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Newly published UNSW research is the first to quantify climate change’s impact on solar resource reliability in Australia over the next century.

The post Climate change will affect solar power and grid stability across Australia – here’s how appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The company released untreated sewage at dozens of sites, including near a bottlenose dolphin habitat.

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

Targeting EV drivers is not good for consumers nor the country’s targets for decarbonising transport – something more coherent and jurisdiction wide is needed

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The looming electrification of road transport is something that motorists, fleet managers, bus operators, logistics companies, transport agencies, automotive manufacturers, and all levels of governments are grappling with.

Wednesday saw a landmark case showing just how precarious it can be with a major setback for the Victorian government and any other states thinking of introducing road user taxes for electric vehicles.

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A carbon contracts for difference (CCfD) programme under consideration by the Canadian government should avoid undermining the country’s CO2 price, including by cutting out the oil industry and carbon capture projects, numerous green groups and academics said in a letter this week.

After hitting their lowest point in nearly three years last week, US biofuel credit (RIN) prices under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) have since turned around, with market participants indicating the potential for supply constraints and a macro slowdown to put a floor under prices.

Record levels of solar is taking pressure off the grid and pushing down prices, but regulator says there is a "pressing need" for new investment" in large scale wind and solar.

The post Record rooftop solar output slashes wholesale electricity prices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Oregon Clean Fuels Program (OCFP) credit values continued their weeks-long descent in recent days as traders reported the market seems more balanced, following on from even greater losses in neighbouring Washington state earlier this month.

Nature’s ultimate coral predator could benefit from climate change by surviving heatwaves and lie in wait for the right moment to feast on the reef. Matt Clements, PhD Student, University of Sydney Maria Byrne, Professor of Developmental & Marine Biology, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Of all Australia’s climate policies, the Renewable Energy Target has been the most effective. Why have Australian governments moved away from it, and how can they revive it? Tim Nelson, Associate Professor of Economics, Griffith University Joel Gilmore, Associate Professor, Griffith University Tahlia Nolan, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Tree that’s withstood storms and firewood collectors wins contest highlighting those in urban areas

A 480-year-old sweet chestnut that has withstood storms, firewood collectors and, increasingly, parties and picnics beneath its boughs has been crowned tree of the year.

The stately ancient tree in Wrexham’s Acton Park fought off competition from 10 other urban trees in the Woodland Trust competition, which this year highlighted city trees which are widely enjoyed by the public but are often still vulnerable to destruction.

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A carbon intelligence platform has shared an update on the voluntary carbon market, which now appears stalled until COP28 negotiations provide clarity on Article 6, while highlighting strong growth in the project pipeline for nature-based projects.

A non-for-profit methane emissions certifier on Wednesday announced it will launch its certificates on ESG commodity marketplace operator Xpansiv's CBL Global Spot Exchange. 

The recommendations from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) are more consistent than the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) requirements, the lead of an EU-established group has said.

A carbon storage project in the Netherlands obtained its final investment decision on Wednesday, becoming the first in the EU to reach this stage.

An alliance of asset owners has seen annual emissions across its 86 members fall for the first time, albeit marginally, as the group moves to defend its role in the face of rising political pressure against collective corporate climate action from some factions.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should partner with larger companies in their supply chain to boost action on nature, the private sector Capitals Coalition has said.

Industry lobbying and rightwing politicians are involved in this decision. The pushback against green policies must be resisted

• Geoffrey Lean is a specialist environment correspondent and author

Can there be a better example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory? In a disclosure that threatens to go relatively unnoticed, it emerges that at the last minute, vital steps to protect Europeans from toxic chemicals have fallen foul of the growing political backlash against green measures. Continent-wide rules that would have banned the use of dangerous substances have been delayed and may now be abandoned altogether, with huge consequences for human health and the chemical industry.

As exclusively reported by the Guardian, the European Commission has dropped plans to regulate chemicals from its latest work programme after lobbying by industry and opposition from rightwing politicians. The measures – whose details had been virtually finalised ready for publication – would, among other things, have outlawed all but essential use of thousands of hazardous substances believed to cause more than a quarter of a million cancers in Europe each year.

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More than 100 species, from frogs to killer whales, contaminated with long-lasting chemicals with serious health effects

More than a hundred species of wildlife found across every continent are contaminated with highly toxic flame retardants, and the pollution is probably responsible for population declines in some species, a new analysis of published research shows.

The dangerous chemicals have been detected in everything from sea urchins to bobcats to Arctic foxes, and at alarming levels in endangered species such as red pandas, chimpanzees and killer whales.

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A Europe-based developer of biochar-based carbon removal parks sees strong demand from regional-focused buyers prepared to pay well into triple digits for its carbon credits, having sold out of its initial offering for the first two projects it has operating so far.