Environment news

• Brazil prosecutors criticize Odebrecht overture

  23-03-2016 23:41
  Brazilian prosecutors said on Wednesday no plea-bargain talks are underway with executives from engineering conglomerate Grupo Odebrecht SA and that the company's public announcement of its intention to cooperate had no legal standing. Odebrecht, which had previously denied participating in a scheme to siphon money from state-run oil firm Petróleo Brasileiro SA , said late on Tuesday it would cooperate in order to help "build a better Brazil." "The disclosure of any intended agreement to
  
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• Rockefeller family charity to withdraw all investments in fossil fuel companies

  23-03-2016 22:39
  
  Started by John D Rockefeller – who made his fortune from oil – the fund singled out ExxonMobil, calling the world’s largest oil company ‘morally reprehensible’A charitable fund of the Rockefeller family – who are sitting on a multibillion-dollar oil fortune – has said it will withdraw all its investments from fossil fuel companies.The Rockefeller Family Fund, a charity set up in 1967 by descendants of John D Rockefeller, said on Wednesday that it would
  
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• From the wasteland a rich carpet of orchids

  23-03-2016 22:30
  
  Industrial wastelands sound like grim places but many of them are refuges for some fascinating plants. A recent survey in north-east England found far more variety of plants on brownfield sites than moorlands, which you might imagine would be wilder and more natural.But the industrial sites often have a thin, nutrient poor, soil which fast growing weeds can’t tolerate, and this allows more interesting species to thrive. Continue reading...
  
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• In Taiwan, leftover food scraps help farmers sustain porky appetites

  23-03-2016 22:00
  
  Taiwan has institutionalized the practice of feeding leftover food to livestock, an approach that many nations are using or considering to reduce their food waste. Now, two thirds of the country’s overall food waste helps feed its 5.5m pigsEvery night, classical music blares from garbage trucks in Taipei, summoning people from their homes. In their hands, they clutch bags or buckets of kitchen scraps, which they dump into a bin on the truck. From there, the food travels to farms, where it
  
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• Port Augusta 'busting a gut' to reinvent itself as a solar city when coal-fired power is switched off

  23-03-2016 21:11
  
  As the deadline for power stations to shut down approaches, the community rallies around a future in renewable solar energyEach day a trainload of coal rolls into the South Australian town of Port Augusta, where it is burned and turned into electricity. But these days that coal is shipped from a mine that is no longer digging. It is burned at a power plant that is about to be demolished.
  Port Augusta is the fabled canary in the coalmine – a coal town teetering on a precipice as it transiti
  
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• Oil down 4 percent; U.S. stockpile build threatens market recovery

  23-03-2016 21:06
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled 4 percent on Wednesday, with U.S crude settling below the key $40 per barrel mark after a sixth straight week of record highs in stockpiles that traders warned could cut short the market's two-month long rally. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles rose 9.4 million barrels last week - three times the 3.1 million barrels build forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Oil prices have rallied abo
  
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• First US shale gas sails into Europe as Ineos carrier arrives in Norway

  23-03-2016 19:53
  
  Europe has taken its first shipment of shale at the Swiss operator’s Norwegian plant, raising concerns about the future of shale gas and fracking in the UKThe first US shale gas sailed into Europe today bringing controversy in its wake.Ineos, the chemical group, said that its own gas carrier arrived in Norway with 27,500 cubic metres of American ethane on board. Shipments to Ineos’s UK refinery at Grangemouth are scheduled to start later this year. Continue reading...
  
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• Dyson developing an electric car, according to government documents

  23-03-2016 18:59
  
  The company last year refused to confirm they were working on a green vehicle, but a government plan on infrastructure suggests they areDyson is developing an electric car at its headquarters in Wiltshire with help from public money, according to government documents.The company, which makes a range of products that utilise the sort of highly efficient motors needed for an electric car such as vacuum cleaners, hand dryers and bladeless fans, last year refused to rule out rumours it was building
  
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• One American tribe is fleeing climate change with the help of $48m – others aren’t so lucky

