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Exclusive: council issues advisory as investigation begins and documents reveal estimates of PFOA emissions

People living near a chemicals plant in Lancashire have been told to wash and peel vegetables from their gardens before eating them, while an investigation into potential contamination of soil in the area with a banned toxic chemical gets under way.

The chemical PFOA, one of the PFAS family of about 15,000 chemicals, does not break down in the environment and last year was categorised as a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization. It is also toxic to reproduction and has been linked to a range of health problems such as thyroid disease and increased cholesterol.

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There is significantly more willingness for EU-UK collaboration on carbon capture and storage (CCS) since the Labour party was elected to office in July, an executive at a European CCS lobby group told Carbon Pulse, saying they expected joint announcements on cooperation in the coming months.

Singapore's DBS bank announced Tuesday it will offer financing and hedging services for allowances under the EU  Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) as shipping companies outside the EU are now included in emissions calculations, becoming the first Southeast Asian bank to do so.

The Secretariat of the ART carbon credit standard on Tuesday announced it has approved a listing for a Brazilian state under its TREES jurisdictional certification programme.

A forest carbon data provider has suspended its collaboration with a non-profit based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following questions regarding the organisation’s agreements with the government of DRC and concessions for carbon credit development in the country.

The Shanghai government will auction off 2.8 million carbon allowances under the local emissions trading scheme a the end of this month to ensure regulated emitters can meet their compliance requirements.

Norwegians are putting their natural environment (and weekend activities) ahead of tourism’s economic benefits

In Norway, nature is something of a national obsession. Norwegian children are taught that “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”, and Norwegian babies are packed into thermals and overalls and taken on day trips to the woods. Cross-country skiing, hunting for wild mushrooms or cloudberries, or huffing and puffing up a mountain are standard weekend activities.

The recent decision to scrap a campaign that aimed to attract more foreign tourists to the country’s rural landscapes was a stark reminder of this: rather than encouraging tourists and the income they provide, many Norwegians would prefer to protect their natural environment.

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In move to address plunging grid demand in the middle of the day, market operator may force big batteries to discharge and stand by on empty as alternative to switching off rooftop solar.

The post Not enough demand: Big batteries may be told to stand by on empty to avoid rooftop solar switch-off appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The world is on track to miss the clean energy targets agreed at COP28 without stronger and more urgent action, according to a new report.

The last coal-fired power station in the UK will close within days, nearly 143 years after the world’s first coal-fired power station began operating in nearby London.

The post Last coal power station in UK prepares to close appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Senior CSIRO scientist Michael Ambrose recently completed Australia’s most comprehensive study on the ‘leakiness’ of recently built homes. Here's what he found.

The post SwitchedOn Podcast: Air tight homes can reduce energy costs up to 20% appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New Senate committee to focus on roles and transparency of energy market regulators and grid operator, with AEMO's ISP expected to be a major focus.

The post New Senate committee to focus on transparency and accountability of energy regulators and operator appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Entities covered under Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism have continued to hoard carbon credits to meet their expected compliance demand as unit issuance grows, albeit not as fast as the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) previously expected.

A global non-profit think tank that assesses leadership in corporate climate policy engagement has found that 23 out of 40 top performers are headquartered in Europe.

Dutton accused of not understanding the energy system by federal energy minister Chris Bowen, while former state energy minister Matt Kean also says nuclear not a suitable companion to renewables.

The post Dutton’s baseload nuclear plan shows he does not understand energy systems, Bowen says appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Latest quarterly report from the Clean Energy Regulator reveals a promising uptick in large-scale wind and solar investment and unstoppable momentum in the rooftop PV market.

The post Australia on track to add 7GW of new wind and solar this year, as investment bounces back appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Brisbane-based iron flow battery manufacturer Energy Storage Industries has secured investment worth $65 million to build Australia’s first manufacturing plant for grid-scale batteries.

The post Queensland backs iron flow battery technology for Australia’s first grid scale manufacturing facility appeared first on RenewEconomy.

With more than 200 wastewater ponds, New Zealand has an untapped opportunity to install floating solar panels to increase renewable generation and to reduce algal growth in the ponds at the same time. Faith Jeremiah, Lecturer in Business Management (Entrepreneurship and Innovation), Lincoln University, New Zealand Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Quebec's pension fund on Monday unveiled a new investment platform alongside a US-based landscape investment manager after acquiring a minority stake in the firm.

The winning images in this year’s Bird Photographer of the Year competition have been selected from 23,000 entries from around the world. The overall winner Patricia Homonylo’s image showed birds killed by colliding with windows

• Wildlife photographer of the year 2024 – preview

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