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This has been a summer of extreme heat around the world. The Guardian is investigating how it harms our planet and leaves the world’s most vulnerable people exposed to its impact

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A staple of dystopian science fictions is an inner sanctum of privilege and an outer world – chemical desert/airless waste/District 12 – peopled by the desperate poor. The insiders, living off the exploited labour of the outlands, are indifferent to the horrors beyond their walls. Well, here we are.

Even as extreme heat raged across the southern United States this summer, the governors of Florida and Texas struck down heat protections for outdoor workers. Construction companies and agricultural firms lobbied against the rights of workers to water, shade and rest breaks when temperatures soar – and Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, two men also lavishly funded by the fossil fuel industry, gave them what they wanted.

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European carbon prices struggled for direction on Wednesday morning amid the lack of a daily auction, wider macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, and closely tracking a flat TTF gas market, as investment funds trimmed their net short position 25% last week, according to Commitment of Traders data.

Nature-based carbon and biodiversity markets should only sell credits after their impact has been scientifically proven in a bid to make them credible and scale investments, a new study has said.

Carbon capture and storage work is ramping up in Australia as one project proponent handed two offshore permits last week on Wednesday announced another partnership with a Japanese giant, and the federal government handed out three new offshore permits.

Two renewable energy projects in Spain will borrow €85 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) under EU plans to reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports.

A dairy product supplier in China is planning to tap into the international carbon market by launching a biogas utilisation project. 

Singapore has introduced an energy transition bill to Parliament for its first reading to progress its decarbonisation process via introducing guardrails for the electricity market, strengthening the Energy Market Authority’s (EMA) ability to regulate the power sector, and establishing the Future Energy Fund.

A US-based startup has this week launched an online platform that enables individuals, households, and small businesses to buy carbon removals credits.

One of Japan's largest trading houses has formed a partnership with two domestic companies to develop a combined decarbonisation solution for corporate clients.

Using cameras and trackers attached to Australian sea lions, we explored previously unmapped ocean habitats off the South Australian coast. The data also fed into predictive computer models. Nathan Angelakis, PhD Candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

SunPower, once the darling of the American solar industry and its leading PV panel manufacturer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The post Another non-China solar giant fails as American PV pioneer SunPower files for bankruptcy appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Our former environment correspondent had solar panels installed in 2010 and later added a heat pump. He’s totted up the energy generated and cash saved over the years

An abiding memory of a day in August 2010, the first time my solar panels were connected to the grid, was of the builders downing tools and watching the electricity meter whiz round backwards.

It was a sunny day and they were supposed to be finishing the plastering and insulation, but the novel sight of the old-style electricity meter in reverse was too entertaining.

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AEMO reveals windfall contract details that will underpin the cost of building the biggest battery project in Australia.

The post The windfall contract that will underpin the cost of building Australia’s biggest battery project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Bell Bay wind farm wins state approval and will now go through the federal process, with impacts to be assessed on eagles and other species.

The post Tasmania fast tracks Bell Bay wind project as it head for federal review appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Eight Australian sea lions were enlisted to map the ocean floor by sticking cameras with satellite tracking to their backs. Almost 90 hours of footage and 500km later, conservationists hope to have much clearer ideas on how to protect the sea lions.  “I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”

• NSW shark nets to be removed a month early as more turtles head south in summer

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Eight females from two seal colonies have filmed almost 90 hours across more than 500km, helping scientists map 5,000 sq km of habitat

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The Australian sea lions glide and dart through underwater tunnels, over seagrass beds and rocky reefs, searching for a meal and dancing with dolphins around a giant bait ball of fish – all the action captured by a camera stuck on their back.

“I can watch this stuff for hours,” says Prof Simon Goldsworthy. “It’s like the best slow TV ever. You just don’t know what you’re going to see next.”

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Gardeners and pest controllers say wasps, important predators and pollinators, appear to be in sharp decline

The UK is not doing enough to track wasp populations as numbers appear to plummet, a leading expert has warned.

While there were national monitoring schemes for some invertebrates, including bees and butterflies, there was no such programme in place for wasps, said Dr Gavin Broad, principal curator of wasps at the Natural History Museum.

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Swedish-Israeli wave energy developer launches construction of a a 1MW generator in waters off the city of Porto in Portugal.

The post Work begins on world-first megawatt-scale wave energy project appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Videos have surfaced appearing to show people feeding a crocodile in the same area where a crocodile killed a man who slipped from the river bank into the water. Brandon Michael Sideleau, PhD student studying human-saltwater crocodile conflict, Charles Darwin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The focus on community benefits should not distract developers from the fact that people need to be heard and to have their concerns and contributions taken on board.

The post From social license to community benefits: Are we losing nuance in race to renewables?  appeared first on RenewEconomy.