Post of the Day
‘Coal is on the way out’: study finds fossil fuel now pricier than solar or wind
Around 75% of coal production is more expensive than renewables, with industry out-competed on cost by 2025
Today’s Celebration
Day of Democracy – Mali
Independence Day – Bangladesh
Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana`ole Day (Hawaii) – United States of America
Youth Day – Vietnam
Khordad Sal (Fasli) – Zoroastrian
Climate Change
Ice explosions reveal glacier’s secrets, along with rethink on potential sea level rise
Scientists using seismic testing at a glacier in Antarctica find massive subglacial lakes beneath its surface — which they say radically alters estimates on predicted sea level rise.
A new study has revealed how clouds are modifying the warming created by human-caused climate change in some parts of the world.
What makes a catastrophic flood? And is climate change causing more of them?
Floods are complicated. But here are simple answers to questions about flooding, climate change and staying safe when the water rises.
The human devastation of climate change
Tessa Knight
While many politicians, world leaders and big corporations speak about the future effects of climate change, poor and impoverished nations are already struggling to battle the consequences of rising global temperatures.
National
Farmers to cash in on biodiversity success
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has announced a new pilot program to give farmers cash payments for improving biodiversity outcomes.
Energy underwriting scheme won’t be rushed
With the federal budget looming, Energy Minister Angus Taylor says he’s “meticulously” going through submissions for the underwriting of power projects.
Wind generation hits peak output of more than 4,000MW in Australia
Australia’s wind output reaches a record peak of more than 4,000MW.
Call for tougher trespass laws after dozens of animal rights activists invade feedlot
The Federal Agriculture Minister has joined cattle industry leaders in calling for tougher penalties to target animal rights activists trespassing on farms, after more than 100 people entered a property over the weekend.
China and US are the biggest investors in Australian water entitlements
Debate over impacts of foreign water entitlements continues as a report reveals 10.4 per cent of Australia’s water is in foreign ownership.
Pumped hydro to triple electricity storage
The 20 pumped hydro projects in the works will triple the nation’s electricity storage capacity, research from the Australian National University suggests.
CEFC tips $10m into home solar and battery-focused green bond
CEFC invests $10m in latest green bond from FlexiGroup – a $90.9 million issuance, with a large portion of rooftop solar, and a smaller portion of small-scale battery storage.
Stowaway mozzies enter Australia from Asian holiday spots – and they’re resistant to insecticides
Tom Schmidt, Andrew Weeks and Ary Hoffmann
Been on a tropical holiday? You might have brought home more than just a new sarong and extra colour in your cheeks – perhaps a mosquito that spreads dengue, or another known as ‘the BBQ stopper’
How to solve our energy problem [$]
Adam Creighton
Wake up — coal and iron ore finance our wealthy lifestyles and protect the dollar.
Why justice for animals matters [$]
Danielle Celermajer & David Schlosberg
University research Images of millions of dead fish floating in the Darling River in NSW confronted Australians. After years of conflict over how the diminishing waters of the Murray-Darling river system ought to be used, the nation urgently needs to debate the way we think about rights and responsibilities in managing our world.
Coalition’s Canavan launches the sausage sizzle climate scare campaign
Giles Parkinson
Canavan says Labor’s climate plan will mean the end of the sausage sizzle and $100 meat trays. The scare campaign is on!
A national savings scheme could save 4.5 Liddells by 2030
Ric Brazzale
Australia is the developed world’s worst performer in energy efficiency, but a focused scheme could save the output equivalent of 4.5 Liddell coal generators by 2030.
Victoria
Energy giants used Hazelwood closure to ‘gouge’ customers, study finds
Customers have been fleeced hundreds of dollars a year by Australian energy giants — and according to the competition watchdog, it is not illegal.
Australian zoo breeds rare plains-wanderer by replacing absent father with feather duster
Captive population of critically endangered bird doubles with the birth of nine chicks
New South Wales
Berejiklian wins majority as Daley quits
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian won a majority in parliament as Labor leader Michael Daley stood down after his party picked up just two seats.
NSW Nats leader praises ex-water minister
John Barilaro has thanked outgoing NSW Nationals deputy leader and regional water minister Niall Blair for his service, after stepping down from cabinet.
Coalition win offers hope on Narrabri gas
Manufacturers are calling for federal government to take action on east coast gas prices, noting that Narrabri gas is only a long-term hope.
Environment set to be a key priority as Berejiklian secures majority government
Senior Liberal sources said the Premier would be “much more assertive” when making decisions about who is in her new cabinet, as well as her priorities.
