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Ofgem to build infrastructure for 3,550 new ultra-rapid charging points on motorways and in towns

Britain’s energy regulator is investing £300m to help triple the number of ultra-rapid charging points for electric vehicles across the country, as part of efforts to accelerate the UK’s shift to clean energy.

Ofgem will use the cash to build new infrastructure supporting 3,550 new ultra-rapid charging points – 1,800 at motorway service stations and 1,750 in towns and cities.

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Endeavour Energy gets smart about better managing record numbers of residential rooftop solar systems, with not a solar export charge in sight.

The post NSW smart meter program to soak up solar with “everyday batteries” appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Energy retailer asks ACCC to investigate sustained price spikes in NSW as analysts question why some gas generators remained idle as prices soared.

The post Energy retailer asks ACCC to probe possible “market gaming” in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australian Greens propose laws to make fossil fuel companies legally liable for climate change, labelling contradictory Morrison government budget "crazy".

The post “It is crazy:” Greens push new climate laws after Coalition’s fossil fuel subsidy spree appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A major £30m project will test trees, peat, rock chips, and charcoal as ways of removing climate-heating emissions

Climate-heating carbon dioxide will be sucked from the air using trees, peat, rock chips, and charcoal in major new trials across the UK.

Scientists said the past failure to rapidly cut emissions means some CO2 will need to be removed from the atmosphere to reach net zero by 2050 and halt the climate crisis. The £30m government-funded project will test ways to do this effectively and affordably on over 100 hectares (247 acres) of land, making it one of the biggest trials in the world.

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Call for environment bill returning to parliament to be strengthened to tackle global plastic waste crisis

Campaigners are urging the UK government to ban the export of plastic waste to all countries, invest in a domestic recycling industry, and set a binding target for plastic reduction.

Activists are pushing for the environment bill – which is returning to parliament on Wednesday – to be strengthened to tackle more effectively the global plastic waste crisis.

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Guardian analysis shows intensification in farming across the EU with a rise in livestock numbers while millions of farms disappear

The EU is to introduce sweeping reforms of farming subsidies this week to try to halt the decline of small farms and protect them from the intensification of agriculture fostered by decades of previous policies.

Janusz Wojciechowski, the EU agriculture commissioner, said: “My intention is that this process of disappearing small farms should be stopped. The European food sector in the past was based on small farms, and it should be in the future as well.”

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New research shows Australia is lagging behind international peers in emissions reductions, despite what the Morrison government may claim.

The post Australia’s emissions have risen since 2005, apart from land use accounting tricks appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Following two recent price hikes, Tesla has cut the Australian retail price of a Powerwall 2 home battery system.

The post Tesla cuts price of Powerwall home battery in Australia appeared first on RenewEconomy.

China is looking to bring two more sectors into its national emissions trading scheme from next year, according to the chairman of the carbon exchange in Shanghai.

Taxpayer funded Kurri Kurri gas plant will help give Snowy Hydro dominance of the NSW, Victoria and South Australia markets. But will it protect from battery storage?

The post “It’s a disgrace”: Snowy Hydro to use government subsidy for market dominance appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The public consultation period for assessment for export accreditation will be open until COB 25 June 2021.

Stan Renton and his wife Audrey, have been heating their home with coal for their entire married lives.

G7 efforts to stamp out coal accelerate ahead of a major June meeting - another source of pressure for Australia's reticent leadership.

The post G7 Countries agree to end coal financing before end of 2021 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New research found lots of incentives to chuck out working solar panels and replace them with new ones. This may be creating huge amounts of unnecessary waste. Deepika Mathur, Research Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University Imran Muhammad, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, Massey University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Fossil fuel and other emissions not linked to the land and agriculture increased by 7% over the past 15 years, analysis finds

Despite official accounts showing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, its contribution to the climate crisis has increased over the past 15 years once areas beyond the federal government’s control – the drought and emissions from land and forests – are excluded.

Scott Morrison told a climate leaders summit hosted by the US president, Joe Biden, last month that Australia had cut its emissions by 19% since 2005. The prime minister said it was “more than most other similar economies” had done and the country was “on the pathway to net zero”.

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Turkey is the latest country to reject the role of world’s dustbin. With their environment bill, ministers have a chance to end this vandalism

The international plastics recycling market is broken. It is doubtful whether it ever worked. For most of the last decade, China was the world’s largest importer of recyclable materials, some of which were used in manufacturing. But it banned these imports as part of a “beautiful China” policy aimed at improving the environment.

Malaysia was the next country to fight back against being treated as the “dumping ground of the world” – as its environment minister, Yeo Bee Yin, put it in 2019. More than 200 facilities were closed, and thousands of tonnes of waste returned, amid growing evidence of the involvement of organised crime in the global waste business. Now Turkey has rejected the role of international rubbish bin: after a Greenpeace investigation found plastics dumped in rivers, on beaches and in illegal waste mountains, it announced that most plastic waste imports (which included 209,642 tonnes from the UK in 2020) will be banned in six weeks’ time.

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Rob Higgs alleges plainclothes officers turned up unannounced at his premises

The co-founder of the eco activist group Ocean Rebellion has filed a complaint to police alleging that officers have tried to intimidate him before next month’s G7 summit in Cornwall.

Rob Higgs, an artist and campaigner, has alleged that at least a dozen plainclothes officers turned up unannounced at his Cornish studios, his home and his boat.

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Exclusive: ‘Rapid transition to regenerative farming’ needed, says prince, as data reveals 100,000 UK farms lost since 1990

The Prince of Wales has called for small family farmers in the UK and across the world to come together in a cooperative movement using sustainable farming methods, and for their plight to be at the centre of environmental action.

Small farmers, in the UK and EU, are facing their biggest upheavals in more than a generation, with the loss of farm subsidies and new post-Brexit trade deals in the UK, and sweeping reforms to the EU’s common agricultural policy to be announced this week in Brussels.

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Small-scale agriculture needs the tools and confidence to deal with the rapid changes society has to make

• Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent to the British throne

Family farmers form the backbone of our rural communities. Their hard work puts high-quality food on our tables, which is produced to some of the highest standards in the world, and their careful stewardship knits together the environmental and social fabric of our beautiful and iconic landscapes. They are a remarkable breed; adaptable, resilient and incredibly hardworking. And they are no stranger to innovation through adversity. Their very diversity brings great strengths to our environment, to our rural communities and to disease management. All this must be taken into account as agriculture starts this massive transition, especially as more than 110,000 smaller family farms have already been lost since 1990.

To me, it is essential the contribution of the small-scale family farmer is properly recognised – they must be a key part in any fair, inclusive, equitable and just transition to a sustainable future. To do this, we must ensure that Britain’s family farmers have the tools and the confidence to meet the rapid transition to regenerative farming systems that our planet demands.

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