Environment news

• Butterflies use differences in leaf shape to distinguish between plants

  28-07-2016 23:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  The preference of Heliconius butterflies for certain leaf shapes is innate, but can be reversed through learning. These results support a decades-old theory for explaining the evolution of the exceptional diversity of leaf shapes in passionflowers.The tropical butterfly Heliconius eratodistinguishes between shapes, and uses them as a cue for choosing the plants on which to feed and lay eggs, shows new research by scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Smithsonian Trop
  
  Read more

• The US Is Finally Getting Its First Offshore Wind Farm

  28-07-2016 23:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  BUILDING IN RHODE Island isn’t easy. Hurricanes and tropical storms barrel through its quaint coastline towns, interrupting perfect summer weekends. Freezing winters bring blizzards that can shut down the entire state. And every season features corrosive salty winds, biting at the coast as if sent by a Britain still seething at the first American colony to declare independence.But one company sees the state’s incessant wind as a utility. Deepwater Wind has partnered with Ge
  
  Read more

• First whale detected by newly deployed acoustic buoy in New York Bight

  28-07-2016 23:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new acoustic buoy recently deployed by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and WCS's (Wildlife Conservation Society) New York Aquarium to listen for some of the world's biggest animals in the New York Bight has detected its first whale species, and it's a really big one.Fixed in position some 22 miles south of Fire Island and fitted with a digital acoustic monitoring instrument, the hi-tech buoy is now operational and has detected the vocalizations of fin whales, en
  
  Read more

• Costa replaces coffee cup recycling logo with 'Tidy Man' in war on waste pledge

  28-07-2016 23:15
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Costa Coffee is to remove the recycling symbol from all of its paper cups and is now trialling in-store recycling systems at 50 of its UK stores as it ramps up plans to "lead the industry" in the fight against coffee cup waste.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Dear corporate Canada: it's time to pay for your part in climate change

  28-07-2016 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Canada’s Justin Trudeau intends to unveil a program this fall that will require big polluters in business to pay for their carbon emissionsBy 2030, Canada intends to see its greenhouse gas emissions fall 30% from the 2005 levels of 749 megatonnes. To get there, the country expects its businesses to play an important role in a new plan that will include a program to make companies pay for their carbon emissions.
  Under the new government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada expects
  
  Read more

• Costa replaces coffee cup recycling logo with 'Tidyman' in war on waste pledge

  28-07-2016 22:31
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Costa Coffee is to remove the recycling symbol from all of its paper cups and is now trialling in-store recycling systems at 50 of its UK stores as it ramps up plans to "lead the industry" in the fight against coffee cup waste.
  
  Read more

• Breakthrough solar cell captures CO2 and sunlight, produces burnable fuel

  28-07-2016 22:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have engineered a potentially game-changing solar cell that cheaply and efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide directly into usable hydrocarbon fuel, using only sunlight for energy.The finding is reported in the July 29 issue ofScience and was funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. A provisional patent application has been filed.Unlike conventional solar cells, which convert sunlight into ele
  
  Read more

• How bold will Sadiq Khan's air quality improvement programme be?

  28-07-2016 21:58 via theguardian.com
  
  London’s new mayor looks certain to tackle transport-based pollution more effectively than his predecessor but is being urged to go further stillThe final day to “have your say” on Sadiq Khan’s plans for improving London’s air quality is Friday, 29 July. Submissions can be accepted until one minute to midnight, so there’s no time lose. Khan’s main proposals, first set out back in May, are as follows: Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Oil down 2 pct; July to be worst month in a year for U.S. crude

  28-07-2016 21:54
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled down nearly 2 percent on Thursday, hitting April lows and with U.S. crude headed for its biggest monthly loss in a year, on growing worries that the world was pumping more crude than needed. U.S. Gulf Coast gasoline stocks hit record highs last week for the month of July while East Coast inventories reached all-time peaks, government data showed on Wednesday. U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures settled down 78 cents, or 1.
  