  23-03-2016 18:43
  
  In Louisiana, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe has been awarded a natural disaster grant to resettle away from their sinking land. But other indigenous Americans continue to fight for survivalThe tiny Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe has called the coastal marshlands of southern Louisiana home ever since their ancestors settled there to avoid forced relocation under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. But the close-knit community of Isle de Jean Charles has grown increasingly fragmented as their i
  
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• American tribes are in trouble, and most won't get $48m to flee climate change

  23-03-2016 18:43
  
  In Louisiana, the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe has been awarded a natural disaster grant to resettle away from their sinking land. But other indigenous Americans have no way outThe tiny Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe has called the coastal marshlands of southern Louisiana home ever since their ancestors settled there to avoid forced relocation under the Indian Removal Act of 1830. But the close-knit community of Isle de Jean Charles has grown increasingly fragmented as their island slowly di
  
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• Sanctuaries or showbiz: what's the future of zoos?

  23-03-2016 18:14
  
  While most zoos in the US and Europe have moved away from cramped cages the tension between displaying captive animals and a scientific purpose persistsIt hasn’t been a great month for zoos and aquariums. Seaworld finally bowed to pressure to end its captive orca breeding program, three US zoos were criticized for secretly flying 18 elephants out of Africa and zoo keepers in Calgary accidentally killed an otter with a pair of pants, adding to a list of mistakes that includes giving a knife
  
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• UPS calls for 'level playing field' of low-emission fleets

  23-03-2016 17:59
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Packaging and transportation giant UPS has called on the UK Government to create a 'level playing field' by allowing the transport sector to create a better support system for vehicle electrification and enable more investment into biofuels.
  
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• Air pollution experts call for scrappage scheme for diesel cars and boilers

  23-03-2016 17:29
  
  Report outlines moves that would cut pollution from road transport and gas combustion in London and increase life expectancyScrappage schemes for diesel cars and boilers, and allowing only the cleanest buses to drive on key polluted roads are among measures proposed by experts to cut pollution and help people live longer. The moves to cut pollution from road transport and gas combustion in London could increase the average life expectancy of people born in the city in 2025 by more than a month,
  
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• New research on the Rio Grande and impacts of long drought

  23-03-2016 17:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  New research can help water managers along the Rio Grande make wise decisions about how to best use the flow of a river vital for drinking water, agriculture and aquatic habitat. These studies also show how conditions from the prolonged drought in the West have affected the Rio Grande watershed.The Rio Grande forms the world’s longest river border between two countries as it flows between Texas and Mexico, where it is known as the Rio Bravo. The river runs through three states in the U.S.,
  
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• Iraq oil exports, OPEC's fastest growing in 2015, hold steady in March

  23-03-2016 17:00
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq's oil exports have held steady so far in March, according to loading data and industry sources, halting for now the rapid supply growth that has increased downward pressure on prices. Baghdad has given verbal support to an initiative by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and outside producers to freeze output in an effort to boost prices. The lack of export growth is partly involuntary as it reflects disruptions on Iraq's northern pipelin
  
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• European clean tech industry falls into rapid decline

  23-03-2016 16:48
  
  Investment in low-carbon energy in Europe last year plummeted by more than half to $58bn, the lowest level in a decade, analysis showsEurope’s once world-beating clean technology industry has fallen into a rapid decline, with investment in low-carbon energy last year plummeting to its lowest level in a decade.The plunge in European fortunes comes as renewable energy is burgeoning around the world, with China in particular investing heavily. Continue reading...
  
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• EDF tells MPs nuclear power plant will go ahead

  23-03-2016 16:47
  By Susanna Twidale LONDON (Reuters) - The Hinkley Point nuclear power project in Britain will go ahead, EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz told MPs on Wednesday, though he did not give a definite schedule. The 18 billion pound project was announced in October 2013 but a final investment decision has been delayed as EDF secures partners and financing. Chinese utility CGN signed up for a one-third stake in October, leaving EDF to fund the rest.
  
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• What can we do to save the ash tree in Britain?

