Feed aggregator
Glyphosate shown to disrupt microbiome 'at safe levels', study claims
Study on rats said to show that the chemical, found in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, poses ‘a significant public health concern’
A chemical found in the world’s most widely used weedkiller can have disrupting effects on sexual development, genes and beneficial gut bacteria at doses considered safe, according to a wide-ranging pilot study in rats.
Glyphosate is the core ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide and levels found in the human bloodstream have spiked by more than a 1,000% in the last two decades.
Continue reading...Delay for Bloodhound supersonic car's high-speed trials
Leaked report warns Cambodia's biggest dam could 'literally kill' Mekong river
Government-commissioned report says proposed site at Sambor reach is the ‘worst possible place’ for hydropower due to impact on wildlife
A Chinese-backed plan to build Cambodia’s biggest dam could “literally kill” the Mekong river, according to a confidential assessment seen by the Guardian which says that the proposed site at Sambor is the “worst possible place” for hydropower.
The report, which was commissioned by the government in Phnom Penh, has been kept secret since it was submitted last year, prompting concerns that ministers are inclined to push ahead regardless of the dire impact it predicts on river dolphins and one of the world’s largest migrations of freshwater fish.
Leaf leads global sales surge, Australia EV uptake doubles
UK won’t need new gas plants after 2025 coal phase-out
Wind power overtakes nuclear for first time in UK across a quarter
News of milestone comes as MPs say policy changes have caused collapse in investment in renewables
Britain’s windfarms provided more electricity than its eight nuclear power stations in the first three months of 2018, marking the first time wind has overtaken nuclear across a quarter.
The renewable energy industry hailed the milestone as a sign the UK was well on its way to an electricity system powered by cheap, domestic green energy.
Continue reading...1,600 IT workers and engineers denied UK visas
EV range anxiety – is Big Oil ready for the “volt-age”
Country diary: cool weather has prolonged flowering in the orchard
Kit Hill and Metherell, Tamar Valley: This pear tree remains spectacular, with creamy blossom on wide-spreading branches
At dawn, birdsong floats up from shrubby undergrowth towards the cold summit of Kit Hill. Mist lies in the lowest valleys and, like the scattered enclaves of yellow oilseed rape and plastic-covered maize plantings, appears luminous among the pale greens and blues of the expansive patchwork of fields and woods.
The first cuckoo call of the season impels a brief runabout in honour of family tradition to ensure another year of liveliness – although my predecessors would have had no need to come uphill and away from the valley to hear this bird. The sound of melodeon, trombone, drum and bells echoes around the monumental mine-stack as the Cornish Wreckers dance morris in celebration of May and of “winter gone away”.
Continue reading...Tesla unveils 18.2MW big battery in Belgium
“Coal is thing of the past”: Neoen starts on Victoria’s first wind and battery park
Boost for clean energy start-ups with new Brisbane base thanks to the CEFC and EnergyLab
Small-scale renewable energy systems installed across Australia in January to March 2018
Kokam delivers 30 megawatt energy storage system to Alinta Energy: Largest lithium ion battery deployed for an industrial application in Australia
Dinosaur parenting: How the 'chickens from hell' nested
ARENA offers $7m for more solar and wind farm FCAS trials
MPs criticise government clean energy policies
CP Daily: Tuesday May 15, 2018
Plantwatch: glyphosate is only way to manage Japanese knotweed
Japanese knotweed is said to cost UK economy £170m a year, but so far only solution is controversial glyphosate-based herbicide
Japanese knotweed is a thug of a plant capable of growing a foot a week at this time of year; it spreads rapidly from underground rhizomes; erodes riverbanks, leading to flooding; smothers other plants; blocks drains and wreaks such havoc on homes and gardens that it blights property prices. It is estimated that controlling Japanese knotweed costs the UK economy about £170m each year. An entire industry has been built on trying to control the plant, using at least 15 different active control methods. There is, however, no impartial study of how effective any of these treatments are.
Scientists at Swansea University recently concluded the world’s largest field trial over five years on tackling Japanese knotweed. Their depressing assessment is that eradicating the plant using weedkillers is useless, and so too are physical methods such as covering up and cutting down knotweed.
Continue reading...