulting in thousands more votes cast for the species than ​actual birds in existence. The nation's annual bird of the year competition hit new heights this year with more than 50,000 votes cast from around New Zealand and the world. Despite their protected status, keas have divided Kiwis between those who enjoy the cheeky parrot’s animated nature and those who curse its destructive habits 

Continue reading...

Vice-president Rosario Murillo calls global pact ‘the only instrument we have’ to address climate change as number of outsiders shrinks to two

Nicaragua is set to join the Paris climate agreement, according to an official statement and comments from the vice-president, Rosario Murillo, on Monday, in a move that leaves the United States and Syria as the only countries outside the global pact.

Nicaragua has already presented the relevant documents at the United Nations, Murillo, who is also first lady, said on local radio on Monday.

Continue reading...

The world’s only mountain parrot whose cheeky antics divide Kiwis, beats kererū and kākāpō to coveted crown

• New Zealand bird of the year leaderboard: check the pecking order

The kea, the world’s only alpine parrot, has been crowned New Zealand bird of the year, with thousands more votes cast for the species than there are surviving individuals.

New Zealand’s annual bird of the year competition hit new heights this year with more than 50,000 votes cast from around the country and the world. The competition is in its 13th year, and pits the country’s rare and endangered birds against one another. No bird has won twice.

Continue reading...