Feed aggregator

Wiggonholt Common, West Sussex: The nuthatch hops around, searching the ground, before launching high into a tree above me, where it starts to sing

Dawn passes barely perceptibly in the damp darkness of the wood. Rain is falling, dripping through the canopy, forming thin, cold cascades of droplets pattering on the mud below. I turn a corner and stop – a nuthatch is drinking from a pool on the track, raising its pointed bill to gulp down the water. With its black eye-stripe, blue-grey back and bright orange underparts, the bird is a flash of colour in the grey woodland.

When it has finished drinking, the nuthatch hops around, searching the ground, before launching high into a tree above me, where it starts to sing, trilling loudly. It interrupts its song now and again to hammer the bark with its bill, digging up grubs and insects. After swallowing, it sings again, my presence barely disturbing its routine.

Continue reading...

Powershop and Reposit Power join forces on new virtual power plant that taps customer battery storage at times of peak demand.

A new Federal Labor policy that gives an immediate tax deduction to businesses that invest in energy saving equipment would help slash energy bills, says the Energy Efficiency Council.

Trials by Hornsdale wind farm, next to the Tesla big battery, show that wind turbines can deliver cheaper and "more precise" grid security services than conventional gas generators.

AGL says there will still be too much "base-load" in NSW, even after Liddell closure. What's needed is flexible capacity, but storage won't be better bet than gas turbines until more there is more wind and solar.

Specialist power and water consulting firm Entura has been engaged by Hydro Tasmania to develop a practical atlas of pumped hydro energy storage opportunities to support development of dispatchable renewable energy generation.

Australian battery company Redflow Limited (ASX: RFX) has completed the first ZBM2 batteries using battery stacks made by its new Thailand factory, which are now ready for shipment to customers.

Proton battery technology could be used for medium-scale storage on electricity grids, and to power electric vehicles. Here's how they work.

The nation's favourite yellow submarine returns safely after a dangerous dive in the Antarctic.

Scientists have calculated the water temperature at which tiger sharks are most active and abundant.

AGL chooses Tesla, LG Chem and SolarEdge as its new technology plants for virtual power plant in South Australia, much to relief of customers waiting for more than six months for their installation.

Tax on luxury fossil fuel cars to fund expansion of Australia’s charging network

The Greens have proposed introducing mandatory fuel efficiency standards, ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and imposing a four-year 17% tax on luxury petrol and diesel cars as part of an electric vehicle policy announced on Tuesday.

Under the proposal Australia would adopt a mandatory fuel efficiency standard of 105g of CO2 a kilometre by 2022, three years earlier than a proposal being considered by the federal government.

Continue reading...

The BBC's Victoria Gill looks under the microscope to discover the microplastics lurking in our waters.

A new documentary makes some controversial claims about the health of kangaroo populations. But the real threat is not to Australia's iconic kangaroos -- it's to dozens of other, obscure species. Karl Vernes, Associate Professor, School of Environmental & Rural Science, University of New England Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Microplastic particles contaminate the riverbeds throughout the UK, research suggests.

A study reveals highest microplastic pollution levels ever recorded in a river in Manchester, UK and shows that billions of particles flooded into the sea from rivers in the area in just one year

The number of tiny plastic pieces polluting the world’s oceans is vastly greater than thought, new research indicates.

The work reveals the highest microplastic pollution yet discovered anywhere in the world in a river near Manchester in the UK. It also shows that the major floods in the area in 2015-16 flushed more than 40bn pieces of microplastic into the sea.

Continue reading...

A snowy owl, one of which stars in the Harry Potter films, brings in visitors to bird reserves.

UK-headquartered start-up Effective Space aims to put up its first satellite servicing "drones" in 2020.

Greens unveil policy promising to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, cut tax and rego costs for EVs, and to fund charging infrastructure.

New geological research from Utah suggests the end-Permian extinction was mainly caused by burning coal, ignited by magma

Earth has so far gone through five mass extinction events – scientists are worried we’re on course to trigger a sixth – and the deadliest one happened 252 million years ago at the end of the Permian geologic period. In this event, coined “the Great Dying,” over 90% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species went extinct. It took about 10 million years for life on Earth to recover from this catastrophic event.

Scientists have proposed a number of possible culprits responsible for this mass extinction, including an asteroid impact, mercury poisoning, a collapse of the ozone layer, and acid rain. Heavy volcanic activity in Siberia was suspected to play a key role in the end-Permian event.

Continue reading...