Environment news

• Energy shortages in 2018-19 without national reform, market operator warns

  08-03-2017 23:39
  
  Australian Energy Market Operator predicts shortfalls in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia ‘if we do nothing’The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned Australia is facing energy shortages if governments do not carry out national planning as exports continue to dominate the country’s gas supply. The AEMO report predicts New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia will be impacted from the summer of 2018-19 and warns the tightening of the domestic gas market
  
  Read more

• IU chemists create molecular 'leaf' that collects and stores solar power without solar panels

  08-03-2017 22:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  An international team of scientists led by Liang-shi Li at Indiana University has achieved a new milestone in the quest to recycle carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere into carbon-neutral fuels and others materials.The chemists have engineered a molecule that uses light or electricity to convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide -- a carbon-neutral fuel source -- more efficiently than any other method of "carbon reduction."
  
  Read more

• Gravitational waves pioneer Ronald Drever dies

  08-03-2017 21:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scottish physicist Ronald Drever, one of the architects behind the discovery of gravitational waves, has died at the age of 85.
  
  Read more

• Plants at the pump

  08-03-2017 20:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  That’s a choice drivers could make at the pump one day. But for algal biofuels to compete with petroleum, farming algae has to become less expensive. Toward that goal, Sandia National Laboratories is testing strains of algae for resistance to a host of predators and diseases, and learning to detect when an algae pond is about to crash.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 'Clean' coal won't be commercially viable before 2030, energy analysis says

  08-03-2017 20:14
  
  Renewables now the cheapest source of reliable power generation in Australia, RepuTex says“Clean” coal technologies won’t be commercially viable before 2030 without government subsidy and are fundamentally out of sync with the move towards more flexible power generation, according to the energy market analysis firm RepuTex.In a new analysis released on Thursday, RepuTex argues that the rising price of gas, coupled with the falling cost of energy storage, has now made renewable
  
  Read more

• Climate Institute to shut down, citing lack of funds for independent research

  08-03-2017 20:08
  
  Chairman says cost of inaction on climate change is clear and issue shouldn’t be used to fight ‘political and ideological battles’The Climate Institute will shut its doors after 12 years of providing independent advocacy and research towards climate change solutions, citing lack of funding.Australia’s first non-government organisation focused solely on climate change has a reputation for independence but its chairman, Mark Wootton, used its closure to take a parting shot
  
  Read more

• Scientists Develop Sponge to Soak Up Oil Spills

  08-03-2017 19:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois have created a new sponge-like material that can repeatedly soak up oil spills. The material, which can absorb up to 90 times its own weight in oil, could make it faster and easier to clean up offshore oil spills, the scientists said.
  
  Read more

• New insight into secret lives of Neanderthals

  08-03-2017 19:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Neanderthals dosed themselves with painkillers and possibly penicillin, according to a study of their teeth.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Neanderthals 'self-medicated' for pain

  08-03-2017 19:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Neanderthals dosed themselves with painkillers and possibly penicillin, according to a study of their teeth.
  
  Read more

• How to super-size your memory, according to science

  08-03-2017 19:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  You can super size your memory to make it more like the brain of a world memory champion, a scientific study suggests.
  
  Read more

• U.S. Is Polluting Less, So Why Is Our Air Smoggier Than Ever?

  08-03-2017 19:09 via feedproxy.google.com
  The United States has managed to reduce the amount of air pollution it produces, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at and breathing in the air. That’s because pollution created in Asia is gradually making its way across the Pacific Ocean to the western hemisphere.According to research published in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics journal, up to 65 percent of the newly created smog in the U.S. has actually drifted over from Asia. The country’s w
  
  Read more

• Police to visit UK zoos and wildlife parks after rhino killing in France

  08-03-2017 17:43
  
  Britain’s wildlife crime head says urgent security checks are needed to protect 111 rhinos in UK after attack near ParisPolice are visiting every zoo and wildlife park in the UK that houses rhinos to offer security advice after poachers shot dead a white rhinoceros and sawed off its horn at a French zoo.
  The head of Britain’s National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) said the French attack, the first of its kind in a European facility, was a wake-up call, and urgent security checks needed
  
  Read more

• Farmers sue World Bank lending arm over alleged violence in Honduras

  08-03-2017 15:28
  
  Complaint lodged with US federal court claims World Bank’s private sector lending arm is ‘knowingly profiting from the financing of murder’Peasants in Honduras have sued a branch of the World Bank over its financing of the corporation Dinant, which has vast palm oil plantations in Bajo Aguán valley in the country’s north. Lawyers for the farmers say they are seeking compensation for alleged attacks and killings, including actions by the company’s private sec
  
  Read more

• Climate change battles are increasingly being fought, and won, in court | Tessa Khan

