Feed aggregator

German household power bills are badly exaggerated, and the Energiewende is not causing energy poverty.

Groundwater is out of sight, but it shouldn't be out of mind. As cities struggle to cope with drought, we should remember that our largest stocks of water are hidden deep underground. Emma Kathryn White, PhD Candidate, Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Households taking part in a CSIRO designed Virtual Power Station trial have used solar, battery storage, energy monitoring to save up to 60% on electricity bills.

Orders roll in for Norwegian made all-electric car ferry, after prototype cuts carbon emissions by 95% and operating cost by 80% compared to fuel-powered counterparts.

An updated study from US and Danish academics says we can electrify the world through using mainly solar, wind and hydro – and for a quarter of the cost of fossil fuels, if you factor in savings from avoided damage to the environment and health.

Wind and solar energy are expected to account for more than half of Tamil Nadu's power by 2027.

The 70ft-long (21m) dinosaur replica only just squeezed into its new home in Dorset.

Better recycling and compostable materials could be an answer to our plastic pollution problem.

Poultry group which sold out-of-date meat to supermarkets may close three factories

Nine hundred jobs are under threat at three poultry plants belonging to 2 Sisters Food Group, the UK’s largest supplier of supermarket chicken, which has been dogged by a controversy over food standards.

The potential closure of two of the firm’s West Midlands factories in Smethwick and Wolverhampton, plus a third in Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, follow a nightmare year for the company, which has included the closing of a further site in Smethwick as well as a Guardian and ITV undercover investigation that prompted production to be suspended for five weeks last autumn at the group’s West Bromwich plant.

Continue reading...

CSIRO researchers use world-first genetic analysis to estimate population, but believe numbers could be as high as 12,800

About 5,500 great white sharks are cruising in the waters off Australia’s east coast, new research has revealed.

For the first time, the CSIRO has been able to put a number on the size of the white shark population using world-first genetic analysis.

It estimates there are about 750 adults living in waters east of Victoria’s southern coast, up to central Queensland and across to New Zealand.

Taking juvenile sharks into account, researchers believe the total east coast population sits at 5,460 – but could be as high as 12,800.

Related: Shark attacks in Australia: how common are they really?

Continue reading...

Scientists may finally understand the mechanism behind solar flares., which can play havoc with technology on Earth.

Australians import millions of flowers for Valentine's Day. Let's consider some ways to be eco-friendly. Jennifer Lavers, Research Scientist, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania Fiona Kerslake, Research Fellow in viticulture and fermentation, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

From sweet oranges to bitter lemons, all citrus fruit came from the Himalayas millions of years ago, say scientists.

Plastic waste is building up in the supposedly pristine wilderness of the Norwegian Arctic, scientists say.

Plastic waste is increasing in the supposedly pristine wilderness of the Arctic.

A new study finds strong agreement that flood risks in central and western Europe are rising due to global warming.

As humans continue to emit greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, the world continues to warm. We see that warming everywhere – in the atmosphere, in the oceans, with rising sea levels, and melting ice. But while we know conclusively that humans are causing the warming, an equally important question is, “so what?” Really, we want to know the consequences of warming so that we can make informed decisions about what to do about it. We really have only three choices: mitigate, adapt, or ignore and suffer the consequences.

A very new study was just published that helps answer this question of “so what?” The research was conducted by lead author Lorenzo Alfieri (European Commission – Joint Research Centre, Italy), Richard Betts (University of Exeter and Met Office, UK), and their colleagues.

Continue reading...

New research has used genetic analysis in a world-first effort to accurately estimate Australian and New Zealand white shark numbers. Rich Hillary, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Russ Bradford, Project leader and researcher, CSIRO Toby Patterson, Senior research scientist, CSIRO Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Researchers find that the population has increased in the north east and stopped shrinking nationwide.

Peter Jones was awarded a Rainfall Excellence Award by the Bureau of Meteorology for his work collecting precipitation in Tasmania for over 50 years.

Sandy, Bedfordshire: It should have been hibernating, but there it was, bashing its head against a cold window. Something had to be done

It is a curious fact that the most beautiful parts of a butterfly are also the least palatable. When I lifted a log from the woodpile, the eye of a peacock in an insect wing beneath looked back. It was a sail without a ship, a cover without a book. The wing was still fired with fresh colours, as lustrous as a birthday balloon and just as nutritious. The thick body that had been provisioned with sweetness to sit out the winter in darkness had gone.

The day before, another peacock, inadvertently transported indoors in the log basket, was hours away from cremation when it woke into living room summer. I did not see it fly up to the sunlit window but heard a loud thrumming from behind the blind. There it was, improbably animated out of season, bashing its head incessantly against a cold window. How could it understand that the golden orb beyond was a false god, offering only frost and ice?

Continue reading...