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The Coalition’s nuclear plan is an unwelcome proposal which will slow the energy transition and increase our dependence on gas – a surefire way to drive up energy bills. Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Iceland-based International Carbon Registry (ICR) announced on Thursday the launch of its pilot biodiversity programme in an effort to develop a framework for project developers planning to issue voluntary biodiversity credits.

Australian Energy Market Operator warns of potential gas shorfalls, as increased demand and troubles at a major gas processing plant combine to limit supply of the fossil fuel.

The post AEMO sounds alarm as unplanned gas outage collides with winter coal snap, drought appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Regulatory timelines and supply chains issues are complicating efforts to build new "heartbeat" essential for running the grid without fossil fuels.

The post The race to protect “heartbeat” of the grid as wind and solar replace coal and gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

In 2018, Ziggy Switkowski said the "window for gigawatt-scale nuclear has closed." Now he is defending the Coalition's uncosted nuclear plan.

The post Ziggy Switkowski and another big nuclear back-flip appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A US forest foundation has joined a group of environmental NGOs and carbon project developers urging the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to support the use of carbon credits in Scope 3 emissions abatement, while a group of French NGOs have demanded the organisation abandon the proposal.

Victoria’s government wants local governments to speed up development and get more homes built. But there are many questions around this goal. David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

If US President Joe Biden is re-elected in November, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is “likely to remain intact”, while a return of former President Donald Trump to the White House “could put some, if not all, of the tax incentives for clean energy on the chopping block,” found a Bloomberg Intelligence report released Tuesday. 

The Congo Basin, central to global carbon sequestration efforts, is under severe threat from deforestation and unsustainable exploitation, with projections indicating a potential 27% reduction in forest cover by 2050 unless immediate action is taken, experts have warned.

Wild chimpanzees seek out medicinal plants to eat when they are sick or injured, a study says.

The US Department of Agriculture's Forest Service is set to publish a draft environmental impact statement for a new national old-growth forest plan amendment on Friday, advancing the Biden administration’s commitment to forest conservation.

California gasoline consumption in March continued to trail levels during the same time last year despite reaching year-to-date (YTD) highs, while diesel surpassed 2023 figures for the month amid the ongoing rise in monthly sales, state data published this week showed.

Solar power is expected to generate a fifth of global electricity across midday peaks on Friday's summer solstice and 8% across the month of June, making it the fastest-growing source of power in the world, according to new research.

Evergen’s Ben Hutt on optimising solar, batteries, and the race to electrification. Plus: News of the week and the nuclear fallout.

The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Homes, electric cars and the grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A digital marketplace for physical commodities is launching voluntary carbon credit trading, it said this week.

California Carbon Allowance (CCA) prices moved lower as market participants looked for direction from California regulator ARB, while Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) prices picked up on steady offers.

Offshore wind power can play a starring role in Australia’s future energy mix. It sure beats nuclear and coal, offering advantages in scale, availability and proximity to both users and the grid. Ty Christopher, Director Energy Futures Network, University of Wollongong Michelle Voyer, Principal Research Fellow, University of Wollongong Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Protecting the ozone layer has been a global priority for decades, but as the voluntary carbon market (VCM) continues to credit the destruction of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), and countries move to fill gaps in multilateral governance, the competing or complementary roles for public- and private-sector engagement on the matter are in flux.

Scientists say the disaster changed ‘rules of the game’ in monkey society as sharing shade became vital.

Rishi Sunak’s decision to side with climate deniers isn’t just wrongheaded: it’s costing our environment and our economy

In 2019, the UK became the first G7 country to legislate for net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. At the time, I was the cabinet minister who signed this into law. We did so knowing that taking action to tackle the climate crisis was supported by all the major political parties. We had no time to waste. It had been the Conservative party in opposition under David Cameron that had backed the Climate Change Act more than a decade earlier because we argued that climate action was more important than political divisions. As a result, the UK’s internationally renowned framework of carbon budgets has seen our emissions more than halve since 1990.

Britain has long been viewed as a clean energy leader across the world. We pioneered the first successful emissions trading scheme, followed by the contracts for difference model for funding renewable energy projects that made the North Sea into one of the largest windfarms in the world. A few weeks after delivering the net zero bill, I helped to secure the UK’s bid to host Cop26 in Glasgow. There, more than 80% of countries followed our lead and committed to a net zero target.

Climate and clean energy leadership has created jobs, growth and regeneration. The impact has been transformative. For the first time, wind power now makes up the largest source of our electricity. Coal, which used to make up more than 40% of our power when I was first elected as an MP in 2010, will from next year be consigned to the history books. Our economy has grown by 80% since 1990, and at the same time our emissions have halved. When I signed net zero into law, I always viewed our plan as a mainstream, even conservative, vision. One of the legacies of Cop26 is the growth in clean energy markets across the world. Elsewhere, the Inflation Reduction Act in the US and the green deal in Europe have committed to at least a decade of support for green industries.

Yet the UK now risks falling ever further behind in the net zero race. We have seen Rishi Sunak decide to prioritise new oil and gas expansion at a time when our fossil fuel industries are in rapid decline and will become stranded assets within decades. His decision to renege on net zero means the UK has scaled back on measures that would have saved households £8bn a year in lower energy costs. It has cost us the ability to lead in new technological markets and risks losing Britain the greatest economic opportunity in a generation.

Chris Skidmore is a former Conservative energy minister

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