Upgrade to old Sydney trains expected to be two years late
The troubled project is aimed at squeezing an extra decade of service out of the state’s old fleet of Tangaras.
Premier – we cried for help and you didn’t listen
Rowena Macrae
The once-safe National Party seat of Barwon has fallen in the NSW election. Barwon encompasses approximately 44 per cent of the state and has been held by the party for more than 65 years.
Coal became a dirty word in NSW poll, but wind and solar face uncertainty
Giles Parkinson
It’s often hard to make sense of an election outcome with such a confusion of stories and trends as the New South Wales state poll on Saturday. But in thinking of what it means for the renewable energy industry, I’m immediately drawn to this graph below.
ACT
Priority for trams will likely make crossing Northbourne even worse
Transport Canberra has revealed exactly how light rail vehicles will be given priority between Gungahlin and the city, a move likely to make crossing Northbourne Avenue at peak hour more difficult.
Murray-Darling authority can’t afford turbulence in relocation: advocates
Supporters of the Coalition government’s plans to move public service jobs from Canberra have sounded a note of caution in backing the next decentralisation project.
Queensland
One Nation MP’s push to protect platypuses from yabby pots
In Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, there are localised or total bans on opera house pots, and now One Nation MP Stephen Andrew wants Queensland to review its rules.
Koalas should be given endangered listing, environment groups say
Current regime fails to halt the creeping loss of critical habitat, WWF Australia warns
Adani plays down ‘knee-jerk’ reaction to Chinese coal threats
There is more than enough demand on the horizon to justify coal developments, says Adani Australia mining boss.
Adani hit with spill infringement for second time [$]
Resources Indian miner Adani has been hit with an infringement notice after coal-ladened storm water spilled into wetlands during Queensland’s epic February flood event.
Brisbane’s industrial land scooped up for “mega-lot” developments
Brisbane’s industrial land values have jumped an average of 6 per cent over the past year, as demand increases for “mega-lots” to be held for future warehouse and distribution development.
Censure bid over Trad coal claim [$]
Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad must be formally investigated for misleading parliament, the LNP says.
South Australia
Councillors fear axing under changes to park lands authority
State Government moves to install a more “diverse board” for the Adelaide Park Lands Authority has city councillors worried their positions will be cut.
$850,000 federal cash splash for Hills’ heritage
Funding Heritage sites including Old Government House, in Belair National Park, and Wittunga Botanic Garden will be upgraded with $850,000 in federal funding.
Court rejects bid to block South Australia wind and ‘biggest’ battery project
Legal bid to block 180MW Twin Creek wind farm, with provisions for an energy storage facility more than twice the size of the Tesla big battery, has been rejected.
Why victorious gun lobby is targeting the Murray [$]
Tory Shepherd
Election aftershocks Why did country NSW turn against its beloved Nationals in favour of the Shooters party so soon after Christchurch? Water. And the aftershocks will flow to SA.
Tasmania
Where the River Runs Red: a Tasmanian mining town divided
A new Guardian documentary looks at a closed mine that symbolises a town’s struggle to reinvent itself
In the isolated west of Tasmania an ominous red river divides the small mining town of Queenstown.
Lake Malbena chopper plan lands in tribunal [$]
The Central Highlands Council is yet to tell a Launceston tourism operator why it blocked his application to build a helicopter-accessed standing camp within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
Northern Territory
Waste audit delivers mixed takeaway message despite plastic ban
An audit of rubbish from a popular weekend market delivers a mixed report card on whether consumer attitudes towards waste is changing.
Western Australia
Collie and coal go hand in hand, but locals fear that could change
A quarter of the 5,000 people employed in Collie are estimated to work in the coal industry — but with some predictions the sector could be exiting Western Australia by 2025, and the future of the community in the balance, residents want the Government to act.
Miners count cost of cyclone [$]
Rio Tinto is facing a slower return to exports following Cyclone Veronica, as resources giants assess its impact in WA.
Naked swim photo series aims to highlight climate change
When South Coast NSW photographer Tamara Dean asks you to be involved in her latest project, be prepared to make a bold environmental statement in your birthday suit.
Brisbane looks to electric buses, W.A. opts for diesel dinosaurs
Bridie Schmidt
Brisbane Metrol looks to clean transport options, in stark contrast to Western Australia, which has decided to buy 900 new diesel buses.
