Environment news

• Will the internet of things sacrifice or save the environment?

  11-12-2016 23:51
  
  Some devices will power themselves but the more complex will contribute to the world’s huge data storage energy bill The internet of things (IoT) – that ever-expanding ecosystem of digital sensors, home appliances and wearable smart devices – attracts its fair share of attention. Speculation is rife on how the 23bn-odd (and counting) “things” will improve quality of life, streamline business operations and ultimately fuel economic benefits to the tune of up to $11tn
  
  Read more

• Bare trees show their clean anatomy: Country diary 100 years ago

  11-12-2016 23:30
  
  Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 14 December 1916Passing through the Severn Tunnel one got a strange contrast in weather. On the Welsh side mist, clinging, cold, dreary; on the English side hoar frost over the grass, a blue sky and hot sun overhead. The trees are bare now and showing their clean anatomy. Never are they more lovely than when one can see every finest twig outlined with characteristic gesture against the sky. Elms especially show to advantage when bare; where they
  
  Read more

• Rick Perry could be Trump pick for energy, department he couldn't name

  11-12-2016 22:47
  
  Ex-Texas governor failed to name department in 2011 debate ‘oops’ momentAppointment would swell ranks of climate change deniers in Trump cabinetThe former Texas governor Rick Perry, who could not remember the name of the Department of Energy when listing those he would scrap as president, has emerged as a leading candidate to lead it under President-elect Donald Trump, a transition official said on Sunday. Related: Intelligence figures fear Trump reprisals over assessment of Russia e
  
  Read more

• Why logs are twice as dirty as diesel

  11-12-2016 22:30
  
  We think of wood burning as natural, but experiments show that wood smoke contains shocking levels of harmful particlesWalk round many suburbs on a winter’s night and your nose will tell you that wood burning is being used for home heating. A recent UK government survey found that 7.5% of UK homes now burn wood. The vast majority use it for supplementary heating or decoration. Wood burning is most popular in the south-east where it is used by around 16% of households and it is least popula
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Reduce EU quotas to stop overfishing | Letters

  11-12-2016 20:32
  
  This week EU fisheries ministers meet to decide the north-east Atlantic fishing quotas for 2017 at their annual December conference. Let’s hope our minister, George Eustice, does not repeat his performance of last year, when – in the face of a desperate need to end overfishing – he acquired for the UK a 2016 quota that exceeded scientific advice by more than any other EU country and proclaimed this as a good deal. Overfishing is “a good deal” only for the short-term
  
  Read more

• VW 'dieselgate' payout offer outrageously low, says Sadiq Khan

  11-12-2016 19:33
  
  London mayor urges government to take action, saying pledged settlement in emissions cheating scandal is far too low Sadiq Khan has called on the government to secure proper compensation from Volkswagen for the “dieselgate” scandal, saying the £1.1m pledged so far was outrageous. The London mayor said the settlement was far too low compared with the £12bn payout achieved by US authorities for VW’s use of sophisticated “defeat devices” to cheat emissions
  
  Read more

• Windfarm in Barnaby Joyce's NSW electorate gets $120m CEFC loan

  11-12-2016 18:00
  
  Clean Energy Finance Corporation loan comes three months after minister slammed SA’s over-reliance on wind powerThe Clean Energy Finance Corporation has made a multi-million dollar loan for a new windfarm in Barnaby Joyce’s electorate.It comes three months after Joyce slammed the South Australian government’s over-reliance on wind power, and linked SA’s damaging September blackout on the state’s lack of coal-fired baseload power. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• France to require 'clean stickers' on vehicles in high pollution areas

  11-12-2016 17:26
  
  Vehicles failing to display Crit’Air stickers will be banned from low-emission zones in Paris and other cities in bid to combat smogFrench motorists in high pollution areas will be required to display a “clean sticker” on their vehicle from January to combat pollution that has created a cloud of noxious smog in Paris and other cities.
  The six differently coloured Crit’Air (air criteria) stickers will be large enough for the police to see at a distance and will indicate th
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Saudi hits new oil output record in Nov amid OPEC cut talk

