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Solar now employs over 10,000 Australians
Is Australia’s new Deputy PM another anti-wind climate denier?
Post-Brexit farm payments to be used to help the environment
Frischknecht to step down as head of ARENA
Equis Energy appoints Nitin Apte as Chief Executive Officer
ACF welcomes its first female president, Mara Bún
Energy market tipping point is coming, and fast
North Atlantic right whales may face extinction after no new births recorded
Declining fertility and rising mortality, exacerbated by fishing industry, prompts experts to warn whales could be extinct by 2040
The dwindling North Atlantic right whale population is on track to finish its breeding season without any new births, prompting experts to warn again that without human intervention, the species will face extinction.
Scientists observing the whale community off the US east coast have not recorded a single mother-calf pair this winter. Last year saw a record number of deaths in the population. Threats to the whales include entanglement in lobster fishing ropes and an increasing struggle to find food in abnormally warm waters.
Continue reading...Power station license review looks to tighten cap on emissions
King penguins face warming challenge
Smart electricity meters are here, but more is needed to make them useful to customers
Energy storage leap could slash electric car charging times
Development of new material for supercapacitors has potential to raise range to that of petrol cars
Researchers have claimed a breakthrough in energy storage technology that could enable electric cars to be driven as far as petrol and diesel vehicles, and recharge in minutes rather than hours.
Teams from Bristol University and Surrey University developed a next-generation material for supercapacitors, which store electric charge and can be replenished faster than normal batteries.
Continue reading...UK farmers won't lower standards post-Brexit, says new NFU head
Minette Batters, the National Farmers’ Union’s new president, says good quality, safe food is ‘a public right’ and staying part of a customs union is vital
British farmers will not accept lower welfare and hygiene standards under any post-Brexit trade deals, and will fight to remain as part of a customs union, the new president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has pledged.
Minette Batters, the first woman to head the powerful farmers’ lobby since its foundation 110 years ago, set out a vision of farming as a unifying force across the UK, providing high-quality but low-cost food to consumers on a tight budget while safeguarding the environment and providing one in eight of the UK’s jobs.
Continue reading...NSW ombudsman investigating WaterNSW over misleading data
Exclusive: Watchdog’s new report will say agency’s prosecutions and compliance statistics were seriously overstated
The New South Wales ombudsman is investigating whether WaterNSW – the body responsible for compliance with the state’s water laws – has misled it when it provided data last year on the number of prosecutions and enforcement actions it had taken in the 15 months prior.
The ombudsman confirmed a second special report will be tabled in the first week of March, but declined to outline its contents. Special reports are a last resort when the ombudsman deems that a report to the minister is insufficient.
Continue reading...Antarctica's king penguins 'could disappear' by the end of the century
Climate change and overfishing could push the region’s king penguin populations to the brink of extinction, a new study shows
Rising temperatures and overfishing in the pristine waters around the Antarctic could see king penguin populations pushed to the brink of extinction by the end of the century, according to a new study.
The report, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that as global warming transforms the environment in the world’s last great wilderness 70% of king penguins could either disappear or be forced to find new breeding grounds.
Continue reading...Brussels to make public transport free on high air pollution days
The new rules will also see car speed limits cut and wood-burning stoves banned in a drive to improve air quality in the city
Brussels has moved to make the city’s public transport and bike share system free on the smoggiest days in a bid to drive down pollution levels and meet EU air quality directives.
After two consecutive days of high particulate matter (PM) levels – defined as surpassing an average of 51-70 micrograms per cubic metre of air – buses, trams and metros would have to open their doors completely free, under new city council rules.
Continue reading...Government 'dragging its feet' over plastic bottle scheme, say MPs
A deposit return scheme to tackle the billions of bottles not recycled every year is being kicked into the long grass, say MPs
The government is “dragging its feet” on introducing a deposit return scheme to cut the billions of plastic bottles not recycled every year, according to a committee of MPs.
The Environment Audit Committee (EAC) called for a deposit return scheme (DRS) in a report in December, in which a small deposit is paid when purchasing a bottle and then returned when the empty bottle is brought back. Environment secretary Michael Gove called a DRS a “great idea” in September.
Continue reading...Dozens of public lands advocates say Trump administration 'shut them out'
Groups comprised of ranchers, hunters and conservationists say interior secretary Ryan Zinke has stonewalled them
The Trump administration has angered ranchers, hunters, fishermen and conservationists across the US who complain they are being shut out of a federal advisory process designed to steer the management of cherished public lands.
Many of the dozens of public advisory boards have been stonewalled by the department of interior since the president put Ryan Zinke at the helm of the agency.
Continue reading...Most UK parents back air pollution exclusion zones around schools
Exclusive: 60% of parents want traffic to be diverted away from schools at peak times to protect children’s health, a new study shows
The majority of UK parents back the introduction of “pollution exclusion zones” outside schools amid growing concern that illegal levels of air pollution are doing long term damage to hundreds of thousands of young people.
A new study published on Monday by environmental law organisation ClientEarth reveals that 60% of parents want traffic diverted away from school gates at the beginning and end of the school day, with just 13% opposed.
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