Environment news

• Replacing Liddell coal plant with clean energy $1.3bn cheaper – analysis

  19-11-2017 23:53 via theguardian.com
  A clean energy package will have a zero pollution outcome compared with 40m tonnes under Coalition’s plan to extend the NSW plant, UTS modelling reveals• Renewables could reliably contribute 50% to power grid, Finkel report finds
  Replacing the Liddell coal power station with clean energy technologies would slash pollution and be at least $1.3bn cheaper than the Turnbull government’s plan to extend the life of the New South Wales plant by five years, a new analysis has found.A se
  
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• Country diary: the wood pigeons are on the move

  19-11-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  Airedale, West Yorkshire A lone wood pigeon in a tree may look portly rather than predatory, but in the air even other birds can mistake it for a hawkA grey silhouette against a linen-white November sky: pointed wings, thick torso, purposeful flight. My first instinct says hawk – maybe a peregrine, even (I saw one over the river, among the Victorian chimneys of the Lower Aire, earlier in the week). But then mind and eye resolve the image and I see the bird for what it is: a wood pigeon, so
  
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• Birdwatch: the robin is one of our most familiar birds – yet it can still surprise us

  19-11-2017 22:30 via theguardian.com
  Robins are the UK’s favourite bird and feature in our folklore, but their fascinating lives have plenty of secretsOn a misty November morning, my Somerset garden is unusually quiet. Apart, that is, for the song of one of our commonest and most familiar birds: the robin. It’s a sound I am used to hearing, for unlike virtually every other British bird, robins hold territory and sing more or less all year round. That’s not the only surprising thing about the robin. Common and fami
  
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• Solving the plastics problem: Circular economy experts join edie for sustainable packaging webinar

  19-11-2017 22:18
  Representatives from Interface, P&G, Surfdome and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation complete an all-star line-up for edie's live, interactive webinar focused on plastic packaging sustainability - taking place on Thursday 7 December.
  
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• Solving the plastics problem: Circular economy experts join edie for live sustainable packaging webinar

  19-11-2017 22:18
  Representatives from Interface, P&G, Surfdome and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation complete an all-star line-up for edie's live, interactive webinar focused on plastic packaging sustainability - taking place on Thursday 7 December.
  
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• Destructive Arundel bypass route would be a national scandal

  19-11-2017 20:09 via theguardian.com
  Emma Tristram says the legislation to protect ancient woodland may have the perverse effect of causing the most damaging option to be chosenThank you to Patrick Barkham for highlighting the destructive insanity of the Arundel bypass scheme (The road to rural oblivion, 14 November). He mentions ancient woodland and says it needs legal protection. Actually ancient woodland (ie, wooded since 1600) already has legal protection, and “compensation planting” is required &ndas
  
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• Renewables could reliably contribute 50% to power grid, says Finkel report

  19-11-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Chief scientist-commissioned report warns Australia risks missing global growth industry of energy storage because of ongoing policy uncertainty Australia’s power grid can reach penetrations of 50% renewable energy without a significant requirement for storage to support reliability, according to a new report commissioned by Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel.
  While the Turnbull government has made much of the need for storage to increase security and reliability in the nationa
  
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• Renewables could reliably contribute 50% to power grid, says Alan Finkel

  19-11-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Chief scientist warns in new report that Australia risks missing out on global growth industry of energy storage because of ongoing policy uncertainty Australia’s power grid can reach penetrations of 50% renewable energy without a significant requirement for storage to support reliability, according to a new report commissioned by Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel.
  While the Turnbull government has made much of the need for storage to increase security and reliability in the n
  
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• UK trade minister lobbied Brazil on behalf of oil giants

  19-11-2017 17:38 via theguardian.com
  A telegram obtained by Greenpeace shows that Greg Hands met a Brazilian minister to discuss relaxation of tax and environmental regulationBritain successfully lobbied Brazil on behalf of BP and Shell to address the oil giants’ concerns over Brazilian taxation, environmental regulation and rules on using local firms, government documents reveal.The UK’s trade minister travelled to Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and São Paulo in March for a visit with a “heavy focus”
  
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• As Norway sells out of oil, suddenly fossil fuels are starting to look risky

  19-11-2017 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Experts are not predicting the end of drilling quite yet: but the decision in Oslo has sharpened the debate over the future profitability of the industryDespite the rise of electric cars and stronger action on climate change, it’s still too early to write the obituary of oil. That was the verdict last week of one of the world’s leading energy experts, economist Dr Fatih Birol.The International Energy Agency, which he leads, is expecting growth in appetite for oil to slow over the nex
  
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• 'My eyes are burning': Delhi holds half marathon despite pollution warning

  19-11-2017 07:25 via theguardian.com
  Around 35,000 brave runners registered for the race after more than a week of hazardous pollution levels Tens of thousands of runners have braved smoggy conditions for the Delhi half marathon despite dire health warnings from doctors who wanted the race postponed in the heavily-polluted capital.
  Around 35,000 people registered for the race in the Indian city after more than a week of hazardous pollution levels that forced schools to shut for several days.Continue reading...
  
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• The eco guide to the cod bounceback

  19-11-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  It was great news for fish and chips fans when North Sea cod was certified sustainable. Steady on though, there are still things to worry about at seaHere’s a food truth: most Britons are happy to say “cod and chips, please” without even thinking about the sustainability impact of our favourite Friday night supper. Our love of white flaky fish has been a nightmare for fish campaigners. North Sea cod stocks plummeted from 270,000 tonnes in the 1970s to 44,000 tonnes in the early
  
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• Bosnia's silent killer: The coal industry

  19-11-2017 01:17 via bbc.co.uk
  The Balkan country has the world's second highest death rate caused by air pollution.
  
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• Floods: How can you save your life when disaster strikes?

  19-11-2017 01:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Floods have been a deadly staple of 2017. But how can you protect yourself against the natural disaster?
  
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• ‘Eight, nine, ten …’ Why people are counting sheep in Cheddar Gorge

  19-11-2017 01:04 via theguardian.com
  The audit of a feral flock at the Somerset beauty spot is significantThere is a shaggy creation myth surrounding the feral sheep of Cheddar Gorge in Somerset. The story goes that during a poker game in the village in 1992 one of the gamblers, running out of money, put his seven sheep up as his stake. He lost, so the winner took the animals home and put them in his garden. The next morning the winner’s wife looked out of her window to see the new arrivals eating the garden ... and the sheep
  
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