  11-12-2016 14:24
  By Rania El Gamal VIENNA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia pumped record-high amounts of oil in November, amid talks over a global deal to cut production, defying market expectations of lower output on slower domestic demand and refinery maintenance. The world's top oil exporter told the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries it pumped 10.72 million barrels per day last month, an OPEC source said, up from 10.625 million bpd in October. In July, the kingdom's production was 10.67 million bpd, t
  
  Read more

• Saudi hits new oil output record in November amid OPEC cut talk

  11-12-2016 13:08
  By Rania El Gamal VIENNA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia boosted its oil production to a new record high in November, amid talks over a global deal to cut production, defying market expectations of lower output on slower summer domestic demand and refinery maintenance. The world's top oil exporter told the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries it pumped 10.72 million barrels per day in November, an OPEC source said, an increase from 10.625 million bpd in October. In July, the kingdom's prod
  
  Read more

• Saudi Arabia, Iraq boost oil output in November: OPEC sources

  11-12-2016 12:41
  VIENNA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, told the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries it pumped 10.72 million barrels per day in November, an OPEC source said, an increase from 10.625 million bpd in October. Iraq said its official November output was at 4.8 million bpd, up from 4.776 million bpd in October. Gulf OPEC Kuwait reported output at 2.9 million bpd in November, lower than its 3 million bpd in October, while the United Arab Emirates kept its output virtua
  
  Read more

• Standing Rock 'water protectors' use break to help other indigenous causes

  11-12-2016 12:00
  
  Some protesters plan to lend solidarity to campaigns, including fight against meth addiction, a proposed telescope in Hawaii and other oil pipelinesFor months, Julie Richards has been planning for the battles that would come the moment that she was no longer needed at the Standing Rock encampments. When that day came, the 43-year-old Oglala Lakota woman knew that she needed to take the fight back home. “I have a crew ready to go back to my homeland, to set up a camp like this, and move aga
  
  Read more

• Sloths can swim

  11-12-2016 09:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A look back at the things we learned from David Attenborough's latest BBC One series Planet Earth II.
  
  Read more

• Cleaning up charcoal's dirty image in Kenya – in pictures

  11-12-2016 08:00
  
  Demand for charcoal in sub-Saharan Africa is surging. While foreign investors focus on renewables, domestic companies are findings ways to make it cleaner and more efficient. Photographs and words by Nathan SiegalContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• The ethical guide to the Anthropocene

  11-12-2016 07:00
  
  We humans have polluted our world into a new geological epochIf you’re feeling unsettled by the Brexit/Trump future, consider this: since the 1950s humans have ramped up the pressure on the planet to such an extent that we have very likely propelled ourselves into a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. Now that’s what geologists call change. The thing that freaks me out is that it’s rarely mentioned.To unwrap that: for the past 10,000 years or so, we have hung out com
  
  Read more

• Australia's changing landscape through Google timelapse – video

  11-12-2016 06:06
  
  Google’s timelapse project allows users to see how anywhere in the world has changed in the past 32 years using Landsat satellite images. These images of Australia show the extent of development around its largest cities, as well as the changes brought by projects such as the Cubbie Station cotton plantation in Queensland, the Fimiston goldmine in Western Australia and mining development in the New South Wales Hunter Valley. Google’s satellite timelapses show the inconvenient truth a
  
  Read more

• Critics ask if Tillerson can turn from corporate to national interest

  11-12-2016 05:47
  By Valerie Volcovici and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The central question facing Exxon Mobile Corp. chief executive Rex Tillerson if he becomes U.S. secretary of state is whether a life-long oil man with close ties to Russia can pivot from advancing corporate interests to serving the national interest. Tillerson, 64, got his start as a production engineer at Exxon in 1975 and has worked there ever since, running business units in Yemen, Thailand and Russia before being named chief exe
  
  Read more

• Mathias Cormann refuses to express confidence in Alan Finkel after climate criticism

  11-12-2016 03:38
  
  Minister says Direct Action review just ‘housekeeping’ after chief scientist casts doubt on ability to meet emissions targetMathias Cormann has refused to say if the Turnbull government still has confidence in Dr Alan Finkel after the chief scientist warned Australia would not meet its emissions reduction target under the Paris agreement with current federal policy settings.“Look at our track record,” Cormann told Sky News on Sunday. “People thought that we couldn&r
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!