Feed aggregator

Several large companies that profit from market rules governing the issuing of carbon credits to some projects are too lax and the market’s integrity should be improved.

The post ‘Untenable’: Even companies profiting from Australia’s carbon market say system must change appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Rooftop and distributed solar reaches what appears to be a new record of 72 per cent of demand in W.A., the biggest isolated grid in the world.

The post Rooftop solar reaches 72 per cent of demand in world’s biggest isolated grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

We’ve heard all the concerns about switching to electric cars before. But California, a market with many similarities, shows why Australia is well placed to accelerate its transition. Scott Hardman, Professional Researcher, Electric Vehicle Research Center, University of California, Davis Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Founding Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis Gil Tal, Director, The Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle (PH&EV) Research Center, University of California, Davis Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Industry bosses in Germany say high costs are having an impact on vehicle production and sales

Soaring energy costs are threatening the future of the electric car, industry bosses in Germany have warned.

A rise in electricity prices as well as in raw material costs and availability, a chronic shortage of parts, and a widespread reduction in disposable income are having a considerable impact on the production and sales of cars.

Continue reading...

Huge solar and battery project near Goulburn shifts boundary fence to accommodate local community concerns, including nearby resident Angus Taylor.

The post Huge NSW solar and battery project nudges boundary fence to fend off community concerns appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Grid demand in Queensland, Australia's most coal dependent state, hit record low as growing amount of rooftop solar took a big bite out of coal's midday lunch.

The post Grid demand hits record low as rooftop PV takes bigger bite out of coal power’s lunch appeared first on RenewEconomy.

EV sales in Australia, and around the world, are hitting new heights, driven largely by Tesla. But MG has returned with an improved sub-$50,000 electric offering.

The post The Driven Podcast: EV interest surges, MG returns to market appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Traditional food provenance methods are typically designed to identify one species at a time. So we worked out a new approach, as part of a broader effort to combat seafood fraud and illegal fishing. Zoe Doubleday, Marine Ecologist and ARC Future Fellow, University of South Australia Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

German investor makes first entry into Australian big battery market, with purchase of a 440MWh portfolio.

The post German investor buys 400MWh big battery portfolio in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Should King Charles speak out on climate change, as he has done as prince? Of course he should, says Albanese.

The post Should King Charles speak his mind on climate action, or just ugly buildings? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Words matter. It’s vital terms like ‘crisis’ and ‘calamity’ don’t become rhetorical devices devoid of real content as we argue about what climate action to take. Noel Castree, Professor of Society & Environment, University of Technology Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Every fraction of a degree of global heating avoided makes a difference, here are some reasons for hope

• Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcast

There is no shortage of things to say about what’s going wrong. The extent of damage caused at 1.2C of global heating since pre-industrial levels is proving greater than was forecast by climate scientists not that long ago.

As discussed last week, the disastrous toll of the historic flooding in Pakistan and heatwaves and droughts across the northern hemisphere summer appear signs of escalation. A peer-reviewed study found several disastrous climate tipping points, including the collapse of Greenland’s ice cap and Gulf Stream currents in the Atlantic Ocean, may now be unavoidable.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

The decluttering movement is gaining pace. But a house full of secondhand finds or inherited furniture allows you to tell your own story – and keeps them from landfill

‘Imagine no possessions / I wonder if you can / No need for greed or hunger / a brotherhood of man.” When John Lennon died, nine years after writing Imagine, the anthem for minimalism, he was living in a 430 sq metre apartment in the Dakota building in New York. He also owned three other apartments in the block, including one for storage, a large part of which was given over to the temperature-controlled care of his and Yoko’s furs.

But it is minimalism that is expensive now. If we look at the places John Pawson, the British architect generally credited as Mr Minimalism, designs for his private and institutional clients, they look distinctly expensive. Rather like Dolly Parton’s brilliant insight that “it costs a lot of money to look this cheap”, wags could reasonably say it costs a lot to have a house that looks that bare.

Continue reading...

Andrew Forrest strikes another MoU for a massive green hydrogen project, this time with Egypt in the lead up to the UN climate talks.

The post Fortescue looks to build 9.2GW wind and solar green hydrogen project in Egypt appeared first on RenewEconomy.

WA scrambles to control polyphagous shot-hole borer, which has spread to 200 locations in state’s capital

• Get our free news app, morning email briefing or daily news podcast

A new, invasive insect that has caused the removal of hundreds of trees in Perth could attack much-loved species such as Moreton Bay figs if it escapes quarantine zones, conservationists say.

While the east coast has been responding to the incursion of the varroa mite in bees, Western Australia has been managing another invasive insect known as the polyphagous shot-hole borer (PSHB).

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Continue reading...

Paris-born photographer Martine Perret documented conflict zones for the United Nations before moving to Margaret River in WA. Enthralled by the grandeur of the state’s vast and ancient landscapes, she set about capturing its wide open spaces from high in the sky.

She is one of 168 artists participating in this year’s Margaret River Region Open Studios event (10 to 25 September), in which art lovers are invited into the private spaces of painters, sculptors, photographers and milliners.

Continue reading...

Conservationists hail success after first chicks in two centuries hatch in Leicestershire

“I’m over the moon. We’ve waited a long time for this.” Beth Dunstan, environmental project manager at Belvoir Castle is celebrating the birth of the first osprey chicks in Leicestershire for two centuries this summer, one of a series of recent successes in bringing the osprey back across the UK.

The birds of prey were at one time extinct across the country, which makes the recent hatching of the two osprey chicks cause for celebration. “It’s such a rare thing,” said Dunstan. “There are only around 30 breeding pairs of ospreys in England, so to have a pair on our land breeding and raising chicks is so exciting.”

Continue reading...

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

Emitters continued to widen their California Carbon Allowance (CCA) net length this week, while financial players slightly decreased their position as a bill to increase the Golden State's 2030 GHG reduction target floundered, according to US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data published Friday.

A California-headquartered direct air capture (DAC) systems developer has announced a project partnership with a carbon storage firm that they said will permanently remove 5 Mt of atmospheric CO2 annually by 2030.