  08-03-2017 15:05
  
  Around the world courts are stepping in when politicians fail to act, with South Africa’s government the latest to lose a groundbreaking climate lawsuit with judges ruling against its plans for a new coal-fired power stationThe South African government has lost the country’s first climate change lawsuit after the hight court ruled against its plans for a coal-fired power station, the latest in a rising tide of international climate litigation.Environmental NGO EarthLife Africa challe
  
  Read more

• Climate change battles are increasingly being fought, and won, in court | Tessa Kahn

  08-03-2017 15:05
  
  Around the world courts are stepping in when politicians fail to act, with South Africa’s government the latest to lose a groundbreaking climate lawsuit with judges ruling against its plans for a new coal-fired power stationThe South African government has lost the country’s first climate change lawsuit after the hight court ruled against its plans for a coal-fired power station, the latest in a rising tide of international climate litigation.Environmental NGO EarthLife Africa challe
  
  Read more

• Species appears to evolve quickly enough to endure city temperatures

  08-03-2017 15:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  The speed at which a tiny ant evolves to cope to its warming city environment suggests that some species may evolve quickly enough to survive, or even thrive, in the warmer temperatures found within cities, according to a new study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University.
  
  Read more

• Budget 2017: Robotics, driverless cars and 5G to get UK funds

  08-03-2017 15:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The chancellor promises £270m to put the UK at the forefront of ground-breaking technologies.
  
  Read more

• Budget 2017: The green business reaction

  08-03-2017 14:55
  
  Did Philip Hammond pull any big green surprises out of his little red box today? Or were key sustainability issues once again placed on the back-burner in the Chancellor's Spending Review? Here's the full industry reaction, as it comes in...
  
  Read more

• U.S. Desert Songbirds at Risk in a Warming Climate

  08-03-2017 14:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  Projected increases in the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves in the desert of the southwestern United States are putting songbirds at greater risk for death by dehydration and mass die-offs, according to a new study.
  
  Read more

• Budget 2017: Chancellor confirms electric vehicle funding, fails to answer key questions

  08-03-2017 14:15
  
  BREAKING: Key proposals on the future of carbon pricing, renewable energy subsidies and air quality remain on the UK Government's 'to-do' list as Chancellor Philip Hammond offered little for the green economy to get excited about in his 2017 Budget this afternoon.
  
  Read more

• Budget 2017: Chancellor confirms electric vehicle funding, announces new recycling targets

  08-03-2017 14:15
  
  BREAKING: Key proposals on the future of carbon pricing, renewable energy subsidies and air quality remain on the UK Government's 'to-do' list as Chancellor Philip Hammond offered relatively little for the green economy to get excited about in his 2017 Budget this afternoon.
  
  Read more

• Malta's Azure Window collapses into the sea

  08-03-2017 14:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The popular limestone arch was featured on the first episode of Game of Thrones and several films.
  
  Read more

• Budget 2017: Live updates for green business

  08-03-2017 12:55
  
  Will Philip Hammond pull any big green surprises out of his little red box today? Or will key sustainability issues once again be placed on the back-burner in the Chancellor's Spending Review? Follow edie's live blog to find out...
  
  Read more

• Invasive snakes threaten forests on Pacific island of Guam

  08-03-2017 11:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Brown tree snakes that have almost wiped out bird populations on Guam may also be damaging its tropical forests.
  
  Read more

• UK Green Building Council encourages firms to tackle embodied carbon

  08-03-2017 09:20
  
  The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has offered new guidance for construction and building firms on how to decarbonise their operations and supply chains further, through effective embodied carbon measurement.
  
  Read more

• Stop stalling on bike plans, Sadiq. Political timidity gets you nowhere

  08-03-2017 09:15
  
  Cycle schemes have stagnated for 10 months, writes the former cycling commissioner. Will new cycling delegate Will Norman get London up to speed?Under its first two mayors, London became important for the whole country as a leader in cycling. But Will Norman, Sadiq Khan’s new walking and cycling commissioner, starts work with the capital’s cyclists in a gloomy mood. Not just because of the deaths of three cyclists – and two pedestrians – in a single week last month, but b
  
  Read more

• Breaking barriers: Improving gender equality in the energy sector

  08-03-2017 09:15
  
  EXCLUSIVE: Britain's energy industry is not moving fast enough to drive gender equality at a board and executive level, and there remains a misconception that women do not have the skills or technical abilities to become energy managers.
  
