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Fukushima 360: walk through a ghost town in the nuclear disaster zone – video
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What happens to a town that has been abandoned for seven years after a nuclear meltdown? Greenpeace took former residents and a 360-degree camera into the radiation zone north of Fukushima to mark the anniversary of the disaster. The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9 earthquake on the afternoon of 11 March 2011. The tsunami killed almost 19,000 people along the north-east coast of Japan and forced more than 150,000 others living near the plant to flee radiation. Some of the evacuated neighbourhoods are still deemed too dangerous for former residents to go back.
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Tritium zooms in on Europe EV boom, with new base in Amsterdam
Carnegie eyes another 10MW solar and battery project in W.A.
Farmers fight back against foxes and volunteers harvest the hops
Can Queensland Labor end broadscale land clearing, as promised?
Green groups welcome proposed changes to land-clearing law but there are still reasons to doubt they are enough to halt the crisis
Last week, the Queensland government tabled a highly anticipated bill seeking to implement its promise to “end broadscale clearing in Queensland”.
Queensland is responsible for more tree clearing than the rest of the country combined, so making good on that promise would go a long way to halting Australia’s growing land clearing crisis.
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Regional Victoria council adds 14.5kW solar system, on path to zero carbon
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Will Labrador make you switch energy suppliers?
Startup claims to automatically switch smart-meter users three times a year and save them £300
A device that plugs into a home broadband router and automatically switches supplier when cheaper deals become available is set to revolutionise the home energy market.
The launch of Labrador comes as more and more people are changing their energy companies.
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Fukushima 360: walk through a ghost town in the nuclear disaster zone – video
What happens to a town that has been abandoned for seven years after a nuclear meltdown? Greenpeace took former residents and a 360-degree camera into the radiation zone north of Fukushima to mark the anniversary of the disaster. The Fukushima Daiichi plant was damaged by a tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9 earthquake on the afternoon of 11 March 2011. The tsunami killed almost 19,000 people along the north-east coast of Japan and forced more than 150,000 others living near the plant to flee radiation. Some of the evacuated neighbourhoods are still deemed too dangerous for former residents to go back.
Continue reading...Big firms push to overturn uranium mining ban near Grand Canyon
Companies say mining poses scant threat but conservation groups say ban should remain until environmental risks have been fully explored
The US mining industry has asked the supreme court to overturn an Obama-era rule prohibiting the mining of uranium on public lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon.
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River Dreams
Weatherwatch: how to maximise the power from mighty blades
Engineers are working on turbine blades that automatically adjust to high wind pressure and will stand up to strong winds and turbulent gusts
Wind turbine blades are getting ever larger and producing more power, but fluctuations in wind speed mean they are not always efficient. Blades can now be 85m long (and will be longer in the future) and they swing through an area the size of four football pitches. The wind speed will vary at the top and bottom of each rotation. The blades also have to be robust to withstand the pressure of high winds. Even so, in the worst weather operators sometimes need to angle the blades away from the wind and turn the turbines off to avoid damage. Then they lose production altogether.
Related: Mersey feat: world's biggest wind turbines go online near Liverpool
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