Environment news

• Green power and water recycling: be switched on by switching off

  09-03-2018 22:20 via theguardian.com
  Each Australian uses an average of 100,000 litres of water a year, and our electricity use is extreme. Our series Life Swaps looks at ways to reduce the load Despite living on Earth’s driest populated continent, Australians throw around water as though the supply were endless. We are the planet’s greatest per capita consumers of water, with each person using an average 100,000 litres a year. Much of that is invisible to consumers, expended on the food and products we buy.Our electric
  
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• Alien atmospheres recreated on Earth

  09-03-2018 19:53 via bbc.co.uk
  Research shows that planets orbiting distant stars may be surprisingly colourful.
  
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• Sir John Sulston human genome pioneer dies

  09-03-2018 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Sir John Sulston, a key figure in the race to decode the human genome, has died at the age of 75.
  
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• UK defies EU over Indonesian palm oil trade, leaked papers show

  09-03-2018 18:27 via theguardian.com
  UK is pushing for a deal that would boost imports linked to deforestation despite EU moves to ban unsustainable palm oil, diplomatic papers reveal The UK is defying EU institutions to push for a hike in nominally “sustainable” Indonesian palm oil imports which have nonetheless been linked to deforestation, leaked documents show.The European parliament is currently trying to force a ban on EU biofuels using palm oil, which have driven deforestation and contributed to the loss of 150,0
  
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• Ministers question 'latte levy' on cups

  09-03-2018 15:09 via bbc.co.uk
  The government says it is better for coffee shops to offer discounts to those who bring their own cups.
  
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• Tories have cost households £1,000 in energy bills, says Labour

  09-03-2018 13:52 via theguardian.com
  Labour says Conservative government should have intervened earlierLabour has accused the Conservatives of costing British households nearly £1,000 in extra energy costs over the past seven years by failing to stop electricity and gas firms raising prices.While the government is now imposing an energy price cap, the opposition attacked what it said was a record of inaction by successive Tory governments. Continue reading...
  
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• Greater Manchester launches £15m infrastructure renewables fund

  09-03-2018 13:42
  The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has created a new £15m loan fund for property developers and infrastructure providers to increase uptake of renewable energy use on development projects.
  
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• Lidl UK exploring deposit return scheme as part of plastic waste commitment

  09-03-2018 12:52
  Lidl UK has today (9 March) unveiled a package of new commitments to reduce plastic waste, including plans to remove all single-use plastic bags, reduce the quantity of plastic packaging by one-fifth and consider a deposit return scheme for plastic containers.
  
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• Trump official under fire after granting broad access to mining and oil firms

  09-03-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: extractive industry companies who met with Kathleen Benedetto later saw direct benefits from administration decisionsA key Trump administration official scheduled roughly twice as many meetings with mining and fossil-fuel representatives as with environmental groups, public records requests have revealed. Further investigation shows that some of the firms she met with later benefited directly from administration decisions that weakened wilderness and wildlife protections.Continue read
  
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• Mondi Group sets science-based targets through WWF's Climate Savers

  09-03-2018 11:59
  Global packaging firm Mondi Group has set new science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions across the company's operations and indirect activities, after signing up to the WWF's Climate Savers initiative for low-carbon business aspirations.
  
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• There’s hope for our blue planet, despite what you see on the news | Fiona Gell

  09-03-2018 11:00 via theguardian.com
  After the mass die-off of starfish, it’s easy to despair. But conservation success stories show what ordinary people can doI recently helped to organise an environmental meeting and found myself checking our video link by calling home. Beamed on to the screen was my four-year-old son, hair sticking out and school jumper on back to front. As we checked the sound, I asked him what message he would like to send. Without hesitation he said: “Why do people have to throw rubbish in the sea
  
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• 'Warm words, no action': Government rejects 25p 'latte levy' proposal

  09-03-2018 10:45
  MPs have criticised the Government's refusal to introduce a 25p levy on all disposable cups, with ministers accused of providing "warm words but no real action".
  
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• European Union unveils green investment action plan

  09-03-2018 10:24
  The European Commission unveiled on Thursday (8 March) its highly expected action plan on sustainable finance, aiming to clarify what can be labelled as "green" investment and potentially lowering capital requirements on asset holders.
  
