Environment news

• Scott Morrison and the budget just got lucky with the price of coal

  15-10-2016 23:04 via theguardian.com
  
  The treasurer said it was China, rather than then treasurer Wayne Swan, who saved Australia from the global financial crisis. Who will he credit this time?The old adage in sport is that it’s better to be lucky than good, and it applies as well to being a treasurer. Regardless of whether or not you consider Peter Costello a good treasurer, he sure as heck was a lot luckier than those who followed him. But now Scott Morrison may himself be about to get lucky.Once the mining boom of the early
  
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• Shark conservationists fear backlash after viral cage-smashing video

  15-10-2016 22:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Experts emphasize that the incident, in which a great white broke through a cage holding a diver, was a ‘one in a million occurrence’Shark enthusiasts are concerned about the impact of a viral video that showed a great white shark breaking into a cage occupied by a diver in Mexico. The diver survived, but the harrowing video shed light on a decades-old tourism industry that allows people to be within an arm’s length of great white sharks, separated only by the sea and some meta
  
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• Kigali deal on HFCs is big step in fighting climate change

  15-10-2016 21:53 via theguardian.com
  
  The deal done in Rwanda on Saturday will cut greenhouse gases. We assess its global significanceThey went to Kigali to eliminate hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and take 0.5C out of future global warming, and the 170 countries that successfully negotiated an amendment to the Montreal protocol treaty agreed to get rid of 90% of them. Not bad for four days and three long nights of hard work.The Kigali deal on HFCs is in fact fiendishly complicated and has taken years to negotiate in various technical an
  
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• Attackers set NNPC crude pipeline on fire in Niger Delta - Nigerian army

  15-10-2016 17:52
  YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Unknown attackers have set a crude pipeline in Nigeria's Niger Delta on fire, a military spokesman said on Saturday. A militant group had earlier said it had attacked the pipeline, which is run by the state oil firm NNPC and a local firm, Shoreline, near Ughelli on Friday night. (Reporting by Tife Owolabi; writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
  
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• Rosneft-Essar deal not subject to sanctions - Russia's VTB head

  15-10-2016 17:38
  A deal in which a group led by Russian oil major Rosneft will acquire India's Essar Oil has been specially structured to avoid falling foul of Western sanctions, Andrey Kostin, head of Russian lender VTB , told Reuters on Saturday. India's debt-laden Essar Group confirmed on Saturday it had agreed to sell a 98 percent interest in its Essar Oil unit to the consortium led by Rosneft, giving the Russian energy giant a gateway into the world's fastest-growing fuel market. VTB acted as Essar's advise
  
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• Greenhouse gases deal will make little difference to west

  15-10-2016 17:14 via theguardian.com
  
  HFCs deal is vital for reducing emissions but poorer countries rely on old coolant technologies and will now have to upgradeThey went to Kigali to eliminate hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and take 0.5C out of future global warming, and the 170 countries who successfully negotiated an amendment to the Montreal Protocol agreed to get rid of 90% of them. Job done. Not bad for four days and three long nights’ work.In fact the Kigali deal on HFCs, announced on Saturday morning, is fiendishly complic
  
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• Russia's Rosneft says it will use Venezuelan crude to supply Vadinar refinery

  15-10-2016 16:15
  Russian oil major Rosneft said on Saturday it would use Venezuelan crude to supply India's Vadinar refinery after acquiring the plant from Essar Oil. "The most commercially viable sources will be used to supply refinery grade oil ... which can be supplied from Rosneft resources (in particular, Venezuela) or, if necessary, from third parties," Rosneft said in a statement. India's debt-laden Essar Group confirmed on Saturday that it has agreed to sell a 98 percent interest in its Essar Oil unit to
  
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• India's Essar agrees to sell oil arm to Rosneft-led group

  15-10-2016 16:06
  By Douglas Busvine and Denis Pinchuk GOA, India (Reuters) - India's debt-laden Essar Group confirmed on Saturday that it has agreed to sell a 98 percent interest in its Essar Oil unit to a consortium led by Russia's Rosneft , giving the energy giant a gateway into the world's fastest growing fuel market. The deal will see Rosneft, along with its partners Trafigura and United Capital Partners (UCP), pay $10.9 billion (8.77 billion pounds) for Essar's refining and retail assets. It will give Rosne
  
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• Poland's Enigma mathematicians honoured

  15-10-2016 15:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Polish mathematicians who laid the groundwork for cracking the WW2 Nazi Enigma code, are being honoured at the country's embassy in London.
  
