Feed aggregator

Hinkley Point C developers face £7.2bn cleanup bill at end of nuclear plant's life

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 20:03

French and Chinese developers will be the first nuclear operators in the UK that will have to pay to decommission the site

The French and Chinese companies that are to build the £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear power station will have to pay up to £7.2bn to dismantle and clean it up.

Documents published yesterday reveal for the first time how much the developers, EDF and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), will have to pay to decommission the plant, beginning in 2083.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Amazon’s pink river dolphins reveal the bizarre impacts of seafood fraud

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 19:27

In recent years numbers of South America’s freshwater dolpins have fallen. But they’re not being caught to eat, but as bait for a common catfish being fraudulently sold under a different name

This month, marine conservation NGO Oceana released a major report on seafood fraud, which reviewed more than 200 scientific studies that had collectively examined over 25,000 fish samples from around the world. Through its analysis, Oceana was able to show that an astonishing one in five seafood samples globally is mislabelled to represent other species and mislead consumers. Nestled within that report was the case of the Amazon river dolphins – a peculiar testimony to the often bizarre, trickle-down effects of seafood fraud.

These freshwater dolphins occupy the Amazon and Orinoco river basins that stretch across the northern half of South America. They have historically been abundant across this vast watery network, and are protected by law, making it illegal to kill them. But for years, poachers have been targeting the dolphins and using them as bait to catch a much smaller type of catfish.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Protect the Peel: one of America’s last wildernesses under threat – in pictures

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 18:50

The fate of the Peel watershed in northern Yukon is at the centre of an extended legal battle between the territorial government and First Nations. The case is one of many conflicts over natural resource development to test Canada’s commitment to reconciliation and indigenous rights

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

The Wrap: Trump v Clinton, the Adelaide storm and Wyatt Roy

ABC Environment - Fri, 2016-09-30 18:35
The Wrap is RN Drive's summary of the biggest stories of the week, plus some you may have missed.
Categories: Around The Web

From Patagonia to Purbeck: your wild camping photos

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 16:38

From isolated mountain ranges to a pitch under a road bridge, our readers shared their most enjoyable wild camping experiences

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

England needs almost double the number of marine zones to ensure healthy seas

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 15:01

Conservationists say 48 new protected areas are needed to fill the gaps in the ‘blue belt’ coastal network to ensure wildlife can flourish

Conservationists have called for the creation of a further 48 protected areas in English waters that would “fill in the gaps” of a national network designed to ensure healthy and productive seas.

If designated, they would add to the 50 existing marine conservation zones (MCZs) and create an “ecologically coherent network” where habitats and wildlife could flourish, according to a report from the Wildlife Trusts.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Reaction to SA storms shows why Aussies are switching off politics

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 14:39
Politicians and others were fast to use SA storms as an opportunity to pin the situation on renewable energy, before anyone even knew what had happened.
Categories: Around The Web

Summer leaves await a glorious autumnal death

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 14:30

Symonds Yat Rock, Forest of Dean This is an old world forest; organic, unwieldly, fecund, oaky – forest as nature wanted

Summer’s end, and the forest is thick. Beneath the leaves, the sun creates puddles of bright and black, through a canopy still swollen enough to block most of its light. Roads are green tunnels. Paths are dark and have a warm smell, the dense flotilla-dust of bug, web and sap lit brilliantly in the air. Soon the forest leaves will burn, through every shade of russet, to glorious autumnal death.

The Forest of Dean is an old world forest; organic, unwieldy, fecund, oaky. Forest as nature wanted, not the sterile, shadowed ranks of spruce that too often masquerade as such. In high summer a walk under the canopy seduces, in autumn one through its fresh decay beguiles. But now the more subtle charms of September’s change-month call for a higher lookout.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Dumb politics means we may be stuck with an even dumber grid

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 14:18
It's remarkable how quickly a national conversation can fall into the gutter of bipartisanship and ignorance. But the legacy could be damaging: dumb politics could leave Australia with an even dumber grid.
Categories: Around The Web

13 projects from across the globe to be honoured at UN Climate Conference in Marrakech

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 13:22
13 game-changing initiatives from around the world were announced today as winners of the United Nations ‘Momentum for Change’ climate change award.
Categories: Around The Web

Stuff we can blame on renewables

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:56
Turnbull amongst many to point the finger at renewables for South Australia's power outage. What else can we blame renewables for? Twitter answers.
Categories: Around The Web

Lyon partners with Mitsubishi for 1GW solar + battery storage plan

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:54
The Lyon Group announces a partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation to roll out 1GW of solar and up to 1GWh of battery storage by 2020.
Categories: Around The Web

How can fossil fuel supplies be constrained?

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:51
Australian academics give their views on how to constrain fossil fuel supply as part of efforts to tackle climate change.
Categories: Around The Web

Chart of the year: ‘Incredible’ price drops jumpstart clean energy revolution

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:50
New DOE report details latest advances in solar, wind, LED lights, batteries, and electric cars.
Categories: Around The Web

Labor states accuse Turnbull of “ignorant rubbish” on renewable energy

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:46
Labor states accuse Turnbull of peddling "ignorant rubbish"about wind and solar in the wake of the South Australian blackout.
Categories: Around The Web

Uhlmann’s bizarre prediction of “national blackout” if we pursue wind and solar

RenewEconomy - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:21
ABC's Chris Uhlmann doubles down on attacks on renewable energy by predicting the whole nation is at risk of a blackout if we pursue wind and solar. Doesn't the ABC have editors?
Categories: Around The Web

Safeguard dolphins, government urged

BBC - Fri, 2016-09-30 12:09
Safeguards to the UK's domestic marine life should be as strong as they are around Britain’s overseas territories, conservationists say.
Categories: Around The Web

Snake-handler shortage starting to bite in north Queensland

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 11:54

Female snakes, hungry after waiting for their eggs to hatch, are heading indoors in search of food such as rats

A shortage of volunteer snake-handlers is starting to bite in north Queensland, where an end-of-breeding-season influx of hungry reptiles into homes is driving an increase in the number of calls for help.

The need for sustenance by female snakes that have shed weight while waiting for their eggs to hatch has driven them indoors in search of food, including rats.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

How safe are you from hackers?

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 09:28

How much time do you spend thinking about cyber security? Probably not as much as you should. We are all vulnerable to attack, and as the internet becomes more pervasive, the threat is growing

When a 20-year-old hacker broke into US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account during the 2008 presidential campaign, it didn’t take a great deal of computer expertise.

“The hacker simply used the password reset prompt and answered the secret questions,” says Dr Nalin Gamagedara Arachchilage, a lecturer in cyber security at the Australian Centre for Cyber Security, part of the University of New South Wales, based at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Head of Yosemite resigns amid reports of 'horrific' work conditions, harassment

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-09-30 08:55

Superintendent Don Neubacher, who is accused of publicly ‘humiliating’ and intimidating workers, stepped down as California park faces misconduct scandal

The head of Yosemite national park is stepping down in the wake of reports of “horrific working conditions” and rampant sexual harassment, the latest in a controversy that has brought national shame to one of America’s most beloved landmarks.

Superintendent Don Neubacher, who is accused of publicly “humiliating” and intimidating workers, said in an email to staff that he “regrets” leaving but wanted to “do what’s best” for the popular California park that has faced a widening misconduct scandal in recent months.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator