Post of the Day
Carbon pricing works: the largest-ever study puts it beyond doubt
Paul Burke et al
Having a carbon price is linked to lower emissions growth. A larger price cuts emissions by more.
On This Day
Coronavirus Watch
Confirmed cases: 9,980. Deaths: 108
Advice on using face masks has changed for some — here’s what you need to know
In a change to its previous advice, the Victorian Government is urging Melbourne residents to cover their face in situations where they cannot maintain physical distancing. We answer some of the most common questions about face masks.
Should all coronavirus patients be put into hotel quarantine? We did the maths
Francesco Paolucci et al
If someone fails to comply with the self-isolation rule, it could easily create multiple new clusters. So how do the costs and risks of aggressive hotel isolation compare with self-isolation at home?
Climate Change
Climate science has a blind spot when it comes to heat waves in Southern Africa
Centered in the equatorial tropics, Africa is the world’s hottest continent, and millions of people there are facing a growing threat from deadly heat waves. But no one knows how many people have died or been seriously affected in other ways by extreme heat because the impacts have been poorly tracked.
Climate change will cause more extreme wet and dry seasons
The world can expect more rainfall as the climate changes, but it can also expect more water to evaporate, complicating efforts to manage reservoirs and irrigate crops in a growing world, according to new research.
Carbon pricing works: the largest-ever study puts it beyond doubt
Paul Burke et al
Having a carbon price is linked to lower emissions growth. A larger price cuts emissions by more.
National
What could Australia’s clean energy future look like?
Amid the gloom, the COVID-19 crisis has created opportunities to accelerate existing and emerging technologies to make Australia a renewable energy superpower
Call for real climate action not ‘greenwashing’ from big polluters
In recent weeks, a roll call of Australia’s heavy-polluting miners, utilities and energy users have publicly committed themselves to carbon-reduction goals – aspiring to eliminate or negate all of their carbon emissions. It’s a trend that’s accelerating around the world.
Australian-led venture takes next step towards residential solar hydrogen storage system
Michael Mazengarb
The commercialisation of an Australian-invented residential hydrogen storage system to be accelerated with help of engineering firm GHD.
Get ready for a virus-driven change in energy use
Alan Pears
What happens beyond the immediate crisis will depend on how governments, business and households react. Here are some possibilities.
Victoria
Huge Dundonnell wind farm hit by “unanticipated” commissioning delays
ASX-listed wind energy developer Tilt Renewables has warned of a hit to company earnings, with its newly constructed Dundonnell wind farm in Victoria facing an “unanticipated” and indefinite delay to reaching full production.
Bold plan for Point Nepean National Park [$]
It’s been the subject of passionate protests and described as a “political football” by conservationists. How will this latest plan for Point Nepean go down?
New online directory features recycled products and suppliers
Sustainability Victoria
We’re excited to launch our new online directory, Buy Recycled, which features local Victorian products containing recycled content.
Our helicopter rescue may seem a lot of effort for a plain little bird, but it was worth it
Rohan Clarke et al
Scientists and bureaucrats moved logistical mountains to rescue the eastern bristlebird from bushfires this year. As climate change worsens, wildlife evacuations will become more common.
New South Wales
GE signs agreement to develop 500MW pumped hydro project in NSW
Global energy giant GE signs agreement to help fast-track proposed 500MW pumped hydro storage project at Dungowan Dam in New England region of NSW.
Former NSW water minister defends exclusion of driest years from sustainable water calculations
New water-sharing plans use data that ends at 2004 to calculate extractions from major tributaries in the Murray-Darling system
‘Dancing around and squealing’: Rare glossy black-cockatoo sightings spark excitement and concern
“Bird nerd” Tiffany Mason had never seen a glossy black-cockatoo in her region until three recently flew past her window, with bushfires and drought pushing the vulnerable species into unusual territory.
ACT
Pricing on carbon helped slow emissions: research [$]
Putting a price on how much carbon dioxide a business emits leads to lower global warming emissions, according to a big study published today.
Queensland
Nanango south of Kingaroy – vegetation fire
Multiple Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) crews are on scene at a vegetation fire burning at the northern end of Parsons Road, Nanango.
Planned cultural burn on Minjerribah women’s site a first for all-female team
Bummiera on Minjerribah-North Stradbroke Island is a culturally significant ceremonial place for Quandamooka women. Recently, it was also the location of the first all-women led controlled burn in the state.
Methane ignites at another Bowen Basin mine [$]
The Queensland Mines Inspectorate is investigating a fire in an underground mine — another incident of methane igniting in the state’s coal-rich Bowen Basin.
South Australia
Renewables-dominated South Australia delivering cheaper power than Vic, NSW
South Australian consumers set to reap benefits of world-leading renewables grid, with falling wholesale electricity prices delivering cheaper power than Victoria or NSW.
Gas giant Santos studies ‘blue hydrogen’ expansion
Santos is examining the potential to develop hydrogen out of natural gas, becoming the latest gas producer to eye an expansion into the fuel.
Plastic concrete? Marion first to embrace enviro-friendly tech [$]
Roundabouts, gutters and traffic islands could soon be made from old bumper bars and plastic bottles, if a trial of recycling technology developed in Adelaide is successful.
Fire-ravaged Kangaroo Island is teeming with feral cats. It’s bad news for this little marsupial
Rosemary Hohnen et al
The Kangaroo Island dunnart was listed as critically endangered before fires ripped through 95% of its habitat. Those that survived the fires now face the threat of feral cats
Tasmania
Jobs impacted by woodchip downturn
Plantation woodchip exports and hundreds of forest contracting jobs in Tasmania will be hit by a downturn in economic activity in China.
Plastic not so fantastic, say anti-waste duo [$]
Anti-waste champions are encouraging Tasmanians to ditch plastic, saying living a low-waste lifestyle is not as daunting as it sounds.
UTAS wombat mange research trial are showing positive results says researchers
Trials to test the effectiveness of a new treatment for mange in wombats are showing positive results, says researchers.
Act on bushfire inquiry number 243 — before our next black summer [$]
Bob Gordon
Our fire-prone landscape deserves better management including planned burning.
Northern Territory
Kakadu cash splash unrelated to management crisis: Minister [$]
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley says the government’s $233 million cash injection into national parks including Kakadu is unrelated to the recent tensions around the park’s management.
Northern Territory renewable hydrogen strategy
Government of the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory has embraced a target of net zero emissions by 2050 and hydrogen can play a central role in its realisation. This strategy articulates the potential hydrogen opportunities, the Territory’s competitive advantages and how the Territory can leverage these to be a centre of hydrogen technology research, production and use in Australia.
Western Australia
Sacred sites blast in WA exposes Australia’s laws skewed to mining
When mining giant Rio Tinto blew up two ancient caves in Western Australia’s iron-ore rich Pilbara with state approval, the destruction was met with anger from indigenous landowners for whom the sites were of deep cultural and sacred importance.
Sustainability
Want to cut down your power bill? Find out where your home is bleeding energy
“Leaky homes” are hard to keep warm in winter and cool in summer, but there are simple ways to fix them.
Putin signs law requiring firms to be ready for oil spills
President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation requiring companies involved in oil production or handling other hydrocarbons to have adequate resources for a contingency plan in the case of a spill.
The wood pellet business is booming. Scientists say that’s not good for the climate
Trump’s EPA is expected to propose a new rule declaring burning biomass to be carbon neutral, as industry looks to expand its domestic markets.
World wilts beneath weight of e-waste and plastic
It’s the throwaway society: e-waste outweighs Europe’s population, plastic waste often ends in the sea. Recycling rates offer little hope.
Lasers etch an efficient way to address global water crisis
Researchers use sunlight and a laser-etched metal surface to evaporate and purify water for safe drinking at greater than 100 percent efficiency. The method could help relieve water shortages in drought-stricken areas and be helpful in water desalinization projects.
Bat research critical to preventing next pandemic
The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has a likely connection to bats, and the next viral outbreak probably will too. A recent review calls for more research into bats’ molecular biology and their ecology, to help predict, and hopefully prevent, the next pandemic.
Building a greener, more resilient global economy
Statement by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon at the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Green Climate Fund side-event: COVID-19 and Climate Finance
Book review: Voices from a slow-moving nuclear calamity
In “The Hanford Plaintiffs,” Trisha T. Pritikin gives voice to the downwinders of the notorious Hanford nuclear plant.
Burrowing crabs reshaping salt marshes, with climate change to blame
Given higher sea levels and softer soil in the wake of a shifting climate, Sesarma crabs, which have already decimated salt marshes in the Northeast, are now rising to prominence in southeastern marshes, a new study finds.
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