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CSIRO hails successful road test of lower-cost green hydrogen technology at steel plant
The post CSIRO hails successful road test of lower-cost green hydrogen technology at steel plant appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Eyes of the energy world on Australian vanadium battery tech
The post Eyes of the energy world on Australian vanadium battery tech appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Poor labelling allows ‘massive amounts’ of plastic into Australia’s garden waste, companies warn
Items such as coffee cups and bin liners are wrongly labelled ‘compostable’, leading to calls for governments to impose standards
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“Massive amounts” of plastic contamination is getting into food and garden waste through user error and misleading “biodegradable” labelling, waste industry experts have warned.
Leading figures at some of Australia’s largest waste companies are calling for the government to standardise certification of compostable products, as many bin liners, compostable coffee cups and other material labelled “compostable” or “biodegradable” do not break down into organic matter.
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Continue reading...Masked owls, wild devils and giant crayfish: inside the ancient forests of Tasmania’s Takayna
Teeming with wildlife under lush canopies, this area in Australia’s island state is one of the world’s most remarkable – and one most in need of protection
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Witnessing Takayna/Tarkine is a rare privilege. After I press through metres of the dense, dry shrubs that skirt the forest floor, the rainforest quickly opens into a dewy landscape of verdant greens bathed in golden light. The ground is a ballroom floor, moist to the touch, carpeted in soft mosses and punctuated by broad myrtle trunks. Tiny ferns unfurl towards the canopy, where shafts of sunlight streak through the treetops. It is an overwhelmingly beautiful place.
In a world experiencing an increasingly rapid montage of alarming climate events caused by a warming planet, Tasmania’s Takayna presents an alternate world, one that is primal and untouched by the ravages of industrialisation.
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Continue reading...Study links higher PFAS levels to toxic hazards and limited fresh-food access
Findings highlight how built environment in low-income neighborhoods presents multiple PFAS exposure routes
New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood.
The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do.
Continue reading...INC-5: INTERVIEW – Global criteria needed to steer shift to non-plastic substitutes
INC-5: Indigenous Peoples claim being ‘systematically’ excluded from plastic talks
Bark detective: dog trained to sniff out UK tree disease
Six-year-old spanador called Ivor taught to identify tree fungal-like organism killing trees and shrubs around UK
Sniffer dogs are usually found looking for contraband at airports and train stations, but the UK government is now dispatching trained hounds to find forest-harming pests.
A dog has been used for the first time in the UK to successfully identify tree disease. Researchers from Forest Research used a trained spanador – a cocker spaniel labrador cross – to find the tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum.
Continue reading...Germany’s carbon contracts for difference scheme faces collapse amid political turmoil -reports
Washington funds study to assess state’s carbon removal needs
Czech PM voices opposition to EU ETS2
Global climate fund assets rise to $572 bln in 2024, record first outflows -report
Cool water from the deep could protect pockets of the Great Barrier Reef into the 2080s
Alberta invests C$50 mln from carbon market into technology-agnostic drilling innovation
Canada pumps C$12.5 mln into British Columbia’s industrial CCUS R&D
UK increases World Bank contribution, boosting climate finance prospects
Government puts forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on last pledge
The UK has increased its contribution to the World Bank, in a move that will boost prospects for climate finance.
Next week, at a meeting in Seoul of the International Development Association (IDA) – the body that funds the World Bank’s support for low-income countries – the UK will put forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on the previous pledge.
Continue reading...Poland suspends grant scheme to replace coal boilers with clean alternatives
Staffordshire residents plagued by ‘the stink’ celebrate shutdown of landfill site
Campaigners say news that Walleys Quarry in Silverdale has been told to close has given them ‘huge relief, just elation’
A landfill site in Staffordshire which has plagued residents with noxious fumes for years has been told to permanently shut down, with local campaigners hailing the news as “absolutely amazing”.
The Environment Agency said it had brought the closure of Walleys Quarry forward after “exhausting other enforcement options”, and said it had to stop accepting new waste from Friday.
Continue reading...Lufthansa expands carbon credit, SAF scheme to international flights
Hope of breakthrough at international plastic treaty talks after two-year deadlock
‘Important shift’ made in global attempts to address plastic pollution though final treaty text yet to be agreed
Pressure from an increasingly large bloc of countries has offered hope that a breakthrough at critical international plastic treaty talks could be in sight at last, after two years of deadlock. But some warned that fragile progress could disappear again in the last stages of negotiations over the weekend.
For some time, the talks have been split over demands for the treaty to include plans to reduce the amount of plastic that is being produced – a production cap. A draft text for a final deal published on Friday included language for a global target to reduce the amount of plastic made. But it also included another option for no text – meaning no action would be taken to reduce plastic production worldwide. The final text, which may use either of those options, will hopefully be decided this weekend.
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