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Energy storage vital to keep UK lights on, say MPs
Committee urges investment in batteries and smart demand technologies to ensure energy supply as old coal and nuclear power stations close
Large-scale batteries to store energy and devices that switch themselves off are likely to be key technologies for keeping the UK’s lights on while shutting down old coal and nuclear plants, an influential committee of MPs has said.
The threat of blackouts has receded for this winter after scares earlier in the year, National Grid said on Friday, citing a reprieve for Yorkshire’s Eggborough coal-fired power station, as well as greater flexibility from companies with big energy requirements.
Continue reading...No shortage of birds as the chilly months approach
Rogerstown, County Dublin Brent geese are here, and black-tailed godwit have begun arriving from their breeding grounds in Iceland
On a bright morning we are sitting with volunteer warden Aileen in a bird hide a little north of Dublin. We have come to watch the first of the avian migrants for whom the south bank of the Rogerstown estuary is a favoured wintering spot. It clearly isn’t the best time to be here, as feathered visitors are so far in short supply. Perhaps the house martins swooping across the water to vanish southwards are a sign that the chilly months ahead are not yet to be taken seriously.
Yet there’s no shortage of birds. Opposite us, five cormorants sit passively side by side on a series of water-logged posts. Bar-tailed godwits line the margins of the saltmarsh, occasionally preening but mostly motionless. Redshank, curlew and dunlin vigorously probe the shallow margins, and widgeon and teal up-tail as they feed in the slightly deeper water.
Continue reading...Energy subsidies should focus on storage and cutting demand, MPs say
Geothermal promising for Latrobe Valley
Airport expansion: the experts' view
Guardian writers examine the pros and cons of extra runways at Heathrow and Gatwick from three different perspectives
Heathrow airport is full to bursting. The same will soon be true of Gatwick. There has been no full-length runway built in the south-east since the 1940s. The UK’s attempts to break into the big and fast-growing markets of the emerging world such as India and China will be thwarted unless it follows the lead of other European countries and upgrades its aviation infrastructure. Jobs, trade and inward investment all depend on the go-ahead for new capacity.
Continue reading...The happiest animal in the world
Heathrow third runway: what does the Tory cabinet think?
Where Theresa May’s team stand on the proposed expansion of the west London airport
As MPs opposed to a third runway at Heathrow are plotting to undermine its anticipated government approval, we look at where members of Theresa May’s cabinet stand on the proposed expansion of the west London airport.
Related: Anti-Heathrow MPs plan to thwart government over third runway
Continue reading...Twin giant panda cubs enjoy first birthday at Toronto Zoo
Before the Flood: Leonardo DiCaprio hopes his new film will inspire climate action
Documentary that sees the actor touring the world to see global warming’s impact first-hand has its UK premiere in London on Friday
“Try to have a conversation with anyone about climate change and people just tune out,” says Leonardo DiCaprio in his new film. “If the UN really knew how I feel, how pessimistic I am about our future, I mean to be honest they may have picked the wrong guy,” he says in Before the Flood, which shows him urging world leaders at the UN to act on fossil fuels.
But after touring the world to see global warming’s impact first-hand, from Canada’s tar sands and Greenland’s ice to China’s coal belt and Miami’s flood problems, the actor came away more upbeat.
Continue reading...New bee arrives for first time in the UK
Viper’s bugloss mason bee, common in Europe, was spotted for the first time in Britain in a London park
Brexit may have caused an anti-immigrant buzz but a traveller from the continent has made the UK its new home: the viper’s bugloss mason bee.
The bee is common in the UK’s European neighbours but has been discovered for the first time in this country, in a small park in Greenwich, London.
Continue reading...Deal expected on phasing out 'disastrous' greenhouse gases
Electric cars, an escaped gorilla and fracking – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
Continue reading...Cave art: Etchings hailed as 'Iberia's most spectacular'
The week in wildlife – in pictures
Toxic lion fish, a rare brown panda and a green sea turtle are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Majority of potential UK fracking sites are rich in important wildlife
Almost two-thirds of licensed sites have above-average biodiversity, that is valuable for functions such as pollination and pest control, analysis shows
Many of the areas that have been recently licensed for fracking are rich in wildlife that perform crucial functions from pollination to decomposition, researchers have found.
Scientists say that almost two-thirds of the areas that have been labelled as suitable for shale gas extraction have levels of biodiversity above the national average, according to a new analysis of records collected from across the country.
Continue reading...Winter electricity blackouts risk recedes, says National Grid
Extra power will mean lights will not go out this winter, says firm that operates UK’s electricity transmission network
The risk of electricity blackouts in Britain this winter has diminished, after the National Grid and the government spent more than £140m on tools designed to guarantee the lights stay on.
The Grid’s capacity margin, the cushion between electricity demand and supply, has risen to 6.6%, beating its summer prediction of 5.5%. The buffer zone is also well ahead of last year’s “tight but manageable” 5.1%, which was the lowest in a decade.
Continue reading...Dirty, isolated and freezing: life in Arctic circle city – in pictures
Photographer Elena Chernyshova spent a year documenting the people and landscape of Norilsk, which was built by prisoners during the Soviet era
Continue reading...Climate scientists published a paper debunking Ted Cruz | John Abraham
Earth’s atmosphere is warming faster and more in line with models than Ted Cruz and his witnesses argued
A new study has just appeared in the Journal of Climate which deals with an issue commonly raised by those who deny that human-caused climate change is a serious risk. As I have written many times, we know humans are causing the Earth’s climate to change. We know this for many reasons.
First, we know that certain gases trap heat; this fact is indisputable. Second, we know that humans have significantly increased the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. Again, this is indisputable. Third, we know the Earth is warming (again indisputable). We know the Earth warms because we are actually measuring the warming rate in multiple different ways. Those measurements are in good agreement with each other.
Continue reading...Funding boost for UK citizen science project
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