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• UN moves towards recognising human right to a healthy environment

  09-03-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Formal recognition would help protect those who increasingly risk their lives to defend the land, water, forests and wildlife, says the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environmentIt is time for the United Nations to formally recognise the right to a healthy environment, according to the world body’s chief investigator of murders, beatings and intimidation of environmental defenders.John Knox, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, said the momentum for
  
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• Bike safety consultation shows someone in government might understand cycling

  09-03-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Amid plans for an unnecessary law change targeting cyclists, a parallel government consultation on safety makes some unexpectedly sensible pointsFor those interested in the many benefits that come from getting more people cycling, there’s some bad news and good news today – and in another minor compensation, at least the bad news was widely expected.This is the confirmation from the Department for Transport (DfT) that, as widely trailed at the weekend, a review it commissioned has re
  
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• Tories lambasted for rejecting 'latte levy' on takeaway cups

  09-03-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Government accused of warm words but no action on reducing throwaway packaging wasteThe government has rejected calls for a “latte levy” to be introduced on takeaway cups to reduce the amount of waste they create.Mary Creagh, the chair of the environmental audit committee, accused ministers of being all talk and no action after they refused to adopt a charge on throwaway cups similar to the plastic bag levy. Continue reading...
  
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• Tories lambasted for rejecting 'latte levy' on takeaway coffee cups

  09-03-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Government accused of frothy talk on reducing throwaway packaging wasteMinisters have rejected calls for a “latte levy” on takeaway coffee cups to reduce the amount of waste they create.Mary Creagh, the chair of the environmental audit committee, accused the government of talking warm words but taking no action after ministers refused to adopt a charge on throwaway coffee cups similar to the plastic bag levy. Continue reading...
  
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• Scientists seek public's help to map plastic on UK beaches

  09-03-2018 07:01 via theguardian.com
  Project hopes to get more than 250,000 drone images tagged to record type and extent of plastic pollutionFood wrappers, fishing nets, bottles, straws and carrier bags are among the top 10 plastic items littering British beaches, according to new research. Related: Is there life after plastic? The new inventions promising a cleaner worldContinue reading...
  
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• Country diary: it feels like the trees could start lumbering forwards

  09-03-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Hulne Park, Alnwick, Northumberland The dawn redwood is unchanged since the Cretaceous era. No wonder they have a Lord of the Rings qualityContorted and deeply furrowed, the flared bole of this tree has a Lord of the Rings quality. I almost expect it to start moving and lumber towards me like an Ent. Beneath the point where each branch leaves the trunk there are shadowy elbow-deep clefts. Its muscular ridges are a rich burnt orange, and ripple down to the ground like anchoring roots, making the
  
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• Nuclear fusion on brink of being realised, say MIT scientists

  09-03-2018 06:01 via theguardian.com
  Carbon-free fusion power could be ‘on the grid in 15 years’The dream of nuclear fusion is on the brink of being realised, according to a major new US initiative that says it will put fusion power on the grid within 15 years.The project, a collaboration between scientists at MIT and a private company, will take a radically different approach to other efforts to transform fusion from an expensive science experiment into a viable commercial energy source. The team intend to use a new cl
  
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• X-ray probe to save Mary Rose cannonballs

  09-03-2018 03:54 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers are using powerful X-rays to look inside cannonballs found on the famous Tudor ship, the Mary Rose.
  
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• Town where nobody's home: Fukushima communities struggling to survive

  09-03-2018 02:59 via theguardian.com
  Seven years after the nuclear disaster, 50,000 people have yet to return to their homes, but the dream of going back enduresOkuma, on Japan’s east coast, used to host a busy community of 10,500 people. But today the houses stand empty.The town is empty because it is one of the closest to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and – seven years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a triple meltdown – it remains under evacuation orders with decontamination still n
  
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• Five ways to break up with plastic

  09-03-2018 01:57 via bbc.co.uk
  From boar hair toothbrushes to beeswax food wrap, here's how you can dump the disposable plastics.
  
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• Air-cleaning moss tyres to blockchain: best green innovations of the car industry

  09-03-2018 01:01
  Car manufacturers continue to look to the horizon to deliver solutions that can integrate into future cities and energy systems. With a focus on the Geneva Motor Show, edie rounds-up the latest announcements making waves through the transport and energy sectors.
  
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