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Will Tesla's home battery really transform our energy infrastructure?
Powerwall leads the way in solving the problem of energy storage, but the $3,000-plus price raises questions about its economic viability
“The goal is complete transformation of the entire energy infrastructure of the world,” Tesla founder Elon Musk told reporters as he launched the electric car company’s new home power storage battery on Thursday.
“This is actually within the power of humanity to do. It is not impossible.” Electricity storage is the “missing link” in weaning the economy off fossil fuels, said the entrepreneur with characteristic understatement.
Continue reading...Rachel Catt: Loft on Seventh - Bowden Village
Rachel Catt walks us through 'Loft on Seventh' at Bowden Village, South Australia's first 5 Star Green Star townhome projects. The notion of ‘elegant frugality’ is the idea of doing things economically but beautifully. This notion permeates through the Loft on Seventh terraces, picking up on the industrial forms and materials of the historically industrial area within which it sits and re-interpreting them in innovative ways, creating unexpected space and luxury.
Rachel Catt:
Rachel joined Williams Burton in early 2012 after returning from nearly five years in London working for the highly acclaimed architectural firm Allies and Morrison.
She played an integral role in the delivery of the both 'Loft on Seventh' and 'Gibson & 7th' developments for Systembuilt at the Bowden Life More Interesting site coordinated by Renewal SA.
Williams Burton Architecture + Interior Design - williamsburton.com.au/
Cast: AdelaideSBN
Tags: adelaide, Rachel Catt, AdelaideSBN, Williams Burton and Green Star
One in six of world's species faces extinction due to climate change – study
New analysis reveals likely impact of global warming on plants and animals if we fail to take action, and comes ahead of crunch climate talks in Paris
In pictures: Animals and plants that could be lost because of climate change
One in six of the planet’s species will be lost forever to extinction if world leaders fail to take action on climate change, according to a new analysis.
The stark warning on the scale of global warming’s impact on animals and plants comes just months before nearly 200 governments meet for UN climate talks in Paris in an attempt to forge a global deal on cutting carbon emissions.
Continue reading...Matthew Waltho - Renewal SA - Tonsley Development
Matthew Waltho discusses the ambitions and happenings at the Tonsley Development, a mixed-use precinct which will support the transformation of South Australia’s manufacturing industry by providing a high quality, people-focused and knowledge-driven environment.
Matthew Waltho:
Prior to joining the Tonsley Project as Sustainability Manager, Matt worked for 10 years in UK Government and Local Council, integrating sustainability principles into economic development policy and large scale infrastructure projects. He also developed the Environmental evidence base and led the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the first Integrated Regional Strategy in England’s North West Region. Matt is responsible for delivering a Green Star Community for Tonsley under the Green Building Council Australia’s Pilot rating tool.
Cast: AdelaideSBN
Tags: Renewal SA, Tonsley, Green Star Communities and sustainable urban planning
Chairs’ Update 27 April 2015 | Commonwealth Marine Reserves Review
Shell lobbied to undermine EU renewables targets, documents reveal
Weak renewable energy goals for 2030 originated with Shell pitch for gas as a key technology for Europe to cut its carbon emissions in an affordable way
Shell successfully lobbied to undermine European renewable energy targets ahead of a key agreement on emissions cuts reached in October last year, newly released documents reveal.
At the time of the emissions deal, the European commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said: “This package is very good news for our fight against climate change.” He added: “No player in the world is as ambitious as the EU.”
Continue reading...At home with the world's last male northern white rhinoceros
With rhino numbers collapsed due to poaching for their horns, a lot rides on one pampered animal in the Kenyan savannah doing his best to further the species
Mohamed Doyo seems to have a dream job. Every evening, he patrols the Kenyan savannah, glimpsing lions chasing down darting Thomson’s gazelles, hearing the calls of red-chested cuckoos and, when there is a full moon, seeing the majestic, snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya in the distance.
But Doyo can scarcely stop to admire the extraordinary views because he and a large squad of rangers perform an extraordinary job: they must keep poachers away from one of the rarest species on earth, including the star attraction at the 135 sq mile conservancy, Sudan, the world’s last male northern white rhino.
Continue reading...Guardian Live: Freeing the Arctic 30
Greenpeace activists Frank Hewetson, Alex Harris and Phil Ball spent 100 days in a Russian prison after protesting against Arctic oil exploration. At a Guardian Members’ event they told the dramatic story of their imprisonment and release
By all accounts, the violent storming of Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship by Russian commandos in September 2013 and the subsequent jailing of the 30 activists and journalists on board, facing a 15-year sentence for piracy, was a terrifying and devastating experience.
At a Guardian Live event, activists Frank Hewetson, Alex Harris and Phil Ball (in the audience), were joined by Ben Stewart – Greenpeace’s head of media at the time and author of a new book describing the events, Don’t Trust, Don’t Fear, Don’t Beg.
Continue reading...Threatened Species Summit - 16 July 2015
A 40-metre fatberg? That’s not even London’s worst …
You can run but you can’t hide … or flush your toilet. Yep, it’s the return of the fatberg, a monstrous blob of congealed fat, waste, and wet wipes coming soon to asewer near you. Especially if you happen to live in west London. This week’s culprit is a 40-metre bruiser removed from under the leafy streets of Chelsea and weighing as much as five Porsches. The latest fatberg was so big-boned it broke a 70-year-old sewer pipe, leaving Thames Water with a £400,000 repair bill.
