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Southern Water fined £90m for deliberately pouring sewage into sea
Privatised firm dumped billions of litres of raw sewage off north Kent and Hampshire coasts to avoid costs and penalties
Southern Water has been fined a record £90m for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into protected seas over several years for its own financial gain.
Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson, sentencing the privatised water company, said it had discharged between 16bn and 21bn litres of raw sewage into some of the most precious, delicate environments in the country.
Continue reading...COMMENT: Playing with fire – the EU carbon market for buildings
The week in wildlife – in pictures
The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a hungry hippo, coot chick and mother and basking turtle
Continue reading...China to push blue carbon, make case for bivalve offsets
Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ are contaminating plastic food containers
Harmful PFAS chemicals are being used to hold food, drink and cosmetics, with unknown consequences for human health
Many of the world’s plastic containers and bottles are contaminated with toxic PFAS, and new data suggests that it’s probably leaching into food, drinks, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, cleaning products and other items at potentially high levels.
It’s difficult to say with precision how many plastic containers are contaminated and what it means for consumers’ health because regulators and industry have done very little testing or tracking until this year, when the Environmental Protection Agency discovered that the chemicals were leaching into a mosquito pesticide. One US plastic company reported “fluorinating” – or effectively adding PFAS to – 300m containers in 2011.
Continue reading...New Zealand weighs position limits, exchange-based trading in ETS
“Embarrassing:” Ley to appeal court ruling she has duty of care to young people on emissions
Federal environment minister flags appeal of Federal Court order that she has a duty of care to protect young people from the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.
The post “Embarrassing:” Ley to appeal court ruling she has duty of care to young people on emissions appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Energy Insiders Podcast: Batteries accelerating shift to renewables
Alinta’s Gary Bryant on how battery storage is accelerating the shift to renewables.
The post Energy Insiders Podcast: Batteries accelerating shift to renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Batteries getting bigger and leaping to four-hour storage as market changes
Battery storage installations are getting bigger and delivering more services as the market shifts more rapidly to wind and solar.
The post Batteries getting bigger and leaping to four-hour storage as market changes appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Singapore’s largest floating solar plant begins commercial operation
One of the largest floating solar projects in the world has been completed and is sending power to the grid.
The post Singapore’s largest floating solar plant begins commercial operation appeared first on RenewEconomy.
First big battery on WA’s main grid gains development approval
Synergy says its 100MW/200MWh big battery has been given the green light for development at a decommissioned fossil fuel power station.
The post First big battery on WA’s main grid gains development approval appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Beetle that can walk upside down under water surface filmed in Australia in world first
Researcher accidentally spots tiny insect walking on the underside of the water surface as if it were a pane of glass
An Australian beetle has been observed walking upside down along the surface of water – the first instance that such behaviour has been visually documented.
The tiny aquatic beetle, about 6mm to 8mm in length, has been recorded scuttling along the undersurface of a pool of water in New South Wales.
Continue reading...Wind turbine blades to get second life as long duration energy storage
Enel Green Power and Energy Vault want to use recycled wind turbine blades in an innovative, long-duration energy storage system.
The post Wind turbine blades to get second life as long duration energy storage appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Tiny Australian aquatic beetle captured walking upside down on water surface – video
The Australian beetle, about 6mm to 8mm in length, was discovered by a PhD student while researching frogs in the Watagan Mountains of New South Wales. The unidentified species is believed to belong to the Hydrophilidae family of beetles, commonly known as water scavengers
Continue reading...Warning for renewable energy zones: Don’t repeat mistakes of early wind and solar
Securing community buy-in for new transmission network projects will be crucial for success of Renewable Energy Zones, the RE-Alliance says.
The post Warning for renewable energy zones: Don’t repeat mistakes of early wind and solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Norway pledges billions to replace fossil fuels in developing countries
New Norwegian initiative should allow project sponsors and investors to access investment capital cheaper than otherwise available in the market.
The post Norway pledges billions to replace fossil fuels in developing countries appeared first on RenewEconomy.