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Danish energy giant Orsted has scrapped a proposed e-methanol plant meant to supply green fuel for container ships amid a lack of demand, it announced Wednesday, in the latest sign that European energy majors are retreating from green fuel projects.

EUA prices moved slightly higher on Friday morning, setting the market up for its third weekly gain in the last month, as selling pressure appeared to fade away and buyers were slow to fill the gap, while trading volume shrank as participants headed into the peak summer weekend.

GenZero, a subsidiary of Singaporean government-owned investment firm Temasek, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Philippines-headquartered energy company and a global asset manager to explore the use of ‘transition credits’, starting with the retirement of a coal-fired power plant in the Philippines, it announced Friday.

CO2 allowance prices in China’s carbon market hovered around the 91 yuan ($12.70) level over the past week, while the weekly trading volume has remained steady.

Compound used in refrigeration and air conditioning accumulates at much higher levels that other chemicals

Rain and air samples collected in metro Detroit that researchers checked for toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” showed the highest levels of TFA, an alarming finding because the compound is a potent greenhouse gas and more toxic than previously thought, but not well-studied.

While PFAS are a chemical class known to be ubiquitous in the environment, the new research is part of growing evidence around the globe that points to TFA, commonly used in refrigeration, air conditioning and clean energy technology, accumulating at much higher levels than other well-studied compounds.

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An oarfish, which resembles a serpent, was found floating dead on the ocean surface off the San Diego coast and was brought ashore for study. Scientists say it is only the 20th time since 1901 an oarfish is known to have washed up in California

• Stonehenge megalith came from Scotland, not Wales, ‘jaw-dropping’ study finds

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The Australian federal government on Friday released a consultation on its latest version of the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) and associated guidelines.

Danish shipping company Maersk will work together with two parter companies to assess the potential for nuclear-powered container ships in Europe, they announced this week.

A cross-sector alliance that aims to revitalise Japan’s carbon credit market has seen the first batch of certified carbon credits under its newly developed carbon standard, it announced Friday.

Nearly 25% of the European landscape has the potential to be rewilded, with over two-thirds of the territories lying in countries with cooler climates such as Scandinavia, Scotland, and the Baltic states, researchers have found.

British forces are about to get their first dedicated surveillance and reconnaissance satellite.

The Australian government on Friday distributed a draft sustainable ocean plan for public comment, offering little in terms of specifics at this early stage but saying the plan would bring a long list of opportunities, including for carbon and biodiversity markets.

Data shows continued surge in wind and solar power amid hopes Chinese greenhouse gas emissions may have peaked

China produced as much clean electricity in the first half of this year as the UK generated from all sources in the same period last year, data shows, as wind and solar power generation continued to surge in the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Electricity generation from coal and gas dropped by 5% in China in July, year on year, according to an update from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) thinktank, basing its analysis on data released by the Chinese government on Thursday.

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Indonesia’s incoming president Prabowo Subianto’s office has reconfirmed a plan for a Climate Change Control and Carbon Administration which will use blockchain to manage its carbon markets in addition to pursuing a net zero target set by the previous administration.

While he took the time to disconnect from New Zealand’s carbon trading scheme during a recent gardening leave, a prominent figure in the market on Friday told Carbon Pulse he is optimistic about its fundamentals since returning.

South Korean companies are developing methods to make the asphalt paving process more environmentally friendly, which can help reduce emissions in the transportation sector.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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I smugly assumed I was offering my children a crash course in wholesomeness. The reality was quite different

Earlier this week, I dropped my kids off at a day camp in a park in London and then congratulated myself all the way home. The summer holiday is long and camp programmes are expensive, and when you sign up for one, there is a hard-to-resist expectation that the kids will be not only entertained but improved – physically (swimming lessons), morally (team games – specifically rounders) and, in the case of the camp we signed up for, spiritually. By which, of course, I refer to two sacred words in the middle-class lexicon: forest school.

I should say I’m completely down with the broad mission of forest school. Adults and children are improved by spending time in nature; studies and experience show this. There is a difference, however, between forest school the movement, a laudable push to get kids learning outside based on ideas that stretch back to the 19th century and popularised in the 1950s by, of course, the Scandinavians, and forest school, the modern marketing and business initiative. It reminds me of the catnip status latterly occupied by Mandarin lessons in the New York state primary system, which, when my three-year-olds started pre-school in 2018 – one of them still wearing pull-ups – saw them slogging each week through a mandatory class. There is nothing wrong with learning Mandarin, but it is perhaps not a priority for people who can’t use the toilet yet.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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An architectural zigzag design can limit how much heat is absorbed by buildings – and emitted back to space

Incorporating zigzag patterns into building walls could help cool overheated buildings, research has found.

Buildings are now responsible for approximately 40% of global energy consumption, contributing more than a third of global carbon dioxide emissions.

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New rules seek to help consumers get more out of their energy assets – but miss a major opportunity to boost competition in the retail sector.

The post New rules change game for EVs and home batteries, but won’t give power to the people appeared first on RenewEconomy.