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Alinta plans a big solar farm to help power the Christmas Creek iron ore mine in the Pilbara, and other Fortescue mining operations.

The post Alinta plans big solar farm to help power Fortescue mines appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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

A re-elected Andrews Labor Government will create up to 50 new jobs in the Latrobe Valley with a new government agency, Solar Victoria, to be based in Morwell.

The post Victoria Labor to base Solar Victoria agency in Latrobe Valley appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The California Assembly this week sent a bill to Governor Jerry Brown’s office that would avert GHG increases stemming from the scheduled closure of the state’s last remaining nuclear power facility, bolstering the state’s commitment to clean energy resources over the next decade.

California regulator ARB doled out roughly 264,600 California Carbon Offsets (CCOs) this week as forestry projects took home over 89% of the credits issued.

In 2017 18.8 million people were displaced by natural disasters, with floods accounting for 8.6 million. Climate change is poised to drive those numbers higher still. Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor and Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW John Church, Chair professor, UNSW Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

European carbon prices got within a few cents of €20 on Wednesday to continue their August bull-run that has repeatedly extended a decade-high amid curtailed auction supply.

Investors have piled into the EU ETS over the past year as prices have trebled, seeking exposure to lucrative returns that may last for years as carbon is predicted to double in value again.

London mayor challenges move to axe tariffs and discounts for householders installing solar PV

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has embarked on a lobbying drive to persuade the government to keep the subsidies for household solar power.

Khan has made solar one of the key planks of his energy policy, supporting community solar projects and negotiating collective solar installations for homeowners in the capital.

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Scientists have found new evidence confirming that turtles once lived without shells.

Genetic detective work gives a rare insight into the liaisons of early humans living 50,000 years ago.

A holidaymaker has been threatened with a fine for pinching pebbles, but there are some things we are encouraged to take from our beaches

A holidaymaker has been ordered to return a bag of pebbles to the Cornish beach they were taken from, or pay a £1,000 fine. This is troubling. When I put on my coat this morning – not worn since a trip to the seaside – I found in the pocket one piece of quartzite, two sandstone pebbles and a battered whelk shell. (It was the coat I wore for this article.) I hadn’t realised I was a “pebble plunderer”; I thought I just liked picking up the odd stone. So is there a way to beachcomb legally and ethically?

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Plastic waste collected at the Volvo Ocean Race is recycled and used to make items such as plastic benches.

Oral vaccination campaign will use goat meat baits to pre-empt outbreaks of rabies among Ethiopian wolves

Rabies vaccines hidden inside goat meat baits have been deployed in the first campaign to protect the Ethiopian wolf, Africa’s most endangered carnivore.

There are less than 500 of the wolves in the high mountains of Ethiopia and they are very vulnerable to infectious diseases from domestic dogs. The oral vaccine approach will next be rolled out to cover all six surviving populations of the wolf.

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The lions of the Namib Desert survive against incredible odds, but can they survive trophy hunting, human-wildlife conflict and climate change?

Desert lions aren’t a distinct species or even a subspecies, but they are different. Drop a plains lion into the Namib Desert — where it may rain only 5 millimeters a year — and watch it perish.

According to Izak Smit, who runs the local NGO, Desert Lions Human Relations Aid (DeLHRA), the desert lions of Namibia are able to go long periods of time without water, getting most of their moisture from the blood of their kills. They are leaner and woolier (due to frigid nights). And they behave distinctly than other lions: prides are smaller, they have bigger home ranges and travel further and there is no infanticide — a common practice among plains lions.

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A UK-assembled satellite goes into orbit later to make the first truly global maps of wind behaviour.

Government aim to end plastic pollution undermined by keen support for fracking, says Campaign to Protect Rural England

The push for a large-scale fracking operation in England will fuel the global plastic crisis and undermines the government’s claims that it is tackling the issue, according to a leading charity.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says fracking will not only destroy large areas of the countryside, it will exacerbate the global plastic binge which is already causing widespread damage to oceans, habitats and the human food chain.

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China’s Guangdong province has issued nearly 200,000 carbon credits under its regional programme that supplies the local emissions trading scheme with offsets in the absence of a functional national system.

A nearby town is suing over fears that the land, once home to a nuclear weapons facility, still poses a threat

The nation’s newest national wildlife refuge, filled with swaying prairie grass and home to a herd of elk, is slated to open next month just outside Colorado’s largest city.

But seven Denver metro area school districts have already barred school-sanctioned field trips to the preserve. A top local health official says he would probably never hike there. And a town is suing over what the soil might contain.

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Pangolins should be considered top priority for conservation in China, say scientists studying their decline.