  Read more

• To show confidence, Philip Hammond should hang on to Lloyds shares | Nils Pratley

  28-07-2016 21:27 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘Market volatility’ postponed George Osborne’s plan for Lloyds retail offer – the new chancellor should play the long gameBe grateful, dear retail investor, that George Osborne never got a chance to unleash his mass-market offer of shares in Lloyds Banking Group. The former chancellor had planned to sell discounted stock to the populace at 70p apiece, or thereabouts. Lloyds’ shares now fetch just 52.5p in non-discounted form.The other side of the story, of course, i
  
  Read more

• A short history of nuclear fission

  28-07-2016 21:15 via theguardian.com
  
  An Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, was the first to achieve it but just recently nuclear fission’s popularity has been decreasingIt began in 1789 when a German chemist named Martin Klaproth discovered uranium but it was not until 1934 that nuclear fission was first achieved following a series of experiments by Enrico Fermi, an Italian physicist. Related: Hinkley Point C to go ahead after EDF board approves projectContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• EDF confirms board approved Hinkley Point investment decision

  28-07-2016 20:24
  French utility EDF said in a statement that its board of directors had given the company's president the go-ahead to sign all contracts and agreements necessary to build the two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in south-west England. It added in the statement on Thursday that this decision clears the way for EDF to sign contracts with the British government and its Chinese investment partner China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). EDF said that the pouring of the first concrete of reacto
  
  Read more

• What do we know about Hinkley Point C's technology?

  28-07-2016 20:04 via theguardian.com
  
  European pressurised reactor will be most powerful in the world but is designed to use less fuel and produce roughly a third less waste than older reactorsBritain’s first new nuclear power station in more than 20 years will contain the industry’s most cutting-edge technology.Hinkley Point C on the Somerset coast will feature two European pressurised reactors (EPRs) designed to be safer, more reliable and more fuel efficient than anything that has gone before. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• How a huge school of sharks 'flips the food pyramid'

  28-07-2016 19:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ecologists discover a food web beneath the waves of French Polynesia that is both unusual and spectacular.
  
  Read more

• 'I'm not scared by nuclear': locals divided over Hinkley Point C

  28-07-2016 19:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Businesses and education providers on the Somerset coast see opportunities but residents remain concerned over safety and waste The EDF Energy visitor centre at the Angel Place shopping centre in Bridgwater was doing brisk business. A group of pensioners waited for a coach to take them for a tour of Hinkley Point B nuclear power station 10 miles away on the Somerset coast while children played with displays explaining how electricity is created. Teenagers dropped in to jump on to a static bike a
  
  Read more

• Hinkley's nuclear plant fails all tests - bar the politics | Damian Carrington

  28-07-2016 19:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Huge, expensive and difficult to build, Hinkley is a throwback to the last century, just as the world is embracing the smart energy systems of the futureThe new nuclear reactors now given the go-ahead at Hinkley Point have failed every test bar the one that finally mattered - political expediency.The plant, to be paid for by UK energy customers, could cost them £37bn and is a leading contender for the most expensive object ever built on the face of the Earth. A former Conservative energy s
  
  Read more

• Hinkley Point C timeline: all the key moments

  28-07-2016 19:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Nuclear reactor project has seen several developments since being announced in 2005EDF board approves Hinkley Point C project
  UK energy policy review launched by Tony BlairContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Hinkley Point C to go ahead after EDF board approves project

  28-07-2016 19:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Britain set for its first new nuclear power station in a generation after French energy group’s directors give green lightBritain is set to get its first new nuclear power station for a generation after EDF’s directors voted in favour of building Hinkley Point C.After a decade of debate about the controversial £18bn project, the EDF board approved the project by 10 votes to seven, according to reports in Paris. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Oil down 2 percent, hits three-month lows on reported Cushing build

  28-07-2016 17:58
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell nearly 2 percent on Thursday, hitting three-month lows, after a fresh stock build at the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures added to concerns that producers were pumping more than needed.
  
  Read more

• U.S. crude hits three-month low again on reported Cushing build

  28-07-2016 17:33
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell again on Thursday, with U.S. crude hitting three-month lows after a fresh stock build at the delivery hub for U.S. crude futures added to concerns that producers were pumping more than needed.
  