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• Global climate deal to limit use of greenhouse gases reached – video

  15-10-2016 13:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Delegates celebrate a global deal to limit the use of hydrofluorocarbon gases, in a major effort to combat climate change. The agreement was reached at a climate conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Saturday morning. US secretary of state John Kerry hails it a ‘monumental step forward’Climate change: global deal reached to limit use of hydrofluorocarbonsContinue reading...
  
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• Climate change: 'Monumental' deal to cut HFCs, fastest growing greenhouse gases

  15-10-2016 13:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Countries meeting in Rwanda have agreed a "monumental" deal to phase out gases used in fridges that are worsening global warming.
  
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• India and Russia sign energy, defence deals worth billions

  15-10-2016 13:23
  By Douglas Busvine and Denis Pinchuk GOA, India (Reuters) - India and Russia signed billions of dollars of defence and energy deals on Saturday at a summit that sought to inject new life into a relationship that has been tested by shifting global alliances and conflict in the Middle East. Under the biggest agreement, a group led by Russian state oil major Rosneft said it would pay $12.9 billion for a controlling stake in both India's Essar Oil and port facilities that it owns. The countries, whi
  
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• John Goodenough, whose work led to the lithium-ion battery

  15-10-2016 13:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Professor John Goodenough, whose work led to the lithium-ion battery, on the Samsung problems.
  
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• Energy subsidies should focus on storage and cutting demand, MPs say

  15-10-2016 12:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Subsidies to reduce the risk of blackouts must focus on innovative schemes for energy storage and cutting demand rather than "dirty diesel", MPs urge.
  
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• Russia's Rosneft, partners to invest around $12.9 billion in India's Essar Oil: CEO

  15-10-2016 12:11
  GOA, India (Reuters) - A group led by Russian oil major Rosneft will invest around $12.9 billion (10.37 billion pounds)in India's Essar Oil , Chief Executive Igor Sechin told reporters on Saturday. Sechin said a refinery and port owned by the Indian firm were worth around $10 billion and $2.9 billion respectively. India and Russia signed a deal on Saturday to pave the way for a group led by Rosneft to acquire Essar. Officials from Russian lender VTB , which is giving Essar $3.9 billion in credit
  
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• India, Russia in deal paving way for Rosneft-led group to acquire Essar Oil

  15-10-2016 10:50
  GOA, India (Reuters) - India and Russia on Saturday signed a deal to pave the way for a group led by Russian oil major Rosneft to acquire India's Essar Oil. The group will acquire Essar Oil in a deal worth $12 billion to $13 billion, including debt, two sources privy to the deal told Reuters. Russian lender VTB will give Essar $3.9 billion in credit for debt reconstruction, VTB Chief Executive Andrei Kostin said on Saturday. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Writing by Euan Rocha; Editing by Claren
  
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• Russia's VTB to open $3.9 billion credit line for India's Essar Oil - CEO

  15-10-2016 10:49
  GOA, India (Reuters) - Russian lender VTB will give India's Essar Oil $3.9 billion in credit for debt reconstruction, VTB Chief Executive Andrei Kostin said on Saturday. A group led by Russian oil major Rosneft will acquire India's Essar Oil in a $12 to $13 billion deal including debt, two sources privy to the deal told Reuters. Essar is expected to announce the deal on Saturday in the coastal resort of Goa during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will meet Indian Prime Minister N
  
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• Floods destroy meagre crops in Ethiopia's lush highlands – in pictures

  15-10-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The worst drought for decades in Ethiopia’s northern highlands has ended, but unusually heavy downpours threaten to ruin crops and exacerbate food insecurity as flash flooding turns roads to rivers and swamps fieldsPhotographs by James Whitlow Delano/USAidContinue reading...
  
