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Australia can and should eradicate its gas supply gap – but not with more gas
New analysis shows future gas supply gaps could be eradicated by energy efficiency and electrification, while also alleviating the cost of living crisis.
The post Australia can and should eradicate its gas supply gap – but not with more gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Powerful new consortium joins rush for offshore wind with massive project in Victoria
UK energy giant SSE teams up with Equis to seek a feasibility licence for its massive Poseidon offshore wind project in Victoria.
The post Powerful new consortium joins rush for offshore wind with massive project in Victoria appeared first on RenewEconomy.
NSW formally opens big battery tender as questions loom over Eraring closure
NSW formally launches tender for 380MW of new firming capacity, as questions remain over new Labor government's intentions for country's biggest coal plant.
The post NSW formally opens big battery tender as questions loom over Eraring closure appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Yunupingu, ‘the rock that stands against time’, leaves an indelible mark in struggle for Indigenous rights
Deeply schooled in traditional law through language, song and dance, this extraordinary Aboriginal leader’s voice will not be forgotten
- Yunupingu, Yolŋu leader and campaigner for Indigenous rights, dies aged 74
- ‘A great Australian’: Anthony Albanese leads tributes to Yunupingu
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In remembering this extraordinary Aboriginal leader, it is difficult to forget the meaning of his family name, Yunupingu – which in the Gumatj dialect of the Yolŋu Matha language means “the rock that stands against time”.
Across so many decades, Yunupingu’s deeds and actions in the struggles for lands, seas, language and rights have surely reflected the meaning of that name. From his father’s campfire accounts of surviving being shot by Europeans in the 1920s “by a man licensed to do so”, to becoming the longest-serving member and chairman of the powerful Northern Land Council, leading the Yothu Yindi Foundation and hosting the annual Garma festival. His passing leaves an indelible mark far beyond the north-east Arnhem Land home of his people.
Continue reading...Snowy 2.0 contractor and owner fined for river pollution in national park
Snowy Hydro and the major contractor for the Snowy 2.0 project hit by fines in the latest bad news to affect the controversial project.
The post Snowy 2.0 contractor and owner fined for river pollution in national park appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Some of Australia’s biggest solar and wind farms hit badly by new grid assessment
Some of country's biggest wind and solar projects hit badly by new grid assessment, although impact has been muted by delays to transmission upgrades and coal plant repairs.
The post Some of Australia’s biggest solar and wind farms hit badly by new grid assessment appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Capitalising on climate anxiety: what you need to know about 'climate-washing'
The Guardian view on carbon offsetting: an overhaul is overdue | Editorial
The industry has not delivered what it promised, and critics are right to be sceptical
The emerging carbon offsets market is chaotic and dysfunctional. Problems need to be addressed openly, and resolved as quickly as possible. A joint investigation by the Guardian, the German weekly Die Zeit and SourceMaterial revealed in January that the vast majority of rainforest offset credits from the leading certifier – which are sold to companies that then use them to make claims about their overall emissions – do not offer the environmental benefits that they claim. Since then, scrutiny has only increased, with more questions being asked of the western businesses behind projects such as Kariba, a huge offset-promoted forest in Zimbabwe.
Recognising the urgent need to rebuild flagging confidence, if the carbon-trading system is not to collapse as it did once before, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market last week announced that new rules for offset issuers will be announced in May. A separate process overseen by a different body is reviewing the claims that businesses make, based on their offset purchases. While all this might sound remote from the concerns of most people, the stakes could hardly be higher. Many environmentalists would prefer governments to oversee a transfer of resources from rich countries to the forested nations that need incentives to conserve precious carbon sinks. The reality is that due to the way our global economic system is organised, we all depend on market mechanisms.
Continue reading...British cows could be given ‘methane blockers’ to cut carbon emissions
UK’s 9.4m cattle produce 14% of human-induced emissions, mostly from belching, but green groups remain sceptical
Cows in the UK could be given “methane blockers” to reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gas as part of plans to achieve the country’s climate goals.
Farmers welcomed the proposal, which follows a consultation that began in August on how new types of animal feed products that can reduce digestive emissions from the animals.
Continue reading...Solar panels could be a lifesaver for public housing tenants grappling with Australia’s soaring energy costs
Natalie Rabey, who relies on power-hungry machines to help her breathe, is campaigning for solar power for Victoria’s public housing
Natalie Rabey doesn’t know how much time she has left. But she knows what she wants to do with it.
“While I’m still breathing I’d like to get some action on solar panels for people in public housing because it’s just terrible at the moment,” she says.
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Continue reading...Nature-based markets can help scale sustainability-linked sovereign debt solutions, report finds
With Tories stealing some of Labour’s best clothes, Starmer needs a change of gear | Anne McElvoy
How dull can an opposition party be and still command the kinetic energy to win an election that requires a swing of up to 13 percentage points? Especially as the haul of seats it would need for an outright majority – given its dreadful losses in England in 2019, the SNP’s troubled but hardy grip on Scotland and the fact of fewer Welsh MPs being returned to Westminster – approaches the 145 gained by Tony Blair in the 1997 landslide.
Elections do not always vindicate early predictions. Much can happen between now and the election deadline of January 2025 (which effectively means going to the polls in the latter half of next year) that makes yesterday’s “impossible” look like tomorrow’s “told you so”. It would, however, be unwise for Labour to rely, as one of its sharpest advisers on strategy succinctly puts it, on “Tories being crap and Labour being a bit less crap”.
Continue reading...British state-owned bank eyes growing role in natural capital markets after first nature restoration investment
New oilfield in the North Sea would blow the UK’s carbon budget
Campaigners say Rosebank, with a potential yield of 500m barrels, would seriously undermine legal commitment to net zero
A single new oil and gas field in the North Sea would be enough to exceed the UK’s carbon budgets from its operations alone, analysis has shown, as the government considers fossil fuel expansion despite the legally binding commitment to net zero.
Rosebank is the biggest undeveloped oilfield in the North Sea, with the potential to produce 500m barrels of oil, and has already cleared several regulatory hurdles, meaning a decision on its future could come soon.
Continue reading...Unlimited fines for water companies dumping sewage
Farne Islands shut to visitors over fears of new avian flu outbreak
Rangers work to avoid repeat of last year’s devastating losses in breeding seabird colonies on the islands off the Northumberland coast
The Farne Islands will not open to visitors this spring in anticipation of bird flu once again ravaging breeding seabird colonies, after an “unprecedented” spate of deaths last year.
The rocky outcrop of islands off the coast of Northumberland has been looked after by the National Trust since 1925 and there are no previous records of so many endangered seabirds dying at once. More than 6,000 carcasses were picked up last year, which is believed to be the tip of the iceberg compared with how many birds would have died in total.
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