  Read more

• Recyclable coffee cups and mushroom packaging: 7 innovations that could win the war on waste

  28-07-2016 17:31
  
  In a week that sees the recyclability of coffee cups and cardboard packaging come under scrutiny in Hugh's War on Waste, edie rounds up the potential technologies and solutions that Britain's retailers could be exploring to make 'waste' a word of the past.
  
  Read more

• Wildlife workers rescue six baby rhinos from flooding in India

  28-07-2016 16:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Floods in Assam submerge Kaziranga national park, home to the world’s largest population of one-horned rhinocerosWildlife workers have rescued six rhino calves at risk of being washed away by floodwaters that have swamped a national park in northeastern India.Torrential monsoon rains have caused widespread flooding in Assam state and forced about 1.2 million people to leave their water-logged homes. The rains have also flooded vast tracts of the Kaziranga national park, home to the world&r
  
  Read more

• Record 46% of UK's electricity generated by clean energy sources in 2015

  28-07-2016 16:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Official figures show low-carbon sources accounted for almost half of national electricity supply last year - outstripping coal for the first time Almost half the UK’s electricity came from clean energy sources such as wind and nuclear power last year, official figures have revealed.Renewables accounted for a quarter of the country’s power supplies in 2015, outstripping coal power for the first time, the data published by the government revealed. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• The Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 07 - How to win the war on waste coffee cups

  28-07-2016 16:41
  
  As Hugh's War on Waste throws coffee cups into the spotlight, edie hears from the recycling experts, circular economy gurus and retailers at the heart of the debate to explore exactly what needs to happen to solve the great coffee cup conundrum.
  
  Read more

• Scottish farms face losing millions in subsidy after Brexit

  28-07-2016 16:13 via theguardian.com
  
  UK government would need to increase funding to match common agricultural policy levels, Holyrood committee hearsScottish farmers face losing hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidy after Brexit unless the UK government increases funding for Holyrood, a Scottish parliament committee has been told.A senior economist and the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) said the EU referendum vote raised significant doubts over the future of £452m in common agriculture programme spending in Scotl
  
  Read more

• How can developing countries reach 100% renewables? – live chat #AskGSB

  28-07-2016 15:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Join us on this webpage on Thursday 28 July, 1-2pm (BST), for an online debate as we explore clean energy investment in the developing world 1.39pm BSTHead down to the comments section to follow the discussion as it unfolded and look out for our writeup coming soon.10.51am BSTIf you’re interested in today’s live chat on renewables in the developing world, check out our recent article on financing off-grid clean energy projects: Investors’ neglect of small-scale renewables threa
  
  Read more

• Hinkley Point C: should the £18bn nuclear power station be built?

  28-07-2016 15:45 via theguardian.com
  
  EDF’s decision to go ahead with UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation comes after years of debate about its pros and consThe French energy company EDF’s decision to go ahead with the construction of an £18bn nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset is nothing if not controversial.A debate has raged about the merits of the project for a decade, with the following some of the key arguments for and against. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Resignation of EDF director paves way for Hinkley Point go-ahead

  28-07-2016 15:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Gérard Magnin, who opposed construction of nuclear power plant, resigns before crucial board meetingAn EDF director opposed to the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant has resigned before a crucial board vote on the project, paving the way for the French company to approve it.Gérard Magnin said Hinkley Point was “very risky” in his resignation letter to EDF’s chief executive. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Cancer found in ancient human ancestor's foot

  28-07-2016 15:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The earliest evidence of cancer in the human fossil record has been discovered in South Africa, say researchers.
  
