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Drop in first half of year driven by fall in demand and some growth in clean power, study says

The European Union is stoking its power plants with fewer lumps of coal and barrels of oil and gas than it has ever recorded, data shows.

The 27 member states burned 17% less fossil fuel to make electricity between January and June 2023 than over the same period the year before, a study from the clean energy thinktank Ember found. The EU made 410TWh of electricity from sources that release planet-heating gases, which analysts say is the lowest level since 2015 – the first year for which they have monthly data – and “very likely” since 2000.

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Experts call for an independent review of Snowy 2.0 as costs of the controversial project are reported to have doubled again to $12 billion, not including transmission.

The post “Australia’s biggest engineering debacle:” Snowy 2.0 costs double again to reported $12bn appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Kākāpō are prone to disease and infertility. Only intensive species management has saved the flightless parrots from extinction. Genome data now reveals the genetic reasons behind these problems. Joseph Guhlin, Postdoctoral Researcher with Genomics Aotearoa, University of Otago Peter Dearden, Professor and Director of Genomics Aotearoa, University of Otago Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Electrification and energy upgrades for social housing and rooftop solar for apartment dwellers get a new chunk of joint federal and state funding.

The post Solar for apartments and electrification for social housing get twin funding boost appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia has just released 10 new areas for large-scale CO2 storage off its coast, nominated by its oil and gas industry which has pulled back on traditional offshore work in recent years.

Victoria and South Australia to share 2,400MWh of new storage capacity under new tender to fill gaps created by closure of coal and gas generators.

The post Victoria and South Australia seek 2,400MWh of storage in fast-tracked capacity tender appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New Zealand Climate Change and Environment Minister James Shaw on Wednesday defended the government's consultation process and refused to rule out policy options as he addressed foresters' concerns about the options raised in the ETS review.

Australia's energy and climate policies, both federal and state, are well intentioned but require a heavy state hand and are, slow, bureaucratic, end up picking winners.

The post Australia’s emissions and grid policies remain a mess, and time is nearly up appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Bowen announces consultation on two new offshore wind zones in Australia, one in the Bass Strait and one near Bunbury in W.A.

The post Bowen to open consultations on two new offshore zones in Bass Strait, Bunbury appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The New Zealand government will publish a paper relating to its approach to Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) in the coming days, the minister for climate change and environment told a conference Wednesday.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

A publicly-traded European carbon credit firm faces delisting from Amsterdam’s Euronext stock market.

One of the largest players in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has undergone a major restructuring to reduce staff amid the challenging economic environment of high interest rates and stalling demand.

Nine state governors whose jurisdictions cover the Amazon rainforest have penned a letter calling for the proposed Brazilian System of Emissions Trading (SBCE) to include existing subnational REDD+ programmes, and allow subnational representatives to help comprise the future cap-and-trade system's governing body.

The 11 RGGI member states on Tuesday announced they will host a public meeting in late September to discuss and seek feedback on the third programme review thus far, alongside results of their electricity sector analysis for reforming the power sector carbon market.

The final Nova Scotia cap-and-trade sale saw its smallest number of bidders and steepest undersubscription rate ever as it cleared at the scheme’s floor price, according to results published by the provincial government on Tuesday.

Market participants mostly expect Washington’s third cap-and-trade auction in 2023 to settle near steep front-month allowance prices on the secondary market, with the Wednesday sale almost guaranteed to once again trigger a reserve permit offering.

Standards body Verra on Tuesday announced updates to its VCS programme such as labels for carbon credits featuring removals and alignment with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, as well as to further align it with several international programmes and quality initiatives.

Octopus venture with First Nations peoples plans $1 billion of solar and battery projects in Northern Territory, and has an eye on even bigger green hydrogen plans.

The post Octopus eyes huge solar, battery and green hydrogen plans in First Nations deal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

There are a few media outlets that have taken the route of sensationalising and systematically criticising emission reduction projects financed through carbon credits, but we cannot continue to belittle all the efforts that are being made to achieve net zero, writes Alexis Leroy of Allcot.