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It’s believed there are fewer than 20 of these ‘little birds of the spinifex’ – and their future hangs in the balance

• Cast your vote in the Australian bird of the year poll today
• Keep up with all our bird of the year content

It’s hard to say precisely when I became a card-carrying bird nerd. Perhaps it was when I began keeping a pair of binoculars in my bag (you know, “just in case”). Maybe the time I taught bush kinder children the local bird calls so we could chat to our feathery friends out on country. Most likely though it was the point at which I became hopelessly obsessed with a little bird named mukarrthippi and its entanglement with my family history.

Mukarrthippi (pronounced mook-waa-tippy) captured my heart, not just because of its charismatic rufous-brown eyebrows, alert upturned tail and striking white streaked body, but also for the rather dubious honour it holds of potentially being Australia’s rarest bird. A recent survey estimates that fewer than 20 individuals exist in the world, most of whom reside in a single small area of sandhill in what is now known as Yathong Nature Reserve.

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A carbon credit ratings agency has for the first time awarded a score to a project that has yet to issue any credits, as it seeks to expand its role from the secondary to the primary voluntary carbon market.

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The post NSW dominates big solar output as other states switch off due to negative prices appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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Enel X wins huge demand response contract as W.A. looks to smarter ways to address the growing impact of rooftop solar and the impending closure of coal generators.

The post Massive demand response contract to boost flexibility in world’s most isolated grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

We’re nearing the end of the eliminations and getting to the business end of the voting now. Who will get their beak in front when it counts?

• Cast your vote in the Australian bird of the year poll today
• Keep up with all our bird of the year content

We’re now into the final week of Bird of the Year and the competition is, just like the unseasonably warm weather, HOTTING UP.

So far in the competition more than 200,000 votes have been cast and one thing is clear: the tawny frogmouth is the favourite as we near the home stretch. However, it may yet be knocked off its perch by a late surge from the swift parrot.

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Instants of 100 per cent renewables are already being presented on Australia's main grid - nearly two years ahead of expectations, and before the market is ready.

The post Australia has enough renewables to reach 100pct at times, but coal gets in the way appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A New Zealand forestry group has confirmed to Carbon Pulse it intends to file a judicial review into the Ministry of Primary Industries’ (MPI) announced per-hectare annual charge and service fees by the end of the week.

Probably the best-known Australian sound, one that even made it onto the soundtrack of old Tarzan movies, the laughing kookaburra assumes it's a shoe in for this year's bird of the year competition. And who can blame it? It's an Australian icon. Much loved in eastern Australia but considered a pest where it has been introduced into WA and Tasmania. An iconic sound for an iconic bird

• Cast your vote for the Guardian and BirdLife Australia’s bird of the year poll.

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Approaching clean energy (CE) procurement from the standpoint of an emissions first accounting framework, 24/7 reliability requirements, or a huge backlog of renewable generation builds that face supply chain issues are some considerations that could counter additionality concerns, a conference heard Monday.