Sustainability
Don’t know how to save the planet? This is what you can do
Should we become vegetarians? Is it OK to fly? The author of There Is No Planet B, A Handbook for the Make or Break Years, answers the big questions
‘Coal is on the way out’: study finds fossil fuel now pricier than solar or wind
Around 75% of coal production is more expensive than renewables, with industry out-competed on cost by 2025
Most U.S. coal plants are more expensive than wind or solar
It’s simply bad business to burn coal.
Dirty lies: how the car industry hid the truth about diesel emissions
The ‘Dieselgate’ scandal was suppressed for years – while we should have been driving electric cars.
Fracking plan ‘will release same C02 as 300m new cars’
Labour study comes as UK government faces pressure from courts and councils
The coal industry isn’t going anywhere — yet
Surprisingly, the climate-threatening industry is still in a growth mode in some parts of the world. Will that change fast enough to save the planet?
Copenhagen wants to show how cities can fight climate change
The Danish capital wants to be carbon neutral six years from now. Its plan involves wind, recycling and a very innovative ski hill.
What we know about fossil fuels 30 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Exxon Valdez made visible the immediate environmental risks associated with fossil fuel extraction. Today, decades later, the long-term climate impacts from decades of fossil fuel extraction have gained center stage as the issue becomes a more pressing — and visible — concern.
Plant seed research provides basis for sustainable alternatives to chemical fertilizers
Scientists assessed the seed microbiomes of two successive plant generations for the first time and discovered that seeds are an important vector for transmission of beneficial endophytes across generations.
Particulate air pollution linked with reduced sperm production in mice
Exposure to tiny air pollution particles may lead to reduced sperm production, suggests new research in mice.
Catalyst advance removes pollutants at low temperatures
Researchers have developed a catalyst that can both withstand high temperatures and convert pollutants at near room temperature — an important advance for reducing pollution in modern cars.
Commercial hybrid-electric aircraft, reduced carbon emissions
Although we’re still a long way from commercial airplanes powered by a combination of fossil fuel and batteries, a recent feasibility study explored fuel/battery configurations and the energy lifecycle to learn the trade-offs needed to yield the greatest reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.
Nuclear power woes extend to Texas
By the standards of the U.S. nuclear energy industry, Texas’s two nuclear plants are fairly new.
First-of-its-kind US nuclear waste dump marks 20 years
In a remote stretch of New Mexico desert, the U.S. government put in motion an experiment aimed at proving to the world that radioactive waste could be safely disposed of deep underground.
Cities are grappling with air pollution but the small capital of Mongolia is suffering from some of the worst in the world.
Planet savior or horror show? Green New Deal inflames debate
To Democratic supporters, the Green New Deal is a touchstone, a call to arms to combat climate change with the full measure of the nation’s resources and technological might. “A mission to save all of creation,” in the words of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, one the plan’s lead authors.
Developing climate change resilient crops ‘a race against time’
Scientists trying to develop crops more resilient to climate change say they’re increasingly in a race against time.
After China ban, e-waste rains on Malaysian soil
Thousands of containers carrying discarded electronic parts have made their way into Malaysia, where a booming hazardous recycling industry is taking root.
Renewable hydrogen: Is this the answer to cutting transport emissions?
Bede Doherty
The first of two articles looking at how hydrogen stacks up on emissions and costs. Here, how hydrogen is produced and delivered, and the emissions impact.
Do we expect too much from modern life?
Penny Flanagan
If a car without airconditioning is too much, are we going soft?
The planet’s prodigious poo problem
David Cox
Each year, livestock produces billions of tonnes of excrement. It’s starting to poison the natural world. So what is to be dung?
When policymakers ignore science, children pay the price
Richard Jackson
More than a decade ago, I authored a paper warning that the toxic pollutant lead was damaging the brains of our children and costing each year’s cohort of American babies hundreds of billions in lifetime income. Today I am writing because there is mounting evidence that failing to protect our children from air pollution will cost far more.
Nature Conservation
Will large protected areas save the oceans or politicize them?
In the last decade, governments have been pushing to create vast Marine Protected Areas large enough to protect species from overfishing and other threats.
Study suggests trees are crucial to the future of our cities
The shade of a single tree can provide welcome relief from the hot summer sun. But when that single tree is part of a small forest, it creates a profound cooling effect. According to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, trees play a big role in keeping our towns and cities cool.
Climate Warming Accelerates Tallgrass Prairie Bioiversity
A study on climate warming in an Oklahoma tallgrass prairie has implications for understanding and predicting ecological consequences of climate change and ecosystem management strategies.
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