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• Brazil's dam disaster one year on – in pictures

  15-10-2016 09:14 via theguardian.com
  
  One year on from collapse of the Samarco dam, which killed 19 people and polluted one of the country’s most important rivers, and communities are still suffering
  Samarco dam collapse: one year on from Brazil’s worst environmental disaster
  Continue reading...
  
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• Samarco dam collapse: one year on from Brazil's worst environmental disaster

  15-10-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The mining dam collapse killed 19 people, polluted a river and devastated livelihoods. A year on, there’s controversy over the cleanup and level of damages
  Brazil’s dam disaster one year on – in pictures
  Nearly one year on from the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history, the Gualaxo do Norte river in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais still runs iron-ore red.At 3.45pm on 5 November 2015 a huge tailings dam operated by Brazilian mining company Samarco collapsed a
  
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• Climate change: global deal reached to limit use of hydrofluorocarbons

  15-10-2016 08:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Global deal on HFCs – greenhouse gases far more powerful than carbon dioxide – seen as ‘largest temperature reduction ever achieved by single agreement’A worldwide deal has been reached to limit the use of greenhouse gases far more powerful than carbon dioxide in a major effort to fight climate change.The talks on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, have been called the first test of global will since the historic Paris Agreement to cut carbon emissions was reached last year. HF
  
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• British households fail to recycle a 'staggering' 16m plastic bottles a day

  15-10-2016 08:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Almost half of all plastic bottles used in the home end up in landfill sites, research shows, with huge impacts on marine life
  British households are failing to recycle as many as 16m plastic bottles every day – a “staggering” number and nearly half the total of more than 35m which are used and discarded daily – according to new research. Continue reading...
  
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• Humpback whale calf freed after getting trapped at Australian beach – video

  15-10-2016 07:29 via theguardian.com
  
  A juvenile whale calf has been cut free after becoming entangled in a shark net at Coolangatta Beach in Queensland, Australia. Conditions were calm, and so was the calf’s mother, which helped to speed up the rescue. Continue reading...
  
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• Energy storage vital to keep UK lights on, say MPs

  15-10-2016 07:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Committee urges investment in batteries and smart demand technologies to ensure energy supply as old coal and nuclear power stations closeLarge-scale batteries to store energy and devices that switch themselves off are likely to be key technologies for keeping the UK’s lights on while shutting down old coal and nuclear plants, an influential committee of MPs has said.The threat of blackouts has receded for this winter after scares earlier in the year, National Grid said on Friday, citing a
  
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• No shortage of birds as the chilly months approach

  15-10-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Rogerstown, County Dublin Brent geese are here, and black-tailed godwit have begun arriving from their breeding grounds in IcelandOn a bright morning we are sitting with volunteer warden Aileen in a bird hide a little north of Dublin. We have come to watch the first of the avian migrants for whom the south bank of the Rogerstown estuary is a favoured wintering spot. It clearly isn’t the best time to be here, as feathered visitors are so far in short supply. Perhaps the house martins swoopi
  
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• Final call: MPs urge UK to 'get a move on' with energy storage and demand response

  15-10-2016 02:01
  
  In its last report before being disbanded, the Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECC) has urged the UK Government to incentivise innovative energy storage and demand response technologies that could provide a clean, flexible and secure energy system fit for the future.
  
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• Airport expansion: the experts' view

  15-10-2016 01:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Guardian writers examine the pros and cons of extra runways at Heathrow and Gatwick from three different perspectives
  Heathrow airport is full to bursting. The same will soon be true of Gatwick. There has been no full-length runway built in the south-east since the 1940s. The UK’s attempts to break into the big and fast-growing markets of the emerging world such as India and China will be thwarted unless it follows the lead of other European countries and upgrades its aviation infrastructu
  
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• Britain should back large-scale energy storage - parliamentary committee

  15-10-2016 01:16
  (Reuters) - Britain should support large-scale electricity storage schemes to help make intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power available around the clock, a parliamentary committee report said on Saturday. "Energy storage is vital in building a clean electricity system ... It will mean we won't have to wait for the sun to shine or the wind to blow to get our energy from renewables," said Angus MacNeil, chair of the cross-party Energy and Climate Change Committee. The
  
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