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Date: 4 June 2023 at 8:10:51 am AEST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links May 4
Post of the Day
A new study led by Princeton University finds that strengthening protection for areas already protected under law or by local communities is as critical for safeguarding biodiversity as creating new protected areas.
On This Day
Pentecost – Eastern Christianity
Trinity Sunday – Western Christianity
Ecological Observance
Coastal Cleanup Day – Russia
Climate Change
Little-known microbes could help predict climate tipping points
Rising temperatures could push ocean plankton and other single-celled creatures toward a carbon tipping point that fuels more warming. The carbon-eaters could become carbon-emitters. But new research shows it’s also possible to detect early distress signals before they get there.
You can make carbon dioxide filters with a 3D printer
Researchers demonstrated that it’s possible to make carbon dioxide capture filters using 3D printing.
Thermal energy stored by land masses has increased significantly
An international research team has now studied the quantity of heat stored on land, showing the distribution of land heat among the continental ground, permafrost soils, and inland water bodies. The calculations show that more than 20 times as much heat has been stored there since the 1960s, with the largest increase being in the ground.
Fossil gas death spiral: Regulator caps exit fee to “socialise” cost of mass disconnection
Regulator sets exit fee for households seeking to quit gas as they electrify, and allows networks to impose higher fixed charges to recoup investments in face of death spiral.
‘Heaviest rain in two months’ set to hit
Hope you enjoyed the blue skies because rain is on the way and in some places there could be a month’s worth in just a few days.
Why EV batteries could spark fires – or opportunities
By the end of the decade, Australia’s stockpile of depleted electric vehicle batteries will weigh almost as much as the arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Victoria
Push to underground ‘aerial spaghetti’ power lines in town of wind turbines
The small south-west Victorian town of Mortlake is slowly being surrounded by wind turbines that tower above prime cattle grazing land.
Farmers to plant 5000 trees for koalas [$]
Farmers located west of Geelong have teamed up with a bunch of volunteers to plant a new koala corridor through their historic sheep grazing property.
New South Wales
Coal in NSW could be squeezed out by end of decade. But the timelines are tight
NSW roadmap says 14GW of new wind, solar and firming capacity could be delivered by end of the decade to replace coal. But will transmission be built in time?
Sydney train commuters brace for year of hell [$]
After a scathing review found years of maintenance backlogs, weekend commuters will be forced to enjoy at least 12 months of trackwork.
Parramatta river to be ‘Barangaroo of the west’
A stretch of the Parramatta River will be returned to nature as part of ambitious plans to transform Sydney’s second CBD.
‘Fate of koalas’ in Labor’s hands as it mulls 3000-home development near key habitat
The Environment Minister faces a major test over a controversial housing development criticised by agencies for its potential to impact the last chlamydia-free koala population left in Sydney.
ACT
Greens urged to stop Inner South tree removal
Narrabundah residents are calling on Greens ministers to step in and stop the removal of 27 mature deciduous trees from a local park.
Queensland
Changing seasons and streams: Kowanyama elders sound alarm on climate change
A Far North Queensland community with deep connections to water is seeing the streams and seasons change, and with it, their food and cultural security.
Coal generator fined for lousy response to coal plant explosion that rocked the grid
Coal plant owner hit by fines for having the wrong settings on its generating units as regulator investigates why Callide coal explosion had such a big impact on grid.
Queensland steps up its investment in renewables
Labor has used a pitch to the party faithful in Queensland to unveil its first tranche of spending from a federal disaster recovery fund and a state push to build more publicly owned wind and solar farms.
Seagulls are disappearing from citizen science surveys, so where are they going?
Numbers of super smart seagulls are declining in Australia’s largest citizen science project but researchers aren’t sure if we’ve hit “peak gull” or the birds are outsmarting the survey.
Residents under threat from hydro crash Labor’s $500m renewables party [$]
The state government’s major energy announcement was undermined by a group of residents furious their homes will be resumed to make way for a pumped hydro facility.
Marinus Link gets nudge along as cost determinations begin
Australian Energy Regulator starts cost and revenue determinations on 1500MW Marinus Link, paving way for early works on the controversial project.
Tassie ‘falling behind’ on transport emissions [$]
The state government is being urged to take swift action to curb carbon emissions in the transport sector, as a report reveals Tasmania is the only state without a strategy to slash the sector’s emissions.
Western Australia
Australia’s first 2GWh battery is aimed at eliminating a very big solar duck curve
The country’s first 2GWh big battery is clearly focused on eliminating the growing solar duck curve in Western Australia.
Sustainability
Record 19.31% efficiency with organic solar cells
Researchers have achieved a breakthrough power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.31% with organic solar cells (OSCs), also known as polymer solar cells. This remarkable binary OSC efficiency will help enhance applications of these advanced solar energy devices.
UN inches towards first pact on plastics pollution
Around 170 countries have agreed to develop a first draft of what could become by the first global treaty to curb plastic pollution by the end of next year.
Iraq’s oil boom blamed for worsening water crisis in drought-hit south
Pollution from gas flaring – the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction – is also a major concern in the oil-rich but extremely dry south
Environment: Who are the green groups pocketing dirty dollars?
Peter Sainsbury
Fossil fuel companies burnish their image with environmental sponsorships. Lakes and reservoirs drying up around the globe. China dominates the production of solar panels.
Nature Conservation
Prosecutors in Brazil block move to install zip-lines on Sugarloaf Mountain
The prosecutors have blocked the instalment of the zip-lines, claiming they will damage the environment.
Panama grants legal rights to sea turtles, boosting ‘rights of nature’ movement
Sea turtles in Panama now have the legal right to live in an environment free of pollution and other detrimental impacts caused by humans, a change that represents a different way of thinking about how to protect wildlife.
Wes is going to the African wilderness to train anti-poachers at a hidden rhino sanctuary
Protecting rhinos from armed poachers isn’t a typical assignment for the president of a historic battle re-enactment troop in Gundagai — but his unique skill set is required in South Africa.
Genomes of 233 primate species sequenced
New insights into the genetic diversity and evolution of our closest relatives and the genetic causes of human diseases
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