  23-03-2016 16:42
  
  Under attack from both the fungal disease ash dieback and the emerald ash borer beetle, the tree’s future looks bleak. But some experts believe there is hope – and that measures can be taken to alleviate the devastationReports that the ash tree is “set for extinction in Europe” have sent a shiver down the spine of everyone who loves and values Britain’s trees. For older readers like me, the stories are an unwelcome reminder of 40 years ago, when another familiar tre
  
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• Crude flow from northern Iraq to Turkey resumed - source

  23-03-2016 16:13
  The flow of crude oil from northern Iraq to Turkey had resumed as of 1330 GMT after a brief stoppage, a shipping source said on Wednesday. The flow of oil through the pipeline had been halted on Tuesday due to theft in the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa. The pipeline, which has been repeatedly sabotaged in recent months, normally carries some 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and the disputed Kirkuk oil fields to the port of Ceyhan for exp
  
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• It’s nice to see Mark Rylance’s bottom. But our oceans deserve better | Arwa Mahdawi

  23-03-2016 16:10
  
  Getting celebs to take their kit off won’t change attitudes to overfishing. The public are intelligent beings, not morons who have to be bribed to pay attentionLOOK! NAKED CELEBRITIES!Did it work? Did I hook you? Don’t worry, I’m not fishing for attention; I have a genuine naked-celebs story here, and it involves large amounts of fish. Just in time for Good Friday. Continue reading...
  
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• Exclusive - Nigeria expects oil output freeze at Doha meeting even without Iran

  23-03-2016 16:08
  By Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) - OPEC member Nigeria expects oil producers to agree a supply freeze at a meeting in Doha next month which should stabilise crude prices even if Iran does not join, its petroleum minister said on Wednesday. Qatar has invited OPEC members and major non-OPEC producers to meet on April 17 to agree a freeze following an initial deal in February between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and non-OPEC member Russia to hold supply at January levels. "I expect that we will rea
  
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• Michael Sheen and Massive Attack members support Welsh anti-fracking film

  23-03-2016 15:42
  
  Welsh actor narrates A River documentary highlighting risk of river pollution from shale gas drilling in Pontrhydyfen village, Richard Burton’s birthplaceThe actor Michael Sheen has given his support to an anti-fracking film opposing shale gas drilling in the Welsh village of Pontrhydyfen, Richard Burton’s birth place.Sheen narrates the documentary A River, which is soundtracked by original music from Robert Del Naja and Euan Dickinson of Massive Attack, and warns of a pollution risk
  
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• EDF refuses to set timetable for decision on Hinkley Point reactor

  23-03-2016 15:23
  
  MPs hear succession of expert witnesses pan the project, while EDF boss insists nuclear plant is good news for the UKEDF Energy has insisted it will take a decision to go ahead with new reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset but was unwilling to say exactly when despite being pressed by exasperated MPs.The French government, which owns 85% of EDF, has previously said it was aiming for the start of May but Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of the UK arm of EDF, was unwilling to set a timescale
  
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• Defra relaxes plastic packaging targets 'to reduce burden on businesses'

  23-03-2016 14:15
  
  The Government has announced plans to relax statutory plastic packaging recycling targets in an apparent attempt to 'reduce the burden' on business, with research showing that, despite 'significant increases' in recycling, the industry could struggle to hit 2020 targets.
  
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• Post-recession Britons are healthier, better off and living greener lives

  23-03-2016 14:13
  
  National wellbeing snapshot covering period as UK shrugged off financial crisis finds improvements in 17 of its measuresRecovery from the deepest recession in Britain’s post-war history has left Britons healthier, better off, less likely to be victims of crime and living greener lives, according to the latest official snapshot of national wellbeing.Life expectancy and living standards rose while unemployment fell during a three-year period from 2012-14, a time when the UK finally shrugged
  
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• Exclusive - Total eyes Engie's 5 billion euro upstream activities

  23-03-2016 14:13
  By Sophie Sassard LONDON (Reuters) - French oil company Total has held talks to buy all or part of domestic rival Engie's exploration and production (E&P) activities, worth about 5 billion euros (£4 billion), sources familiar with the situation said. Total has already made two informal offers which Engie rejected as too low, two of the sources said. Total declined to comment.
  
