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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Varta signs agreement to acquire Europe-based VARTA Consumer Batteries business from US battery company, Energizer.

The post Varta acquires Varta Consumer Batteries business from Energizer appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Climate change played a role in the deaths of thousands of puffins in Alaska, according to a study.

Tailem Bend solar farm formally opened as developer eyes the next stage for project expansion and large-scale battery storage in South Australia

The post Tailem Bend solar farm officially opens, now for second stage and battery appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Dr Vanessa Pirotta has created a specially designed waterproof drone that collects bacteria, viruses and DNA from the snot that humpbacks blow from their blowholes.

California’s forestry protocol likely underestimates its long-term environmental benefits, and a recent policy report critical of the offsets does not provide any new information, a group of offset developers said in a statement Wednesday.

A new multi-stakeholder coalition will begin the process of studying how to best to implement a possible carbon or energy efficiency credit trading programme in New York City's buildings sector during the next decade, with a possible eye to expanding such a system to other international cities.

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is determining the next steps to revise its post-2020 regulation for the northeast US RGGI carbon market after a legislative committee rejected the proposal due to numerous errors, an official told Carbon Pulse on Wednesday.

Landmark ruling means networks can now take thousands of consumers off grid with solar and battery stand alone systems, delivering huge savings for all.

The post Off the grid: AEMC paves way for stand alone systems to replace poles and wires appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The EU’s 21 remaining coal-burning nations are being urged to come clean on their phase-out plans after green groups found just eight were planning to eliminate the fuel from their power mix by 2030, while several more are receiving EU aid to transition to cleaner sources.

This shocking figure comes from our back-of-the-envelope calculations looking at the effect of forcing more efficient engines on the Australian market. Robin Smit, Adjunct professor, The University of Queensland Jake Whitehead, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Nic Surawski, Lecturer in Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

EU carbon prices ended little changed on Wednesday in thin, auction-free trade that belied traders’ preoccupation with technical signals that are raising the prospect of a sudden price move.

Researchers believe 3,150 to 8,500 birds starved in Bering Sea due to loss of prey species

The death of thousands of tufted puffins in the Bering Sea may have been partly caused by the climate breakdown, according to a study.

Between 3,150 and 8,500 seabirds died over a four-month period from October 2016, with hundreds of severely emaciated carcasses washed up on the beaches of the Pribilofs Islands in the southern Bering Sea, 300 miles (480km) west of the Alaskan mainland.

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The Saskatchewan government is keeping in mind certain federal eligibility criteria to allow jurisdictional offsets to qualify under Ottawa’s large emitter trading system, and the Canadian province will soon commence a series of stakeholder meetings as it looks to operationalise its own compliance offset programme next year.

The Nissan Leaf is a cheap, mass market, fully electric car, writes Stephen Emsley. And David Walker remembers South Yorkshire’s subsidised public transport system

Christine Benning is right (Letters, 23 May). We need a cheap, mass-market, fully electric car. It is called a Nissan Leaf and is the market leader. Secondhand ones, costing around £10,000, are good value and keep running very well. A £17,000 price gets a more recent one with a longer range. The 2018 model is around £27,000, with a much improved range. The new 2019 one has a range greatly increased again, at £30,000- plus. The new Tesla is half the price of previous models. The Renault Zoe is another popular electric car. If we keep saying they don’t exist, we discourage people from looking. There are plenty available at Nissan garages and online agents.

We bought a two-year-old Leaf in 2017. We are paying a bit over £10,000, plus £2,000 reductions. We get free services for two years. We charge it with renewable electricity, to keep it zero-emissions. We have just had a beautiful holiday in Wales, clocking up 830 miles from Newcastle and back, costing £22 in electricity.
Stephen Emsley
Newcastle upon Tyne

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A UK court case against eight defendants for an alleged carbon credit investment scam has collapsed after the prosecution’s expert witness – a former London emissions broker – was discredited by members of the defence team, in a move that could now have widespread ramifications for previous prosecutions.

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal has flagged its second cut in EU ETS-regulated output this month, blaming a surge in imports and weak demand as it launched a net zero 2050 EU emission roadmap that it said would require substantial government aid and a carbon border tariff.

The Malaysian government says the country has become a dumping ground for rich nations as it announces it will send as much as 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste back to the countries it came from. Malaysia became the world's main destination for plastic waste after China banned its import last year. 'We will fight back,' Malaysia’s environment minister, Yeo Bee Yin, said. 'We will fight back. Even though we are a small country, we cannot be bullied by developed countries'

• Malaysia to send up to 100 tonnes of plastic waste back to Australia
• Treated like trash: south-east Asia vows to return mountains of rubbish from west

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Voracious fish are bleeding into ocean ‘like a cut artery’, says top marine biologist

Cyprus has held its first organised cull of lionfish after numbers of the invasive species have proliferated in recent years, threatening the Mediterranean ecosystem and posing a venomous danger to humans.

“They’re actually very placid,” said Prof Jason Hall-Spencer, a marine biologist, after spearing 16 of the exotic specimens in the space of 40 minutes in the inaugural “lionfish removal derby” off the island’s southern coast. He added: “The problem is they are not part of the natural ecosystem and we are seeing them in plague proportions.”

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New Zealand carbon allowances continue to drift amid the uncertainty lingering after the recent government ETS announcement, with permits trading below the NZ$25 fixed price option level for the first time in almost four months.