Feed aggregator

The first round-the-world solar powered flight has been completed.

Is nuclear power scalable? Reducing building energy use. Engaging communities on WSUD.

Ergon Energy provides guide to households considering using solar and battery storage to quit the grid. It says it doesn't want to scare customers into staying with them, but there are 10 things people should consider.

Solar and battery powered airplane has successfully circumnavigated the globe, flying more than 42,000km in 17 legs using only the power of the sun.

Senvion to supply wind turbines for ARENA-backed wind, solar and storage microgrid that will take remote SA mining town to 70% renewables.

South Australia’s wind farms have been blamed for price spikes, but without them the volatility would be even worse.

Solaray selected for Australian-first project to install 30kW of solar and 43.2kWh of Enphase li-ion battery storage at student housing co-op.

ARENA to provide $10m to Chinese wind giant to build Australia's first hybrid wind-solar farm, although grant is nearly four times more than being asked by projects in large scale solar tender.

The Solar Impulse becomes the first aircraft to circle the globe powered by the sun after landing in Abu Dhabi on the last leg of its journey.

Solar Impulse 2, which landed in Abu Dhabi, is first plane powered by the renewable energy source to tour the globe

Solar Impulse 2 has completed the first round-the-world flight by a solar-powered aeroplane, after touching down in Abu Dhabi early on Tuesday.

The final leg of the feat, aimed at showcasing the potential of renewable energy, was a bumpy one, with turbulence driven by hot desert air leaving the solo pilot, Bertrand Piccard, fighting with the controls.

Continue reading...

DISEASE TRIGGER?: Fire brought warmth and comfort to early humans but may also have triggered the emergence of deadly tuberculosis, Australian researchers suggest.

Switching from diesel to solar power has reduced power costs and given two remote Northern Territory communities a new lease on life

Deep in the outback, about a 90-minute drive from Tennant Creek, two tiny Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory are coming back to life.

Since May, the Kunapa communities of Ngurrara and Kurnturlpara have been returning to the Barkly tableland, moving into the houses that had been abandoned years ago, setting up a School of the Air for their 15 children, and re-establishing their Indigenous culture. In fact, in a little over a month, the population has increased from just two people to about 40. And the reason? Solar power.

Continue reading...

When it comes to height, Dutch men and Latvian women tower over all other nationalities, a new study reveals.

Photographer Charles Fox documents the work of the Trapang Sangke fishing community in Cambodia.

The UK government's getting together with the retail giant Amazon, to start testing flying drones that can deliver parcels to your door.

Research found that 23% of violent clashes in ethnically divided places were connected to climate disasters

Climate-related disasters increase the risk of armed conflicts, according to research that shows a quarter of the violent struggles in ethnically divided countries were preceded by extreme weather.

The role of severe heatwaves, floods and storms in increasing the risk of wars has been controversial, particularly in relation to the long drought in Syria. But the new work reveals a strong link in places where the population is already fractured along ethnic lines.

Continue reading...

Newly completed Coonooer Bridge wind farm achieves capacity factor of nearly 50 per cent in the first full three months since it began operations.

Britain’s front gardens are being paved for parking while back gardens become patios. But in Canada and the US, the Depave movement is tearing up hard surfaces

In towns and cities, flash floods are a growing problem. The concrete jungle can’t soak up rainwater, so in heavy downpours it has nowhere to go except into drains, overloading them and setting off flash floods.

A movement in Canada and the US called Depave is tearing up concrete and asphalt in local neighbourhoods and replacing it with gardens to soak up rainwater and help prevent flooding. And although Depave is largely unknown in Britain, there’s a growing need for similar action here.

Continue reading...

Exclusive: farm gets the green light to be built by Chinese companies after $9.9m grant from renewable energy agency

Australia’s first large-scale hybrid wind and solar farm is set to be built near Canberra, with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) providing a $9.9m grant.

The money would go towards the $26m cost of building a 10MW solar photovoltaic plant alongside the existing Gullen Range windfarm.

Continue reading...

The areas of the brain involved in complex thought are the ones that change the most during the teenage years, research shows.