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A carbon exchange traded fund (ETF) on the Australian bourse will shut down operations next month, citing failure to reach the needed size to track the benchmark and meet its investment plans, not being cost effective to investors compared to other carbon ETFs, and limited secondary market trading volumes.

The Thames is often treated badly: pumped with effluent by water companies and viewed as just a geographical gap or dividing line. It is worth remembering its magic

Pull on your effluent suits and ring the sewage bell because, friends, Thames Water is being fined. Or at least it might be. The industry regulator, Ofwat, finally said out loud what we have all known for some time: that the privatised water company has been pumping raw sewage into our waterways for years. As a consequence, the company is facing a fine of £104m; just to put that number into context, according to the BBC, Thames Water reported an increase in annual profits to £157.3m last year, but is also facing a debt of £15.2bn. It makes huge profits and has no money; it’s almost as if turning one of life’s most essential building blocks into a commodity to be distributed for private gain wasn’t a great idea in the first place.

The thing about the Thames is that many of us – particularly residents of London and the towns and cities further upstream – don’t really think of it as a river at all. We treat it as a geographical gap; a dividing line between north and south, or between local wards, or between different demographics. It might be scattered with boats, sure, but it’s also scattered with plastic bottles, old shopping trolleys, timber pallets and crisp packets, just like any rundown city car park or alleyway. But the Thames is a river. In many ways, it is one of the most beautiful rivers in Britain; aesthetically and for all the history and culture it holds.

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The feasibility of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) is highly uncertain, making it an unviable option for the retrofitting of existing thermal power plants, an Indian government official has told the upper house of Parliament.

One of the many goals of the newly-formed carbon market alliance in Malaysia is to support an interoperable carbon market across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, the association’s inaugural president has told Carbon Pulse.

Goldwind and local partner to file EIS for massive wind and battery project that will feature turbine bigger than any installed in Australia to date.

The post China’s Goldwind files EIS for massive wind and battery project featuring biggest turbines to date appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The government of Tokyo has selected several climate startups to initiate voluntary projects that can create credits from nature-based and farming solutions, with the first batch of pilot projects to be implemented in the coming months.

EU member states handed out fewer than 10 million EUAs for 2024 to industrial installations in the last two weeks, raising the total number of permits issued by just 1.5 percentage points and leaving the market with more than 21% of its annual allocation still to be distributed among emitters.

Deputy Chair of Zero Emissions Noosa, Mark Purcell, is on a mission to get 50,000 households to electrify and install batteries.

The post SwitchedOn Podcast: Taking the pain out of an energy upgrade appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The South American wetland, which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, would be vulnerable to biome loss and increased wildfires

• ‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetland

Dozens of scientists are sounding the alarm that carving a commercial waterway through the world’s largest wetlands could spell the “end of an entire biome”, and leave hundreds of thousands of hectares of land to be devastated by wildfires.

The Pantanal wetland – which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, covering an area almost half the size of Germany – is facing the proposed construction of a commercial waterway, as well as the expansion of industrial farming and spread of intense wildfires. A cohort of 40 scientists say the waterway development represents an existential threat to the ecosystem: reducing the floodplain, increasing the risk of fires and transforming the area into a landscape that could more easily be farmed.

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Australia cannot risk any further declines in its biodiversity resulting from harvesting native forests, or actions that bring further risks to its emissions-reduction goal. David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Brendan Mackey, Director, Griffith Climate Action Beacon, Griffith University Heather Keith, Senior Research Fellow in Ecology, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Australian scientists have joined an elite club of just eight around the world, making a perovskite solar cell that can hit 30 per cent efficiency. 

The post Australian solar team beats perovskite efficiency milestone, joins elite global club appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Plans to "repower" an ageing wind are seeking the all-clear from the federal environment minister, in what would be a significant first for Australia's wind industry.

The post One of Australia’s oldest wind farms could nearly double capacity by “repowering” with bigger turbines appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A Thousand Thorns is a project by photographer Deepti Asthana documenting women’s changing aspirations in rural India through the story of two young female forest guards in Rajasthan’s Thar desert. Theirs is a scenario playing out in millions of homes – of the fight for equality and independence in a deeply patriarchal society

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Li-S Energy is making a powerful, lightweight battery for aviation and eVtol craft and plans to make as many parts in Australia as possible.

The post Australian battery maker opens first facility in Victoria, lands federal funds for expansion appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rooftop solar helps push minimum operational demand to record low levels in the middle of winter, in a challenge to "baseload" coal and the Coalition's nuclear fantasies.

The post Rooftop solar meets 80 pct of state’s electricity demand – in middle of winter appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed securities firm has issued a call for expressions of interest in Mainland China projects seeking status as Other Effective land-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) as part of the country’s efforts to meet its commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Plans to build a 600MW solar farm and two-hour big battery have joined the queue for assessment under the federal EPBC Act.

The post Huge NSW solar farm and big battery seeks federal green tick appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An Australian investment joint venture has launched a carbon credit fund focusing on reforesting agricultural land after securing A$80 million ($52 mln) in its initial close from some of the country’s largest miners and airlines.

Australia’s global fossil fuel carbon footprint is three times larger than its domestic footprint. Around 80% of the damage is done overseas.

The post Australia is doubling down on fossil fuel exports, and helping to blow global carbon budgets appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Coal and gas exports expected to remain roughly at current level until at least 2035 with 4.5% of emissions linked to Australia, report finds

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Australia’s coal and gas exports cause more climate damage than those from any other country bar Russia, according to a new study that argues the country is undermining a global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.

The analysis, commissioned by the University of New South Wales’ Australian Human Rights Institute, found Australia was the third biggest fossil fuel exporter on an energy basis in 2021, trailing only Russia and the US.

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