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Drop in wind energy costs adds pressure for government rethink
Tories urged to look at onshore windfarms which can be built as cheaply as gas plants and deliver the same power for half the cost of Hinkley Point, says Arup
Onshore windfarms could be built in the UK for the same cost as new gas power stations and would be nearly half as expensive as the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, according to a leading engineering consultant.
Arup found that the technology has become so cheap that developers could deliver turbines for a guaranteed price of power so low that it would be effectively subsidy-free in terms of the impact on household energy bills.
Continue reading...The lynx effect: are sheep farmers right to fear for their flocks?
Plans to bring the wild cats back to Northumberland have prompted concerns from farmers, but – from beavers to red kites – rewilding in the UK has generally been a success
More than a millennia has passed since lynx roamed Britain, and now the Lynx UK Trust – a community interest company formed in 2014 by conservationists and scientists – wants to reintroduce them into Kielder Forest in Northumberland. The trust’s plans have received opposition from the National Sheep Association, which says: “The consultation process adopted by Lynx UK Trust appears flawed and misleading.”
Related: Campaigners seek to reintroduce Eurasian lynx to parts of Britain
Continue reading...Australian company invents new technology, helps clinch massive offshore Windfarm Project in the Netherlands
Robot shows suspected melted nuclear fuel at Fukushima reactor – video
An underwater robot has captured images of what is believed to be suspected debris of melted nuclear fuel inside one of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Locating and analysing the fuel debris is crucial for decommissioning the plant, which was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami
Continue reading...Fukushima disaster: Robot finds possible melted nuclear fuel
The rather rude sounds of an elephant seal
Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel
Robot spots suspected debris of melted fuel for first time since 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant
Images captured by an underwater robot on Saturday showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.
The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1m on the bottom inside a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima’s Unit 3 reactor, said the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Continue reading...How to make spaghetti bolognese
Norfolk Broads python discovery mystery
Disturbing proximity of a red kite's nest
Comins Coch, Aberystwyth I was looking forward to seeing the ramshackle structure for myself. Then the anxiety began
A month or so ago, a friend casually mentioned that they thought red kites were starting to nest near their house. Very near, in fact; actually in the garden. Even in the hills beyond Tregaron, where kites wheel and dive in such abundance as to be almost unworthy of comment, having a nest within view of your kitchen window is unusual.
On the boundary of the property, the crook of a sycamore tree provided an apparently suitable spot for the pair to set up home; occasional bulletins told of the progress, albeit slow and halting, of nest building. It seemed the birds were in no great hurry – limiting their activity to the odd twig or two each day – but eventually they had assembled a slightly ramshackle structure that managed to support the weight of a sitting bird.
Continue reading...Promising results from new Taiwanese energy technologies
Eruption, explosion and river erosion
Country Breakfast Features Saturday 22 July
Norfolk playing catch-up in the anti-littering stakes | Brief letters
Gosh! How clever we have all become. Fifty years ago, only the top 2% of the population went to university and about 10% of them got firsts, so 0.2% of the population. Now, 30% go to uni, and 25% of them get firsts (Number of UK degree students receiving firsts soars, theguardian.com, 20 July), making 7.5% of the population. The universities say there is no grade inflation so we must be more than 30 times cleverer! Impressive or what?
Rob Symonds
Birmingham
• How refreshing, considering the Guardian’s stance on attitudes at the BBC, to find that of the 13 saints in your Wordsearch grid (20 July), just one is female, and that AnneMarie Ciccarella is “a fast-talking 57-year-old brunette” (The long read, 18 July). Do you need to know my hair colour to print this?
Alison Robinson
Seer Green, Buckinghamshire
Mega farms, palm oil and plastic pollution – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
Continue reading...Michael Gove’s green dream: like Brexit, the reality awaits
Gove’s vision for the environment is undoubtedly ambitious but it is at odds with much government action – making it real will be a gargantuan task
Who knew? Environment secretary Michael Gove, arch Brexiter and seen just months ago grinning and thumbs up in eco-villain Donald Trump’s lair, turns out to be – in words, at least – a deep green.
His first major speech railed against “corporate greed and devil-take-the-hindmost individualism”, “extractive and exploitative political systems” and the “selfish agenda” of vested interests.
Continue reading...Pepsico, Unilever and Nestlé accused of complicity in illegal rainforest destruction
Palm oil plantations on illegally deforested land in Sumatra – home to elephants, orangutans and tigers – have allegedly been used to supply scores of household brands, says new report
Pepsico, Unilever and Nestlé have been accused of complicity in the destruction of Sumatra’s last tract of rainforest shared by elephants, orangutans, rhinos, and tigers together in one ecosystem.
Plantations built on deforested land have allegedly been used to supply palm oil to scores of household brands that also include McDonald’s, Mars, Kellogg’s and Procter & Gamble, according to a new report.
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
A pod of pilot whales, nesting storks and a clan of hyenas are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Cross-party group of MPs call on Gove to adopt clean air bill
Sixty-five MPs have written to the environment secretary urging him to include the measures in his new strategy to tackle the air pollution crisis
A cross party group of MPs is calling on Michael Gove to adopt a clean air bill in his new strategy to tackle the crisis of air pollution in the UK.
Sixty five MPs have written to the environment secretary as he prepares to address the most pressing issue in his intray – a demand by judges for a new air quality strategy by 31 July to cut illegal levels of pollution from diesel vehicles.
Continue reading...Undercover police target London drivers who pass too close to cyclists
Drivers who fail to give cyclists enough space when overtaking will be pulled over, and officers will explain how to overtake cyclists safely
London’s police force has launched a new initiative to tackle drivers who pass cyclists too closely, using plain clothes officers.
From Friday, the Space for Cyclists initiative will be carried out by UK’s only cycle-mounted police command, the Met’s cycle safety team, after months spent adapting the tactic for London’s roads from a West Midlands Police initiative, introduced last year.
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