Feed aggregator

Flinders Island makes switch to renewables, with solar, wind and energy storage Hub

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 13:47
Flinders Island's Hybrid Energy Hub is already taking the previously diesel powered Tasmanian island to levels of 80% renewables, and should manage to supply 100 per cent of demand before the year is out.
Categories: Around The Web

Chevy Bolt set to catch Tesla in US EV race

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 13:31
Luxury price tags have not stopped Tesla from dominating the US electric vehicle market so far, but is all that about to change?
Categories: Around The Web

WA’s Synergy to bring in Dutch fund to bankroll wind and solar farms

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 13:24
WA government owned utility Synergy looking to bring in outside investors to bankroll investments in new wind and solar farms and meet RET obligations.
Categories: Around The Web

Sewing for Nasa

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-08 13:09
From the Apollo spacesuits to the Mars rovers, women behind the scenes have stitched vital spaceflight components.
Categories: Around The Web

Wind, solar costs continue fall, and fossil fuels can’t stop them

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 12:28
Latest analysis from Lazard points to continuing falls in cost of wind and solar, and a growing divide between renewables and fossil fuels. And the cost of storage is falling too.
Categories: Around The Web

The dog that orbited the Earth

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-08 10:59
The first living creature to be sent into orbit around the Earth was a Soviet stray dog called Laika. She was a pioneer of the space race.
Categories: Around The Web

Sheep 'can recognise human faces'

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-08 10:58
University researchers trained sheep to recognise famous people, including Barack Obama and Fiona Bruce.
Categories: Around The Web

You heard right: Trump administration is bailing out coal plants

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 09:55
Consumers paying more on their electric bills is that’s exactly what might happen if the US Department of Energy gets its way with a recent request that bails out uneconomic coal plants.
Categories: Around The Web

Company commits to spending $2 million after clearing woodland

Department of the Environment - Wed, 2017-11-08 08:42
Coal and Allied Pty Ltd will commit over $2 million as part of an enforceable undertaking entered into following a contravention of Australia’s national environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Categories: Around The Web

Photon Energy reports a profitable third quarter

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 07:49
Building on the strong half-year results, the company confirmed continuing revenue growth at 6.8% compared to 2016Q3 and a 2,5-fold increase in net profit compared to last year’s result.
Categories: Around The Web

Australia wins early Fossil award as Syria leaves US alone on climate

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-11-08 07:42
Australia wins first Fossil of the Day award at Bonn climate talks, as Syria signs up to leave the US isolated as the world's only non-member state.
Categories: Around The Web

Weatherwatch: climate change and overfishing bring explosion of jellyfish

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-08 07:30

Warmer and more acid seas cause huge blooms of jellyfish, but scientists are working on ways to convert them into something useful

The combination of climate change and overfishing is causing a population explosion in jellyfish. Since there are fewer fish to eat them, they appear off the British coast in vast swarms. This is a threat to nuclear power stations – because they can block the intake of cooling water – and to fish farms, where thousands get caught in the netting, sometimes killing hundreds of salmon by depriving them of oxygen.

Some species are poisonous, and so caution is required when jellyfish float next to you in the sea or are stranded on beaches. Their sting can be powerful.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Can you make a 10-year malt whisky in weeks? The chemistry says yes

The Conversation - Wed, 2017-11-08 05:25
'Fast liquor', aged in months rather than decades, is the holy grail for distillers who are trying techniques ranging from using special barrels to blasting their brew with ultrasound. Chris Thompson, Associate Dean (Education) - Science, Monash University Boon Mian Teo, Lecturer, Monash University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
Categories: Around The Web

BHP opposes Minerals Council of Australia's war on activist rights

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-08 03:00

Exclusive: Miner separates itself from call for environmental groups to be restricted to using 10% of funding for advocacy

BHP has said it will not support the Minerals Council’s bid to strip environmental groups of their ability to advocate for policy change.

The surprising move comes amid increasing pressure on Australia’s biggest miner to distance itself from the Minerals Council, which has taken a hardline position against any form of credible action on climate change. The government will soon table a bill aimed at limiting the ability of any charity to use donations raised from overseas on advocacy in Australia.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Farmers must stop antibiotics use in animals due to human health risk, warns WHO

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-08 02:26

Overuse of antibiotics in animals is contributing to growing drug resistance in humans with serious health implications, says global health body

Farmers must be prevented from using powerful antibiotics on animals reared for food, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned, because of the serious risks to human health that result.

New guidelines from the global body suggest farmers should stop using any antibiotics routinely to promote growth and prevent disease in animals that are otherwise healthy, a common practice in some parts of the world, including Asia and the US. Such routine use is banned in Europe, though campaigners fear the rules are sometimes flouted.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Paris climate accord: Syria 'to sign up', isolating US

BBC - Wed, 2017-11-08 01:23
The reported move will leave the US as the only country now outside or opposed to the climate deal.
Categories: Around The Web

Delhi smog declared public health emergency – video

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-08 00:25

A public health emergency has been declared in Delhi as a choking blanket of smog descended on one of the world’s most polluted capital cities.

The declaration from the Indian Medical Association came as the US embassy website said levels of the fine pollutants known as PM2.5 that are most harmful to health reached 703 on the air quality index – well over double the threshold of 300 that authorities class as hazardous

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Syria signs Paris climate agreement and leaves US isolated

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-11-08 00:23

Syria’s decision means America will be the only country outside the landmark deal if it follows through with Donald Trump’s vow to leave

Syria has decided to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, the world’s final functioning state to do so. The surprise decision, taken amid a brutal civil war in the country, will leave the US as the only country outside the agreement if it follows through on President Donald Trump’s vow to leave.

The landmark 2015 agreement requires global governments to limit temperature rises to no more than 2C, which scientists say is the threshold of safety, beyond which the ravages of global warming are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

What are your experiences of Delhi's pollution crisis?

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-11-07 23:27

Heavy smog has led doctors to declare a state of emergency in one of India’s largest cities

A public health emergency has been declared in Delhi as a choking blanket of smog descended on the world’s most polluted capital city.

“We have declared a state of public health emergency in Delhi since pollution is at an alarming level,” Krishan Kumar Aggarwal, head of the Indian Medical Association, told AFP.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

UK government sued for third time over deadly air pollution

The Guardian - Tue, 2017-11-07 23:00

Ministers accused of ‘stubborn failure’ to tackle widespread and illegal levels of air pollution, which cause 40,000 early deaths every year

The UK government is being sued for a third time over the widespread illegal levels of air pollution, which cause 40,000 early deaths every year.

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth have already defeated ministers twice in court, forcing a new pollution plan to be drawn up in July. But ClientEarth believes even the latest strategy does not meet the legal requirement of banishing toxic air in the “shortest possible time”, as EU law requires.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator