Post of the Day
Limitless power arriving too late: why fusion won’t help us decarbonise
Ian Lowe
I first heard the standard joke about fusion as an undergraduate physics student in the 1960s: Fusion power is fifty years away – and probably always will be.
On This Day
Climate Change
Black, Brown and Indigenous people have been systematically excluded from earth sciences, magnifying their exposure to the most severe impacts of climate change, said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, lead author of a recent commentary in the journal Nature Geosciences.
Supreme court case could restrict Biden’s effort to tackle climate crisis
Court to hear West Virginia case that takes aim at EPA’s ability to issue strict rules to curb pollution from fossil fuel power stations
Revealed: leading climate research publisher helps fuel oil and gas drilling
Elsevier’s work with fossil fuel companies ‘drags us towards disaster’, climate researcher says
National
Greens unveil plan for supporting coal communities in transition to renewables
Coal workers looking to jump to a non-polluting industry will be guaranteed employment at their existing pay rates under a new proposal by the Australian Greens.
Support for native forestry and the federal government’s elusive billion-tree target were flagged as key issues by Australia’s national forestry peak body ahead of the upcoming federal election.
China’s ban on Australian coal to last ‘at least another two years’
BHP chief executive Mike Henry does not expect China to lift its unofficial ban on Australian coal cargoes any time soon.
Ukraine invasion could bring LNG windfall for Woodside [$]
Surging oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are pointing to a bonanza for some LNG exporters but the long-term toll may be heavy.
Fears for global energy supplies [$]
Australia is preparing to join International Energy Agency members in a ‘global collective action’ and use oil stocks held in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep supplies flowing
Why this recycling boss would love a new tax
Sanjay Dayal, CEO of listed packaging group Pact, warns about skyrocketing rising costs and price hikes, and discusses workplace cultural clashes between Australia and India: “In Asia, if you’re the boss, you’re the boss.”
Mike Cannon-Brookes and closing coal – Energy Insiders podcast
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes explains why buying AGL will be fastest, cheapest, smartest and safest way to transition from coal to renewables.
Sunman’s pitch for glass free solar – Great Solar Business podcast
Thomas Bell from Sunman Energy explains their glass free solar technology, and how and why it can grow the solar pie
The green economy is here: we all need to seize the opportunity [$]
Perry Williams
The inaugural Green Power Players List 2022 shines a spotlight on the 100 innovators, developers, financiers and activists, often working behind the scenes to effect change.
HESTA’s fossil fuel ties tarnish its reputation
David Shearman
Superannuation fund HESTA has drawn criticism for its ties to the fossil fuel industry
Why the Australian government should welcome Mike Cannon-Brookes’ plan to takeover AGL
Daniel J Cass
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flatly opposed the bid led by tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes to buy Australia’s biggest energy company AGL and spend A$20 billion switching it to renewables.
Why Cannon-Brookes shouldn’t control Australia’s energy future [$]
Danny Price
It’s unsettling to have a billionaire amateur deciding national energy policy – especially when it means overturning the core principles of the National Electricity Market.
Pat Taggart
Rabbits are an enormous problem for Australian ecosystems – they’re a major threat to 322 species of plants and animals already at risk of extinction. This is more than double the number of species threatened by cats and foxes.
Green List gives clear sight into future of innovation [$]
Australian editorial
Today’s leaders have a responsibility to make it work for everyone.
Billionaire activism reveals the failure of Australian democracy
Carl Rhodes
With the Federal Government failing to act on climate policy, it could be up to our billionaires to save the world.
Victoria
Carbon Neutrality and 100% Renewables Action Plan reduces greenhouse gas emissions
The City of Ballarat is on its way to reaching an organisational net zero emissions target by 2025.
New South Wales
Why more sharks are circling off Sydney than ever before [$]
A veteran fisherman has declared there are now more sharks circling off the Sydney coastline than ever before.
Power and passion in a fading industry
Ethan Hamilton
We are moving into a period of acceptance, that there is a global shift away from coal-fired energy generation and while the changes may not impact the Hunter too severely in the next decade, they will come.
ACT
Commonwealth should consider ‘risks’ of granting Canberra heritage status, ACT government says
The ACT government has urged the Commonwealth government to consider the risks to the growth and future development of Canberra if the city is placed on the national heritage list a decade after it was nominated, while also suggesting a narrower listing may reduce the impact of new protections.
ACT is a long way in front of NSW’s Macquarie Street on corruption: Barr
Chief Minister Andrew Barr has defended the ACT government’s track record on corruption, after the territory’s integrity commissioner suggested probity issues with procurement could be “endemic”.
Queensland
Major Queensland coal port to investigate pivot to green hydrogen exports
One of the world’s largest metallurgical coal ports, the Dalrymple Bay Terminal in Queensland, to prepare plans for pivot to green hydrogen.
Healing the reef — one broken piece of coral at a time
A world-first program to reattach coral to the Great Barrier Reef has reached a major milestone, with the spawning of coral that was once broken.
State buys multi-million dollar cattle stations in far north
The State Government has bought two multi-million dollar northern Australian cattle stations as part of a conservation program.
Communities wanting another bridge at Indooroopilly might need two: Schrinner
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner says to finally solve traffic congestion in Brisbane’s western suburbs planners need to get over the river and a rail line.
Return of land ‘a model for all states’ [$]
Thousands of hectares on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula have been returned to Indigenous owners under a scheme Aboriginal leaders say should be rolled out across Australia.
South Australia
‘Alien’ killer fish infest River Murray
Australia’s most hated fish, the Carp, has been given some relief by a study that found the introduction of “alien fish” to the River Murray is killing native stocks.
Tasmania
Wilderness Society briefs World Heritage Centre on Tas Govt’s broken promises
Last night Australian environment organisation the Wilderness Society addressed the World Heritage Centre at an international forum, the NGO-UNESCO Dialogue Forum.
Aboriginal community calls for end to South Coast hut walk plan
A walking company says getting traditional owners involved and onside is key to a new South Coast walk – but the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre doesn’t want it to go ahead.
Sustainability
Exercise can build up your brain. Air pollution may negate those benefits
People who worked out in even moderately polluted air did not show the kinds of brain improvements tied to a lower risk of dementia.
Why cities want old buildings taken down gently
A growing number of US cities are adopting “deconstruction” policies that involve taking structures apart by hand in the name of sustainability.
Hearings to start for planned Chalk River nuclear disposal facility
The project, the first of its kind in Canada, would hold up to a million tonnes of radioactive and hazardous waste about a kilometre from the Ottawa River in a “near surface” facility, which is effectively a large mound.
Climate resolution forces RBC to reckon with greenwashing
Investors for Paris Compliance is forcing RBC to stare down a resolution that would stop it from greenwashing billions of dollars that the bank bills as sustainable.
UK backs Australian invented hydrogen storage tech to cut use of fossil fuels
UK government to fund demonstration of a hydrogen energy storage technology originally invented at UNSW.
Joshi discusses environmental compliance of Indian coal, lignite companies
Coal secretary A K Jain briefed the committee about creation of a Sustainable Development Cell (SDC) in the ministry to advise, mentor, plan and monitor environmental sustainability of coal mines
Russian forces capture Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine has lost control over the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant after a fierce battle. Follow live.
Plastic packaging increases fresh food waste, study finds
Research by sustainability charity Wrap debunks idea single-use plastic on fruit and veg helps prevent waste
How green are electric cars? – video
There’s no denying that electric vehicles are what most of us will be driving in the near-future.
Google and Amazon misled about their carbon footprint. But what about the rest of us?
Vivienne Reiner et al
Google and Amazon made headlines earlier this month for misleading on their carbon footprint by not reporting on scope 3 emissions, which comprises the majority of their impact. But this is no anomaly.
Nuclear fusion record broken – what will it take to start generating electricity? – podcast
Daniel Merino and Gemma Ware
Scientists at a nuclear fusion lab in the UK just broke the world record for the amount of energy produced in a single fusion reaction. In this episode of The Conversation Weekly, we ask two experts what this means, and how long it’ll take before we can switch on the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant.
Limitless power arriving too late: why fusion won’t help us decarbonise
Ian Lowe
I first heard the standard joke about fusion as an undergraduate physics student in the 1960s: Fusion power is fifty years away – and probably always will be.
Why renewables, not gas, are the solution to Europe’s twin crises
Oleksiy Tatarenko
With European households facing steep increases in energy bills, the continent faces an especially high-stakes energy crisis at the confluence of geopolitical tensions and a raging debate over energy policy.
Canadian oil company illegally bulldozes protected land in Africa
Farms, water, and endangered wildlife are threatened as ReconAfrica expands its operations despite violations.
U.N. wants faith groups’ help on plastic pollution
A senior U.N. official during the Faith for Earth Dialogue in Kenya urged religious groups to help reach a global agreement to curb plastic pollution, amid experts warning that single-use or disposable plastics were choking the planet.
Can the introduction of a modified invader save the US West’s native fish?
International officials will soon decide the fate of Mexican totoaba fish farming—and with it, possibly the last glimmer of hope for the vaquita.
Iraq’s second largest lake drying up, turning up dead fish
raq’s Razzaza Lake was once a tourist attraction known for its beautiful scenery and an abundance of fish that locals depended on. Now, dead fish litter its shores and the once-fertile lands around it have turned into a barren desert.
What do the protectors of the ‘world’s lungs’ get in return?
The world is suddenly focused on a huge natural carbon store in the Congo Basin. Its guardians are asking what they’re owed for keeping it intact.
From Wall Street to the Amazon: Big capital funds mining-driven deforestation
Major U.S. and Brazilian financial institutions continue to underwrite the destruction of the Amazon by financing mining companies pushing to operate in Indigenous territories, a new report says.
Each Antarctic tourist effectively melts 83 tonnes of snow – new research
Matthew Harris
Every summer, as the sea ice surrounding Antarctica retreats, tens of thousands of tourists and scientists flock to the landmass by boat and plane.
Is nature really at the centre of the ‘green dream’? [$]
Graham Lloyd
Looking after the land makes sense but in the end, someone has to pay. Good intentions will only go so far.
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