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• Meet the South Korean entrepreneurs promising a clean energy revolution

  23-03-2016 14:04
  
  Decades after South Korea’s stark economic past, its startups are developing solar, wind and hydro-powered products for developing world markets
  For South Korean millennials born into bright lights, cheap energy and bustling modernisation, the country’s dimly lit, war torn past is a thing of the history books. This made Akas Kim’s trip to rural India, seeing remote villages struggling to secure running water and power, all the more shocking for him. He was determined to make a
  
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• Oil slips after U.S. stock build reasserts glut concerns

  23-03-2016 13:47
  By Ahmad Ghaddar LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Wednesday after figures from an industry group showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week by more than expected, reinforcing concerns that a global glut continues unabated. U.S. crude futures fell 52 cents to $40.93 a barrel by 1239 GMT. Brent crude was down 39 cents a barrel at $41.40, still up more than 50 percent from a multi-year low of $27.10 hit in January.
  
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• Industrialised nations need to lead the world with an exit strategy for fossil fuels | Rainer Baake

  23-03-2016 13:41
  
  Energy efficiency and renewables are indispensable weapons in the fight against climate change, but the real challenge is keeping fossil fuel reserves in the groundAt the UN climate conference in Paris in December 2015, 195 countries concluded a groundbreaking climate accord. They agreed to limit global warming to well below 2C to avoid extremely dangerous and irreversible climate change.
  The international community’s remaining emission “budget” is less than 1,000 gigatonnes of
  
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• Starbucks responds to War on Waste with 'bring your own cup' discount

  23-03-2016 12:30
  
  Following a wave of intense criticism about its lack of action on the circular economy, coffee shop chain Starbucks will trial a 50p discount on its drinks if consumers bring their own cup, in an attempt to curb the rising issue of coffee cup recycling.
  
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• Heineken gets Neighbourly with community investment drive

  23-03-2016 12:27
  
  Dutch beer company Heineken has become the latest major business to join a social media platform designed to help communities connect with companies through local charitable, environmental and social enterprise projects.
  
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• Farming to London March 2016: share your photos and experiences

  23-03-2016 12:25
  
  To coincide with the Farming to London March on Wednesday 23 March, we’d like to hear from farmers about what concerns you have for the future of your industryA march organised by Farmers For Action (FFA)is expected to take place in London on Wednesday. Farmers are are hoping to raise awareness of issues facing the industry in the UK. The march will start from Waterloo Place, SW1, via Trafalgar Square to Downing Street. A delegation will then present a letter to the prime minister, David C
  
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• Hinkley Point nuclear power plant will go ahead - EDF Energy

  23-03-2016 11:59
  LONDON (Reuters) - The Hinkley Point nuclear power project in Britain will go ahead, EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz told MPs on Wednesday. The 18 billion pound project was first announced in October 2013, but a final investment decision has been delayed as EDF struggled to find partners and financing. Chinese utility CGN signed up for a one-third stake in Oct. 2015, leaving EDF to fund the rest. "Clearly and categorically, Hinkley Point C will go ahead," de Rivaz said speaking in front of parli
  
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• Pictures of the day: 23 March 2016

  23-03-2016 11:24
  
  A mantis praying on a frog, a mustachioed cat and fighting sheep
  
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• The small fish with a big personality: Study reveals unique blenny behaviour – in pictures

  23-03-2016 11:23
  
  The discovery of unique face markings on individual blennies enabled underwater photographer Paul Naylor to gain new insights into the secret world of these charismatic UK fish Continue reading...
  
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• Cargill partners with WRI to tackle supply chain deforestation and water risk

  23-03-2016 11:00
  International agri-foods business Cargill has forged a new partnership with global research organisation World Resources Institute (WRI) to improve the sustainability of its supply chain, with a particular focus on deforestation and water risk.
  
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• Badger cull: animal rights group publishes names of farmers

  23-03-2016 10:55
  
  Stop the Cull says it has list of farmers who have signed up for next phase of cull and will name one every dayAn animal rights group that champions direct action is publishing details of farmers believed to have signed up for the next phase of the badger cull. Police are investigating how the list of landowners in Devon, one of the counties where culling may take place this year, came to be leaked.Continue reading...
  
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• The nuclear industry: a small revolution

  23-03-2016 10:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Does the future lie in smaller reactors?
  
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• VIDEO: 'Small nuclear' explained using rice

  23-03-2016 10:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The BBC's Roger Harrabin explains how small nuclear reactors might work - using bags of rice.
  
