Feed aggregator

Queensland government proposes $250,000 pilot for industry-led solar recycling scheme as it considers banning panels from being dumped in landfill.

The post Queensland wants to ban solar panels from landfill as waste problem grows appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Large-scale solar generation chalked up its third highest month on record in February, with a big contribution from New South Wales generating assets.

The post Coal feels the squeeze as big solar shines in New South Wales appeared first on RenewEconomy.

South Australia sources more than 80 per cent of its power needs from wind and solar over summer. Soon, the country's main grid will be doing the same.

The post South Australia enjoys 80.1 pct wind and solar share in blackout-free summer appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Victoria’s critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum is just hanging on, despite new plans and reserves aimed at protection. Plans to log some of its remaining habitat will not help David Lindenmayer, Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Chris Taylor, Research Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

As industry fights to discredit current research on health impacts of gas stoves, newly revealed documents show it was a concern five decades ago.

The post Gas industry knew about air pollution problems from stoves in early 1970s appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Federal government's green bank backs CBA mortgage discounts for borrowers building new homes or renovating to high energy efficiency standards.

The post Home energy efficiency in CEFC sights with new green mortgage push appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Despite what some New Zealand right-wingers are arguing, adaptation will not help us in a world three degrees warmer

I cannot say how the world will look for our kids, but what I do know is that it will reflect the decisions we take today. The past two years we’ve witnessed a seemingly never-ending cascade of climate-turbocharged disasters. Canterbury, the West Coast, Nelson-Tasman, Tairāwhiti, Auckland, Waikato, and Northland. Aotearoa New Zealand knows clearer than ever the immediacy of the climate crisis. We simply cannot rest. Far from it: despite huge progress, we are still nowhere near where we need to be.

A slew of opportunistic right-wing voices is lining up to use recent disasters to argue that the government should shift its efforts away from cutting emissions towards adaptation. This is as unscientific as it is dangerous. It is also utterly out of touch with the needs of the people they purport to represent. It is a disingenuous, harmful and bad faith argument that distracts from the conversations we need to be having.

Continue reading...

Report finds critical industries like steel, aluminium and cement will carry the weight of coal and gas under Labor's Safeguard Mechanism reboot.

The post “Huge flaw” in safeguard design could double emissions task for non-fossil industries appeared first on RenewEconomy.

An independent assessment of Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, nearly 12 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, finds it safe and reasonable. Nigel Marks, Associate Professor of Physics, Curtin University Brendan Kennedy, Professor of Chemistry, University of Sydney Tony Irwin, Honorary Associate Professor, Nuclear Reactors and Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The recovery rate from construction and demolition waste has been rising steadily in Australia. However, the use of recycled materials is still not the norm across the construction industry. Salman Shooshtarian, Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Tayyab Maqsood, Associate Dean and Head of of Project Management, RMIT University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock is vital. But the politics is fraught

Until relatively recently, Dutch farming prowess was hailed as one of the wonders of the global economy. In 2017, a National Geographic article headlined “This tiny country feeds the world” encapsulated a sense of national pride at the Netherlands’ status as the second-biggest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the United States.

These days, Dutch farmers are in the headlines for less upbeat reasons. As the climate emergency and a related biodiversity crisis belatedly take centre stage in policymaking, the prime minister, Mark Rutte, has committed to halving the country’s overall nitrogen emissions by 2030. A large proportion of these are generated by the manure and urine produced by more than 100m cattle, pigs and chickens. To reach the target, and protect biodiversity in the polluted countryside, the government has announced plans to reduce livestock numbers by a third. Reluctant farmers have been warned they could be subject to compulsory buyouts.

Continue reading...

Rena Lee, the president of the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, announced at the UN headquarters that a treaty to protect the high seas had finally been agreed, saying: 'Ladies and gentlemen, the ship has reached the shore.' The treaty, which has been almost two decades in the making, is crucial for enforcing the 30x30 pledge made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference in December, to protect a third of the sea (and land) by 2030

• High seas treaty: historic deal to protect international waters finally reached at UN

Continue reading...

After a 36-hour marathon session to conclude negotiations in New York, UN member states on Saturday evening agreed a treaty that will pave the way for protecting 30% of the world’s oceans.

After almost 20 years of talks, United Nations member states agree on legal framework for parts of the ocean outside national boundaries

It has been almost two decades in the making but on Saturday night in New York, after days of gruelling round-the-clock talks, UN member states finally agreed on a treaty to protect the high seas.

The historic treaty, which will cover almost two-thirds of the ocean that lies outside national boundaries, will provide a legal framework for establishing vast marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect against the loss of wildlife and share out the genetic resources of the high seas. It will establish a conference of the parties (Cop) that will meet periodically and enable member states to be held to account on issues such as governance and biodiversity.

Continue reading...

The first international agreement to protect the world's oceans for 40 years has been reached.

Countries have reached a landmark agreement to put 30% of the world's oceans into protection.

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

Neoen reveals how a big battery and a wind farm will provide "baseload renewables" to one of the world's biggest mines. It's a blueprint for the future grid.

The post How a wind farm and a big battery will deliver 24/7 power to one of world’s biggest mines appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Chip shortages and years of government neglect mean the country is lagging well behind China, Europe and North America

• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Surging sales of electric vehicles show the automotive revolution is coming, but its arrival is being held up by a fundamental problem: a lack of charging stations. This was apparent over the Australian summer when long queues formed at public chargers on holiday travel routes.

There are about 3,700 public chargers, at just over 2,100 locations, across Australia, according to an Electric Vehicle Council report published in October – a fraction of the number in many comparable countries. In Canada, drivers have access to more than 16,000 public chargers at about 7,000 locations.

Continue reading...

Senior civil servants have issued the warning as government is way behind on net zero pledges, according to leaked documents

Cabinet ministers have been warned by senior civil servants that they face court action because of their catastrophic failure to develop policies for tackling climate change, according to secret documents obtained by the Observer.

The leaked briefings from senior mandarins – marked “official sensitive” and dated 20 February this year – make clear the government as a whole is way behind in spelling out how it will reach its net zero targets and comply with legal duties to save the planet.

Continue reading...