  Read more

• Why the world needs zoos

  08-03-2017 09:00
  
  The ongoing extinction crises shows that zoos are needed - even for common speciesI have written before about the importance of zoos and the role they have to play in the world for conservation and education. They are in particularly important for endangered species – many animals are critically endangered in the wild and may go extinct there soon but are going strong in zoos. Many others are already extinct in the wild and only survive because of populations kept going in captivity. Even
  
  Read more

• SUEZ invests £250,000 into 'ground-breaking' MDF recycling technology

  08-03-2017 09:00
  
  SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK has invested £250,000 to support the development of a pioneering technology that recycles medium-density fibreboard (MDF).
  
  Read more

• Finance sector could face climate-risk testing, says Australian watchdog

  08-03-2017 08:39
  
  Regulator says it may add climate change to the list of scenarios it asks institutions to run to check economic resilienceAustralia’s financial institutions could be required to test climate-risk scenarios as international regulators continue to warn of the economic dangers posed by climate change.Geoff Summerhayes, executive board member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra), told a Senate committee that climate scenario testing could be added to the other common scenar
  
  Read more

• Hyundai unveils hydrogen vehicle concept with boosted driving range

  08-03-2017 08:20
  
  As the transition to low-emission transport drives ahead, South Korean motor company Hyundia has reaffirmed its commitment to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by unveiling a new concept car at the Geneva Motor Show.
  
  Read more

• Climate change impacts are already hitting us, say Europeans

  08-03-2017 08:20
  
  New polling study also shows support for financial penalties for nations that refuse to be part of Paris climate deal, as Donald Trump has threatenedThe citizens of four major European countries think the impacts of climate change such as severe floods and storms are already affecting them, according to a major new polling study.
  The research dispels the idea that global warming is widely seen as a future problem, and also shows strong support for action to tackle global warming, including subsi
  
  Read more

• Sainsbury's drops bid to halve household food waste

  08-03-2017 08:01
  
  Exclusive: Supermarket scales back programme as official statistics show average family throws away £700 of food each yearSupermarket giant Sainsbury’s has scaled back an ambitious target to get consumers to halve their household food waste after finding it was more difficult than expected to achieve behavioural change.Sainsbury’s launched its “Waste Less, Save More” programme in 2016 – a £10m five-year plan to help customers save money by reducing their
  
  Read more

• Sainsbury's ditches scheme aimed at halving household food waste

  08-03-2017 08:01
  
  Exclusive: Supermarket drops £10m five-year programme as official statistics show average family throws away £700 of food each yearSupermarket giant Sainsbury’s has dropped an ambitious target to get consumers to halve their household food waste after finding it was more difficult than expected to achieve behavioural change.Sainsbury’s launched its “Waste Less, Save More” programme in 2016 – a £10m five-year plan to help customers save money by red
  
  Read more

• E.ON price rise branded 'monstrous' as users face £97 a year extra

  08-03-2017 07:59
  
  Electricity and gas supplier blames increase, which affects 2.5 million people, on rising cost of government policiesAbout 2.5 million E.ON customers will pay an extra £97 a year on energy bills in what consumer groups have branded a “monstrous” and “crippling” blow for householders.The company’s 8.8% price rise for customers on a dual-fuel standard tariff from the end of next month is the second highest increase among several announced recently by rivals, inc
  
  Read more

• Going underground: inside the world of the mole-catchers

  08-03-2017 07:00
  
  A bitter battle is raging within the mole-catching community over the kindest way to carry out their deadly workRoger Page purchased his home in East Bilney, a Norfolk farming community, about 25 years ago. For the better part of those 25 years, he bore no ill will toward the moles. He was fond of wildlife, or at least what little of it remained in the country. A family of deer foraged in the backyard. Foxes lolled in the road at dusk. Moles were a rarity.Page worked as a commercial pilot and wh
  
  Read more

• Joking apart, the great tit is a born survivor

  08-03-2017 06:30
  
  Wenlock Edge Since the 1960s the great tit population has doubled. These dapper but tough birds are becoming a global powerGreat tits will take over the world. You see my problem already – it’s the name. Unless you can disassociate from the Carry On innuendo of “tit”, this bird is always going to be a joke. It supposedly gets its name from titmouse: in Old English, tit means small and “mouse” is a corruption of māse, a bird name of Germanic origins.
  There
  
  Read more

• Lighthouse city

  08-03-2017 01:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How Stockholm is getting smarter by going greener.
  
  Read more

• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 22 - #BeBoldForChange on International Women's Day

  08-03-2017 01:03
  
  To celebrate International Women's Day 2017 on Wednesday 8 March, we hear from a selection of inspiring women who are supporting the fight for equality in energy and sustainability.
  
  Read more

• Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 22 - 'Be bold For change' on International Women's Day

  08-03-2017 01:03
  
  To celebrate International Women's Day 2017 on Wednesday 8 March, we hear from a selection of inspiring women who are supporting the fight for equality in energy and sustainability.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!