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Committee says government should have got stronger commitments on bank’s future

MPs have accused the government of a “deeply regrettable” failure to put in place strong guarantees that the UK’s green investment bank will continue to support renewable energy after its privatisation.

The public accounts committee said it was unclear whether the bank would continue to support the government’s energy policy or climate change goals, because the bank’s new owner is not legally bound to stick to its green aims.

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Government should have got binding commitments a private owner would continue to invest

The government’s £1.6bn sale last year of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to the Australian financial outfit Macquariewas a shambles, it was argued here at the time, and now the public accounts committee agrees. The rough summary of its report runs as follows: in their eagerness to trim a few quid from the national debt ministers accepted a few airy pledges from Macquarie about future investment and called them commitments.

The MPs’ verdict makes a nonsense of the government’s claim that a sale would deliver “the best of both worlds” – value for money and a new owner that would definitely use GIB to support UK energy policy and invest in low-carbon infrastructure. The price tag looks OK since the Treasury made a profit of £186m, but the boast about Macquarie’s good intentions has been exposed as an exercise in hopeful assumptions. The Aussie financiers may decide to play ball, but, if they don’t, there is little the government will be able to do.

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Energy-savvy Queenslanders with home battery storage can put $50 in their pocket from today by signing up to Australia’s first battery storage database.

The liquid tinkling of this tiny finch adds to the springtime chorus in Spain but can we expect to see the bird in Britain?

Under a fiercely blue sky, the sun shines down on groves of oranges and almond blossom. I am in the mountain village of Sella, in Spain’s Alicante province, enjoying a sneak preview of spring – a month or more before it arrives in Britain.

The migrant birds are not yet back, but half a dozen different butterflies are on the wing and birdsong fills the air. The scratchy sound of Sardinian warblers, the metallic song of the black redstart, and, from every little bush and tree, the liquid tinkling of serins.

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There has been some progress in the war against the toads with Queensland scientists using their own song and their own poison to trap them.

Wind is just air moving from one place where there is high pressure to another place where there is low pressure. Andrew B. Watkins, Manager of Climate Prediction Services, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The famous winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx, once thought of as the first bird, could fly, research shows.

New bill will be first step by ministers to protect and restore soil as fears grow over a future soil fertility crisis

A new bill will be brought before parliament this year mandating, for the first time, measures and targets to preserve and improve the health of the UK’s soils, amid growing concern that we are sleepwalking into a crisis of soil fertility that could destroy our ability to feed ourselves.

The UN has warned that the world’s soils face exhaustion and depletion, with an estimated 60 harvests left before they are too degraded to feed the planet, and a 2014 study in the UK found matters are not much better, estimating 100 harvests remaining.

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Scientists found a strong link between high temperatures near the pole and unusually heavy snowfall and frigid weather farther south.

The sort of severe winter weather that has rattled parts of the US and UK is becoming more common as the Arctic warms, with scientists finding a strong link between high temperatures near the pole and unusually heavy snowfall and frigid weather further south.

A sharp increase in temperatures across the Arctic since the early 1990s has coincided with an uptick in abnormally cold snaps in winter, particularly in the eastern US, according to new research that analyzed temperature data from 1950 onwards.

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Phllip Hammond accused of delaying action after he announces consultation

Everyday single-use plastic items such as disposable coffee cups, takeaway boxes and polystyrene packaging could be hit with charges akin to the 5p levy on plastic bags, the government has warned.

The Treasury said it was looking at changes to taxation and new levies to tackle plastic waste, but campaigners and politicians accused the government of delaying action.

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Taxpayers everywhere – including those living hundreds of miles away from the south-east – will all pay for the expansion, write local MPs, lords and council leaders

We are writing to you regarding Heathrow and the hidden costs that we believe need to be explored.

Lots of promises have been made to lots of people in different parts of the country about the extra domestic routes they can expect if a third Heathrow runway is built. It’s all part of a divide-and-rule strategy which glosses over the health impacts of worsening noise and air pollution in south and west London while cheerily talking up the prospects of improved internal connections from an expanded hub airport.

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New device is designed to prevent power output plummeting when the sun isn’t shining – but practical application is still some years off

A solar panel that can generate electricity from falling raindrops has been invented, enabling power to flow even when skies cloud over or the sun has set.

Solar power installation is soaring globally thanks to costs plunging 90% in the past decade, making it the cheapest electricity in many parts of the world. But the power output can plummet under grey skies and researchers are working to squeeze even more electricity from panels.

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Early humans may have flourished after the largest volcanic eruption in history, according to new research.

Greenpeace finds industrial fishing taking place in the feeding grounds of whales and penguins, with vessels involved in oil spills and accidents

• Chris Packham: Fishing for krill is an eco-disaster
  

Industrial fishing for krill in the pristine waters around Antarctica is threatening the future of one of the world’s last great wildernesses, according to a new report.

The study by Greenpeace analysed the movements of krill fishing vessels in the region and found they were increasingly operating “in the immediate vicinity of penguin colonies and whale feeding grounds”.

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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.

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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.