  Read more

• Oil and gas industry events 'polluting' Democratic convention, say activists

  28-07-2016 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmentalists say panels sponsored by the main fossil fuel lobby group undermine the party platform’s stance on energy and climate changeA series of events sponsored by the oil and gas industry are “polluting” the Democratic national convention with climate denialism and should be boycotted by leading Democrats, according to environmentalists.
  The American Petroleum Institute (API) has underwritten five events hosted in Philadelphia during the convention by media organizati
  
  Read more

• Flagging non-oil business dampens outlook for Gulf - Reuters poll

  28-07-2016 14:52
  By Andrew Torchia DUBAI (Reuters) - Economists have cut growth forecasts for most of the rich oil exporting countries of the Gulf as non-oil business activity slows because of government austerity measures, a quarterly Reuters poll found. Last year, growth in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council began to lose steam as governments reduced spending to limit big budget deficits caused by cheap oil. Median forecasts for gross domestic product growth this year have been cut for four of the six GCC
  
  Read more

• The 'human sensor' making Manchester's air pollution visible

  28-07-2016 14:38 via theguardian.com
  
  The hi-tech illuminated costumes worn by media artist Kasia Molga reveal changes in urban air pollution and bring together art and scienceHeads turn when media artist Kasia Molga and her performers walk the streets of Manchester. When they near buses belching diesel fumes, their futuristic capes and masks turn a bright red. Near a park they go green. Depending on the traffic pollution levels in the northern industrial city, their clothing pulses, flashes and changes colour from purple through to
  
  Read more

• Oil steadies just above three-month lows on oversupply

  28-07-2016 14:25
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied just above three-month lows on Thursday as producers continued to pump more than needed, filling inventories, and economic growth prospects darkened. Brent crude oil was unchanged at $43.47 a barrel by 1315 London time, after touching $42.88, its lowest since April 20. The build added to an already huge global refined product glut just as slowing economic growth dents the demand outlook.
  
  Read more

• PM wants positive outcome for science in Brexit talks

  28-07-2016 14:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Prime Minister has said that she wants to ensure a positive outcome for science in negotiations to leave the European Union.
  
  Read more

• One hour of physical activity per day could offset health risk of 8 hours of sitting

  28-07-2016 14:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study of over 1 million people finds that doing at least one hour of physical activity per day, such as brisk walking or cycling for pleasure, may eliminate the increased risk of death associated with sitting for 8h a day.Physical inactivity is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers and is associated with more than 5 million deaths per year and, as the first global economic analysis of physical inactivity shows, costs the world economy over US$67.5 billion
  
  Read more

• BP sticks with major arts sponsorship despite profits slump

  28-07-2016 13:53
  BP has agreed to renew five-year sponsorship deals with several British cultural institutions, including the British Museum, just days after reporting a 45 percent drop in profits. In May the British Museum was forced to temporarily close after Greenpeace activists climbed its facade, demonstrating against BP's sponsorship of a new exhibition about ancient Egypt, one of several protests at cultural events against its extraction of fossil fuels. The oil major said on Thursday it will pay around 7
  
  Read more

• Sadiq Khan's pollution pledges called into question with City Airport expansion approval

  28-07-2016 13:49
  
  The approval of planning permission for a £344m expansion of London City Airport has been described by green groups as a "terrible" and "reckless" decision for the capital, with Mayor Sadiq Khan accused of backtracking on his pollution policies.
  
  Read more

• Seven things you probably didn't know about Tesla's gigantic Gigafactory

  28-07-2016 13:39
  
  Out in the Nevada desert, business magnate Elon Musk has officially opened the doors to Tesla's $5bn (£3.8bn) Gigafactory, which will act as the foundation for a substantial growth in production for the firm's electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
  
  Read more

• Rare Pottery Workshop Discovered in Galilee

  28-07-2016 13:24
  
  An ancient potters' workshop dating back to Roman times has been discovered in Galilee, in northern Israel. The Israel Antiquities Authority announced that excavations in Shlomi, a town near the Lebanon border, have revealed a ceramic factory where storage jars and vessels for wine and oil would have been made 1,600 years ago. Archaeologists working at the site said this workshop is notable for its carefully constructed rock-cut kiln.
  
  Read more

• World's Deepest Blue Hole Is in South China Sea

  28-07-2016 13:19
  A new exploration of a legendary blue hole in the South China Sea has found that the underwater feature is the deepest known on Earth. According to Xinhua News, Dragon Hole, or Longdong, is 987 feet (300.89 meters) deep, far deeper than the previous record holder, Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas.
  
