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FFI produces hydrogen electrolyser prototype as it gears up to begin production at Gladstone factory, and eyes five global hydrogen projects.

The post Fortescue produces its first Australian made hydrogen electrolyser prototype appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Labor has signalled Australia is back on climate change. If so, why aren’t we telling the world? Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University James Bowen, Policy Fellow, The University of Western Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

AGL Energy on Monday began its phased shut down of the 52-year-old Liddell coal fired power station, as the price of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCU) slipped amid limited trading.

German ministries argue over whether planned 22GW of solar should be installed in fields or meadows, or rooftops, sealed areas and "rewetted moors"

The post Germany’s Green-led ministries quarrel over using farm land for solar arrays appeared first on RenewEconomy.

National energy market volatility is increasing as more renewables, but mainly rooftop solar, continues to enter.

The post Know your NEM: Whistling for more as wind and solar eat into gas and coal share appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The current growth rates of solar alone will see the global energy sector decarbonised by mid-century.

The post Solar is a runaway global success, and Australia is showing the way forward appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Dirty air causes premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe every year, says European Environment Agency

Europe is failing its children when it comes to air pollution, exposing nearly all children across the continent to air that falls below healthy standards and delaying the clean-up of the sources of pollution, research has found.

Breathing dirty air causes the premature death of at least 1,200 children across Europe each year, and many thousands more are afflicted with physical and mental health problems that could have lifelong impacts, according to the latest assessment of air pollution by the European Environment Agency.

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First of the last three units at Australia's oldest coal generator shut down on Monday morning.

The post AGL shuts down first of last three units at Liddell, Australia’s oldest coal generator appeared first on RenewEconomy.

There is a chasm between what advocates say new transmission links will do in western Victoria and what it will actually do - turn it into an electrical “parking lot”. 

The post Put up a parking lot: Why these new transmission projects will fail wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Research on societal change should feature more strongly in the IPCC’s climate assessments. Because without a significant shift in behaviour, the emissions curve will not bend downwards. Ralph Sims, Emeritus Professor, Energy and Climate Mitigation, Massey University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

With austerity eviscerating their budgets, councils are renting out public land to generate income

When the mill owner Joseph Strutt cut the ribbon on the Derby Arboretum in 1840, entry came with a caveat. This landscaped sweep, one of the first public parks in England, was only open to the public on Sundays and Wednesdays. For the rest of the week, its fountains and pathways were reserved for paying customers, whose entry fees effectively subsidised the park.

The system was scrapped in 1882, as the growing concern for public health among Victorian reformers accelerated the creation of open public parks in towns and cities across England. Anyone can now stroll through Derby’s arboretum. But another form of gatekeeping is taking place in parks today. Councils that have seen their budgets eviscerated by austerity are finding ways to turn parks into cash-generating assets, often by renting stretches of the land to fenced-off commercial events.

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Experts ask the public to be on the lookout for the invasive species and kill them and their brood to protect US plant life

Experts are urging the US public to start keeping an eye out for the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species harmless, if irritating, to humans, but known to wreak havoc on plant life and agriculture.

Experts believe that spotted lanternflies entered the US in a shipping crate. Native to China, they were first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and have since spread to at least 14 states.

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Wildlife presenter urges people to join action on climate crisis during mass protest supported by more than 200 organisations

Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has made a rallying call for “every last person who cares” about the planet to join Extinction Rebellion after thousands took part in a demonstration on Saturday.

The 61-year-old broadcaster spoke to the crowd from a stage close to Parliament Square, Westminster, during the second day of a mass protest the climate group has called The Big One.

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Hundreds of dead birds found in past three weeks as conservationists call for international funding to help stop the disease spreading on migration routes

An outbreak of avian influenza in seabirds in the Gambia could affect vast numbers of birds migrating along the East Atlantic Flyway, unless international funding is secured, warn conservationists.

Teams from the West African Bird Study Association (Wabsa), the Gambia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, and UK-based NGO Conservation Without Borders have buried hundreds of dead birds over the past three weeks, including some ringed birds from Europe.

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Sunday’s event in Peak District will mark anniversary of Kinder Scout protest, seen as crucial in establishing right to roam in UK

Up to 1,000 swimmers are expected to head to Kinder reservoir in Derbyshire on Sunday in the biggest trespass of the water to date. The turnout will mark the anniversary of a mass trespass that helped establish the principle of the right to roam in the UK.

The swim trespass of Kinder reservoir, situated below Kinder Scout where the 1932 protest took place, has become an annual event and is growing rapidly with the boom in wild swimming.

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Denis Hayes, who coordinated the first event in 1970, denounces fossil fuel companies that use the event to get positive publicity

Corporate greenwashing should not undermine the message behind Earth Day and has nothing to do with its original aims, one of the founders of the annual environmental event has warned.

Denis Hayes, the American environmental activist who coordinated the first Earth Day in 1970, denounced the “appalling” environmental messaging by oil, gas and other extractive companies and said he hoped it did not distract attention from the threats posed by the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, which he compared to the threat of nuclear conflict during the cold war.

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Biodiversity crisis leads horticulturalists to highlight gardeners’ role in conserving wild flora and fauna

In not so distant times, a list of garden wildlife for many horticulturalists could have been a list of deadly enemies, containing aphids, slugs, snails and other creatures previously thought of as irritants.

But as awareness of the biodiversity crisis grows, horticulturalists have become more aware of the importance of wild flora and fauna, and the important role gardeners can play in conserving it.

Lichens

Native ladybirds

Pollinators

Solitary bees (Aculeate hymenoptera)

Sulphur tuft fungi (Hypholoma fasciculare)

Slime moulds

Rose chafer beetle (Cetonia aurata)

Ink cap mushrooms

Hoverflies

Social wasps

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I felt his body glide against my back. Why does this whiskery creature want to get so close?

This summer, after a bad run of migraines and perplexing ill-health, I decided to try cold-water immersion. And yes, it’s possible I had listened to a few too many podcasts on the topic but, also, I was looking for an achievable goal.

The property I live on in northern New South Wales is bordered by a creek, which, despite being summer, stays remarkably cool. There is a water hole, and I’m hopeful that if I create the cold-water immersion habit in warmer weather I can move into the cooler months. I’m planning ahead.

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You want to do more about climate change, but how do you persuade the people who call the shots?