It wasn’t even the area’s worst. In 2013, “Britain’s biggest berg”, weighing 15 tonnes and as long as a double-decker bus, was found in Kingston upon Thames, and last year a fatberg the size of a Boeing 747 was discovered under the streets of Shepherd’s Bush. It’s only a matter of time before a fatberg as mighty as the Titanic herself bursts out of the manholes on High Street Ken and starts ransacking the place, Slimer-from-Ghostbusters style.
Continue reading...Earth Day quiz: tried the Google Doodle version? Now try the Guardian's
• Join the Guardian's climate campaign, Keep it in the Ground
Which year was the first Earth Day?
1960
1970
1980
Who founded the first Earth Day in the US?
Gaylord Nelson
Al Gore
Amory Lovins
When did Margaret Thatcher first warn in a Royal Society speech about the dangers of global warming?
1981
1985
1988
What level of warming do international negotiators regard as the threshold for dangerous climate change?
1C
2C
3C
Which pair won a Nobel prize in 2007 for their efforts to tackle climate change?
Al Gore and Rajendra Pachauri
David Cameron and Rajendra Pachauri
Yvo de Boer and Rajendra Pachauri
How much of proven fossil fuel reserves need to stay under the ground to stay below 2C?
Around two thirds to three quarters
Around a tenth
Around a third
In which European city is a major UN climate summit being held in November and December this year?
Bonn
Geneva
Paris
The UN climate science panel said with what % certainty that climate change is manmade?
75%
85%
95%
Who was the author of an influential 2006 report on the economics of climate change?
Stanislav Stern
Nicholas Stern
Todd Stern
Which two charitable organisations is the Guardian asking to divest from fossil fuels?
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust
The Ford Foundation and J. Paul Getty Trust
The Church Commissioners for England and W.K. Kellogg Foundation
4 and above.
Thanks for taking part. Have you joined the Guardian climate change campaign, Keep it in the Ground? <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/mar/16/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign">Join more than 180,000 people here</a>
7 and above.
Thanks for taking part. Have you joined the Guardian climate change campaign, Keep it in the Ground? <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/mar/16/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign">Join more than 180,000 people here</a>
10 and above.
Thanks for taking part. Have you joined the Guardian climate change campaign, Keep it in the Ground? <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2015/mar/16/keep-it-in-the-ground-guardian-climate-change-campaign">Join more than 180,000 people here</a>
Continue reading...Leadbeater's Possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri)
Conservationists turn tiny New Zealand island into bold wildlife experiment
Big things are happening on Rotoroa, a new sanctuary for endangered species that aims to create a whole new ecosystem
Rotoroa Island, off the coast of New Zealand is tiny, at just 82 hectares (200 acres), but don’t let its diminutiveness fool you: big things are happening here. Over the past few years the island has become the site of a quiet, but grand, conservation experiment. What would happen if you populated an island with a whole suite of endangered species, some of which were never found there to begin with? And what would happen if you didn’t fence the island off and keep pesky humans out, but let people – school groups even – tramp through the grounds?
Across most of our planet, truly wild, unmanaged places are a thing of the past.
Continue reading...Britain's beekeepers told to be alert for arrival of Asian hornets
Vespa velutina, which preys on honey bees, is already spreading rapidly across mainland Europe and could pose a serious risk to the UK’s apiculture
Beekeepers have been told to be alert for invading hornets that have killed six people in France and could pose to serious risk to Britain’s honey bees.
The Asian hornet, which preys on honey bees, is spreading rapidly across France and other parts of mainland Europe, and there are fears its arrival in Britain is only a matter of time – particularly in light of the unusually warm spring weather.
Continue reading...World's mountain of electrical waste reaches new peak of 42m tonnes
The biggest per-capita tallies were in countries known for green awareness, such as Norway and Denmark, with Britain fifth and US ninth on the UN report’s list
A record amount of electrical and electronic waste was discarded around the world in 2014, with the biggest per-capita tallies in countries that pride themselves on environmental consciousness, a report said.
Last year, 41.8m tonnes of so-called e-waste – mostly fridges, washing machines and other domestic appliances at the end of their life – was dumped, the UN report said.
Continue reading...Queensland Coral Fishery
Queensland Coral Fishery
Robot reveals inside Fukushima nuclear reactor – video
Out of plaice: popular UK fish at risk from rising temperatures
Study predicts dinner favourites plaice and lemon sole facing severe depletion and rapid warming of North Sea already forcing haddock out of British waters
Some of the UK’s most popular fish may be driven from the North Sea, and the UK’s dinner plates, by rising temperatures, scientists warned on Monday.
Fishmonger favourites plaice, lemon sole and haddock are being pushed out of their traditional feeding grounds by rapidly warming sea temperatures. The waters of the North Sea have warmed by 1.3C in the past 30 years, four times faster than the global average. Since the 1980s landings of cold-adapted species have halved.
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