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• Has the NFU president's farm led by example when it comes to bad practice in the countryside?

  23-03-2016 10:38
  
  The farm jointly owned by Meurig Raymond has twice been the site of incidents which have led to successful prosecutions“It’s simple,” a civil servant at the government’s environment department, Defra, once told me. “When we want to know what our position should be, we ask the NFU [National Farmers’ Union].”There are not many organisations in Britain - though this country is infested with lobbyists of every persuasion - with a grip on policy as tight as t
  
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• Pollution from NFU president's family farm led to fine in 2014

  23-03-2016 10:36
  
  Farm at centre of pollution incident co-owned by Meurig Raymond, whose organisation has lobbied to weaken environmental regulations on pollutionA family farm co-owned by the president of the National Farmers’ Union, which has consistently lobbied against a tightening of farm pollution regulations, was the source of river pollution in 2013. Polluting material is thought to have spilled into a local river at the Welsh farm, causing damage over a kilometre of land and water.Continue reading..
  
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• New detail in Ceres' bright spots

  23-03-2016 10:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US space agency's Dawn satellite continues to return remarkable images from the dwarf planet Ceres, in particular from its collection of bright spots in Occator Crater.
  
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• Australia calls China's South China Sea moves 'counterproductive'

  23-03-2016 10:07
  Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday called China's military deployments on the South China Sea "counterproductive", an unusually forceful rebuke against the country's biggest trading partner. Australia has consistently supported U.S.-led freedom of navigation activities in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been adding reclamation to islands and reefs in waters claimed by several regional countries. The United States has accused China of raising tensions in the South Chin
  
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• Wind power: senators want moratorium on turbines until health studies conclude

  23-03-2016 09:15
  
  Coalition senator Chris Back joins independent senator John Madigan’s call put projects on hold as a ‘precaution’Two members of a Senate inquiry into the health effects of wind farms – including a Coalition backbencher – have called for a moratorium on building new turbines until two separate medical studies conclude.On Tuesday, the National Health and Medical Research Council announced that it would allocate $3.3m for two university studies on whether noise emitte
  
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• Oil futures fall after API stockpile build reasserts glut concerns

  23-03-2016 08:57
  Brent crude was 45 cents lower at $41.34, reversing gains in the previous session when it finished at $41.79. Brent has also surged more than 50 percent since hitting a multi-year low in January of $27.10 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, said in a report after Tuesday's oil market settlement that U.S. crude stockpiles rose 8.8 million barrels last week to reach a record high of 531.8 million.
  
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• Scramble for oil storage extends, suggesting excess has room to run

  23-03-2016 08:45
  By Ron Bousso and Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Trading houses are betting on oil markets remaining oversupplied for at least two more years even as crude prices stage a recovery driven by early signs of falling production. Traders such as Vitol, Gunvor and Glencore are looking to extend or lock in new leases on storage tanks for crude oil and refined products in key hubs as far out as the end of 2018, sources at storage firms and trading houses say. Storing oil in a heavily oversupplied marke
  
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• Apple now powered by 93% renewable energy

  23-03-2016 08:30
  
  With all eyes glued to the unveiling of Apple's new 'iPhone SE', the tech giant took to the stage in California this week to reveal that 93% of its global facilities are now running on renewable energy.
  
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• BP chief economist sees continued oil demand growth this year

  23-03-2016 08:28
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - BP expects oil demand growth to continue this year, the group's chief economist Spencer Dale told a presentation in Moscow on Wednesday. He declined to give his forecast for oil prices if a proposed deal between major oil producers to freeze oil output levels at January level is signed next month in Doha. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Jack Stubbs)
  
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• Ash dieback and beetle attack likely to 'wipe out' ash trees in UK and Europe

  23-03-2016 08:01
  
  A double whammy of an emerald borer beetle and the fungus causing ash dieback disease could kill millions of ash trees on the continent, study warnsAlmost all the ash trees in the UK and across Europe are likely to be wiped out by a “double whammy” of a bright green borer beetle and the fungus that causes ash dieback, according to a comprehensive new academic analysis.The loss of the ash, one of the most abundant tree species in the UK, would mean losing even more trees than the 15 m
  
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