  Read more

• James Cameron calls Donald Trump a 'madman' over climate change denial

  28-07-2016 13:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Ahead of a screening of his new film on global warming at the DNC, director calls Trump’s dismissal of environmental science ‘reckless and dangerous’ James Cameron has called Donald Trump a “madman” and criticised the Republican presidential candidate over his denial of climate change, according to the Associated Press.The Avatar director, speaking ahead of the premiere of his new documentary short, Not Reality TV, at the Democratic national convention, said that Tr
  
  Read more

• Shell disappoints market as weak oil, BG deal costs hit profits

  28-07-2016 12:43
  By Karolin Schaps and Dmitry Zhdannikov LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has disappointed investors with a 72 percent fall in quarterly profit that it blamed on weak oil prices and costs related to its $54 billion (£41 billion) takeover of BG Group, showing how much strain it faces after the bumper deal. Shell missed analysts' estimates for second-quarter current cost of supplies - its definition of net income - by $1.1 billion mainly because they had expected a better performance at t
  
  Read more

• People run from floods in Nepal – video

  28-07-2016 12:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Amateur video shot on Tuesday shows floods in Butwal, a village in the the Rupandehi district of Nepal, after flash floods and landslides swept through villages, killing at least 58 people over two days. In Butwal, local residents run away as torrential floodwaters overflow the riverbank and break a flood defence wall Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Oil hits three-month lows below $43 as oversupply weighs

  28-07-2016 12:19
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to three-month lows on Thursday as producers continued to pump more than needed, filling inventories, and economic growth prospects darkened. Brent crude oil was down 50 cents at $42.97 a barrel by 1110 London time, after touching $42.88, its lowest since April 20. The build added to an already huge global refined product glut just as slowing economic growth dents the demand outlook.
  
  Read more

• Elephant killings in Africa 'stabilise' but threat continues

  28-07-2016 11:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The rapid growth in the illegal killing of African elephants seen since 2006 seems to have stabilised and may be decreasing.
  
  Read more

• Biodiversity greater inside Earth's protected areas, study finds

  28-07-2016 11:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists show for the first time that there are 15% more individual plants and animals and 11% more species inside terrestrial conservation zonesBiodiversity is greater inside the world’s protected areas, scientists have been able to show for the first time. There are 15% more individual plants and animals and 11% more species inside than outside protected areas, according to the largest analysis of biodiversity in terrestrial globally protected areas to date.Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• EDF set to give green light to Hinkley Point nuclear project

  28-07-2016 10:31 via theguardian.com
  
  French energy company widely expected to approve UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation at board meetingThe French energy company EDF is expected to give the go-ahead for an £18bn nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
  EDF’s board will meet in Paris on Thursday and is almost certain to approve the project – the UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Rhinoceros calf responds to his name – video

  28-07-2016 10:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Warren, a rhinoceros calf, responds to being called while on a walk with his carers at the Meyersdal Nature Estate in South Africa on Monday. Warren comes running back after being called by name and also accompanies some dogs on a trip around the sanctuary. The Meyersdal Nature Estate is run by Working with Rhinos, a charity dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating rhinoceros and indigenous wildlife from the area Watch the full video on Working with Rhinos’ YouTube channel
  Continue reading
  
  Read more

• Oil holds near three-month lows as oversupply weighs

  28-07-2016 10:04
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied just above three-month lows on Thursday as producers continued to pump more than needed, filling inventories, and economic growth prospects darkened. Brent crude oil was down 10 cents at $43.37 by 0750 GMT. The build added to an already huge global refined product glut just as slowing economic growth dents the demand outlook.
  
  Read more

• Weir CEO to step down; first-half pretax profit falls 25 percent

  28-07-2016 09:57
  (Reuters) - Pipe and valve maker Weir Group Plc said Chief Executive Keith Cochrane would step down, and reported a 25 percent fall in pretax profit as oil and gas companies cut spending to counter weak commodity prices. Shares in the company fell 2 percent to 1,493 pence at 0744 GMT on the London Stock Exchange, among the top losers on the FTSE Midcap index . Weir named Jon Stanton, the company's finance director, as chief executive designate, to succeed Cochrane from Oct. 1.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!