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The UK government has kicked off a second consultation on its guidance for future nuclear energy policy, seeking views on how to expand the policy's scope to enable small and advanced modular reactor technologies, it announced on Tuesday. 

The EU has an obligation to submit a 2035 climate target to the UN “well before” the COP30 climate summit in November, said a senior European Parliament member from the ruling European People's Party (EPP) – putting pressure on Brussels to deliver “as soon as possible”.

The oil giant is widely expected to say it will scale back on renewables later this month.

Scientists observe decreased motor function in rodents exposed to microplastics

Microplastics can move through mice brains and block blood vessels, essentially mimicking blood clots that could potentially be fatal or otherwise disrupt brain function.

The findings are detailed in a peer-reviewed paper for which researchers for the first time used real-time imaging to track bits of plastic as they moved through and accumulated in brain blood vessels. When one piece of plastic got stuck, others accumulated behind it, like a “car crash”, the authors reported.

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Two technology companies on Tuesday announced a partnership to scale UK water quality monitoring in a bid to confront the industry's pollution impact on nature.

Spain's Acciona Energia - which is building Australia's biggest single wind project - is seeking solutions for the full recycling of turbine blades.

The post Builder of Australia’s largest single wind project seeks solutions for blade recycling appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Social media storm of misinformation about Bovaer has drawn in Reform UK, the dairy industry and even Bill Gates

Scientists say a recent methane-related conspiracy theory was “a wake-up call” for the industry, reminding them they need to communicate better and more directly with the public.

Over the last few months, Bovaer, a cattle feed additive that is proven to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas, has been at the centre of a swirl of misinformation, drawing in Reform UK, the dairy industry and even the billionaire Bill Gates.

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Industry says ‘pavement tax’ due to disparity in VAT rates is holding back transition away from fossil fuels

Electric vehicle drivers will spend an extra £85m on UK tax when using public car chargers this year because of a disparity in VAT rates that the industry has said is holding back the transition away from fossil fuels.

Home users of electricity pay just 5% VAT compared with the 20% rate that applies to businesses – including electric car charger operators. That means that people charging a car using public chargers face higher costs.

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Weaknesses in governance, planning and economic efficiency in the NEM are historic, but completely inadequate for the revolutionary transition to green energy.

The post “A thin veneer of governance:” Senate inquiry identifies critical failings in energy transition appeared first on RenewEconomy.

How does renewable energy firming work, how are we tracking with it in Australia and globally, and can it be applied to consumer energy resources too?

The post Explainer: What does it actually mean to “firm” renewables? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

If Starmer and Reeves really want a greener, cleaner, wilder nation, then why attack vital state bodies that are already on their knees?

This might sound astonishing, but the UK government’s core programme now appears to be the same as Donald Trump’s: dismantling the administrative state. There’s less theatre, but the results could prove harder to contest. Absurd? Consider the evidence.

Take the government’s brutal expulsion of the chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, Marcus Bokkerink. His crime, it seems, was to take his role seriously, seeking to prevent the formation of corporate monopolies. He has been replaced with the former manager of Amazon UK, a company widely accused of monopolistic practices. This is pure Trump: kick out the regulator and insert someone from a company they were seeking to regulate.

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Australia has passed legislation to provide production tax credits for hydrogen and critical minerals processing in the hopes of kickstarting clean energy industries that have struggled to take wing.

Nepal has submitted a list of project activities to the UNFCCC that it will consider for carbon credit generation under the Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, as part of efforts to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

A bid to charge Victorian gas customers an extra $70m to cover the cost of assets stranded by electrification has been rejected, as regulator questions network company's forecasts.

The post Regulator rejects gas network bid to hike costs, says customer exodus will be slower than forecast appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Everyone knows the sun doesn’t shine at night. That’s where firming technologies help, by stabilising the grid and storing cheap power for later Peta Ashworth, Professor and Director, Curtin Institute for Energy Transition, Curtin University Ehsan Pashajavid, Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Curtin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

South Australia premier refuses to commit funds for what would be a world-leading green hydrogen electrolyser and power plant.

The post Will it or won’t it? South Australia hedges bets on world-leading green hydrogen plan appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Citing “challenging conditions" in the European market. Sharp pulls the pin on its German-based solar operations after 30 years in business.

The post Sharp quits solar business in Europe, citing “challenging conditions” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Vermont officials unveiled a study of its proposed cap-and-invest programme Monday that detailed a menu of design options the state could adopt to help meet its climate goals, including adding a potential low carbon fuels standard.

A California-based climate finance firm has made an early-stage investment in a forestry project in northern Uganda, which is projected to remove 17 million tonnes of CO2e from the atmosphere.

Victoria’s energy system set multiple records on Sunday, including a record low average output for brown coal – once the mainstay of its grid – which fell below 2 GW for the first time. The multiple new records – which included negative residual demand, maximum wind and solar output, curtailment, and battery storage, reflects the […]

The post Brown coal hits new low in Victoria as wind and battery records tumble and renewables peak at 95.2 pct appeared first on RenewEconomy.