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Alan Pears argues there are some basic flaws in our energy system that urgently need fixing, and it’s time energy networks and retailers shoulder more risk, not consumers.

The post SwitchedOn Podcast: Alan Pears on fixing Australia’s energy system appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Second generation rat poisons are so potent that they’re banned for home use in Europe and North America. But here, you can pick them up at Bunnings or Coles. Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University Judy Dunlop, Research Fellow in Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University Melissa Snape, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Ecology, University of Canberra Stephanie Pulsford, Adjunct Fellow in Ecology, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Wind farm owner rejects rumour that old turbines will be buried in sand dunes when the oldest commercial wind farm is closed in 2027.

The post Turbines will not be buried in sand dunes, says owner of NEM’s oldest commercial wind farm appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Bids close for what is likely to be Australia's biggest wind and solar tender on Tuesday. But will it see the light of day?

The post Bids for Australia’s biggest wind and solar tender close on Tuesday. Will it be the last? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Some major carbon-emitting countries are hinting they may follow suit as the US opts to ramp up fossil fuels.

A group of 69 environmental NGOs have urged the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to cast off biofuels for decarbonising the shipping industry because of their potential impact on ecosystems and communities, as key talks kick off on Monday to address the sector's climate impact.

A proposed small wind farm and a giant battery project can expect a planning decision within four months after being fast-tracked by Victoria government.

The post Victoria fast tracks small wind and giant battery projects under new planning rules appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tanzania’s parliament has passed a law aimed at bolstering the country’s carbon credit market, seeking to increase revenue from carbon trading while addressing climate financing challenges.

Zinc miner is to treble the size of a proposed wind farm, as one of the biggest mining provinces reduces its dependence on expensive gas.

The post Giant zine mine trebles size of wind project to avoid crippling costs of gas power appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Just as caring for a human loved one can come at great personal cost, a growing body of research shows people with a seriously ill pet experience ‘caregiver burden’. Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Tracey Taylor, PhD Candidate, School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Melting permafrost in the northern hemisphere is likely to continue releasing greenhouse gases even under stringent climate mitigation efforts, potentially weakening the effectiveness of CO2 removal (CDR) strategies, a new study warns.

The US president has scrapped paper straws because they allegedly ‘explode’ – a bit like the PM’s reputation if he keeps refusing to confront him on the big issues

It’s difficult to know whether to set any store by Donald Trump’s bleak and yet also often banal pronouncements, which read as if handfuls of offensive concepts have been tossed into the air by a monkey, read out in whatever order they landed and then made policy. Until it’s clear they can’t work. At which point, the monkey must toss again.

But this month, Trump, whose morning ablutions increasingly appear to consist of dousing himself in sachets of the kind of cheap hot chocolate powder I steal from three-star hotels, like a flightless bird stuck in the machine that glazes Magnum lollies, declared he wanted to build his hotels on the mass graves of Gaza. Hasn’t Trump seen The Shining? It won’t end well. Pity those whose children have the misfortune to die next to a monetisable stretch of shoreline. And hope humanity’s next wave of mass killings happens somewhere uneven and way inland that hopefully wouldn’t even make a decent golf course.

Stewart Lee tours Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf this year, with a Royal Festival Hall run in July

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Electricity demand in Australia's biggest grid, and biggest coal state, hits a dramatic and surprising new low as rooftop PV takes its biggest bite yet out of market.

The post “Miles lower:” Rooftop PV takes biggest bite yet out of grid demand in Australia’s biggest coal state appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Queensland Hydro calls for submissions on its proposed Borumba pumped hydro scheme, despite government concerns about its viability.

The post Queensland pushes ahead with Borumba pumped hydro despite cost blowout and renewable pause appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A councillor’s alleged attempt to blow up a bird-prowling moggie reveals the pet-loving divide runs deep

The resignation last week of James Garnor, a parish councillor in Whittlebury, Northamptonshire, may look like further proof of the maxim, established by the infamous Jackie Weaver lockdown meeting, that low-level politics produce high-level emotions. However, the cause of his undoing was nothing as trivial as democratic principles; it illustrates a far more profound question that, sooner or later, we all confront: are you a cat or a dog person?

Garnor, we may safely conclude, is not a cat person. He quit following allegations that he rigged up a bird table with a firework device so that it exploded when a cat paid a visit. The consequences of this shocking but non-lethal incident, which took place back in 2023, have only now come to a head, but it’s fair to say that, as anti-cat statements go, a remote-detonated IED is at the extreme end of things.

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Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) units must absolutely be prioritised for industries lacking viable decarbonisation alternatives, rather than being used to offset emissions from sectors that can more easily transition, a new study warns.

As wildfires, floods, droughts and record-breaking temperatures have shown, the post-climate change era has arrived. Now we need honesty and action from our leaders

Not yet a quarter of the way into this century and global average temperatures are already 1.75C above the preindustrial average. January 2025 was the hottest on record and has also set a record for the highest yearly minimum global surface temperature, and likely the highest minimum in the past 120,000 years. It is part of a clear pattern. Last year’s global average was 1.6C above the preindustrial – a sobering reality check, given that, only three months ago at the UN Cop29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, leaders were still declaring that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C was within reach.

We are firmly in the post-climate change world now, and the serious implications of this demand honest acknowledgment. The reality is that we are living now in a time of continual disasters that are unfolding alongside our slower, planetary scale disaster. In this riskier time, we need to prepare.

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A Swiss-based registry is launching a public consultation for a new voluntary carbon market certification system aimed at integrating biomass-derived carbon sinks into the construction sector.

The Supervisory Body for the Article 6.4 mechanism (SBM) agreed to launch an interim registry to help speed along the operationalising of the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism (PACM) at its first meeting of the year, also making the first approvals as part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) transition process.

Trend towards more extreme-weather events will continue to hit crop yields and create price spikes, Inverto says

Extreme weather events are expected to lead to volatile food prices throughout 2025, supply chain analysts have said, after cocoa and coffee prices more than doubled over the past year.

In an apparent confirmation of warnings that climate breakdown could lead to food shortages, research by the consultancy Inverto found steep rises in the prices of a number of food commodities in the year to January that correlated with unexpected weather.

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