Environment news

• Virgin Galactic spaceship completes test flight

  06-04-2018 18:31 via bbc.co.uk
  The supersonic test flight of its SpaceShipTwo rocket ship was the first since a crash in 2014.
  
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• Mark Carney warns of climate change threat to financial system

  06-04-2018 17:46
  Bank of England governor says firms must acknowledge risks to avoid ‘catastrophic impact’The governor of the Bank of England has warned of the “catastrophic impact” climate change could have for the financial system unless firms do more to disclose their vulnerabilities. Telling banks and insurers they would need to provide more information about the risks they might face from climate change, Mark Carney said failure to do so would have damaging effects for financial stab
  
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• Fight the power of the frackers by changing energy supplier | Letters

  06-04-2018 17:37
  Howard Hardman suggests dumping the big six to stop the drilling; Austen Lynch says Lancashire’s fracking wells won’t provide much of an energy dividend; Neil Anderson on France’s tidal power station successThe news from Lancashire (Fracking firm Cuadrilla finishes drilling UK’s first horizontal well, 4 April) came as a disappointment, particularly in the wake of the Observer business leader that suggested fracking companies were running into difficulties in the UK (
  
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• Report: zero emissions target needed to push UK beyond Paris Agreement

  06-04-2018 17:02
  The government should publish a target by 2020 for achieving "net zero" emissions, according to a new report.
  
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• Deadly oil spill devastates Borneo port city – in pictures

  06-04-2018 16:35
  The Indonesian port city of Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo, has declared a state of emergency after an oil spill spread along the coast, killing several people when it ignited. The leak, caused by a burst undersea pipe belonging to the state oil company Pertamina, has spread at least 16 miles (26km) and coated large swaths of the coast in thick black sludge Continue reading...
  
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• Pee and pesticides: Thoreau's Walden Pond in trouble, warn scientists

  06-04-2018 14:17
  Immortalised for its beauty by Henry David Thoreau, the Massachusetts pond is under threat from increased human activity and climate change according to a new studyThe water of Walden Pond, which Henry David Thoreau described in 1854 as “so transparent that the bottom can easily be discerned at the depth of 25 or 30 feet”, is no longer quite so clear according to a new study.The Massachusetts pond was made famous in Walden, the transcendentalist writer’s account of the years he
  
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• 'We know we may be killed': the rangers risking their lives for Virunga's gorillas

  06-04-2018 14:00
  The huge national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most dangerous conservation projects in the world. But thanks to the efforts of a committed force of rangers, populations of endangered species are recovering and locals say the park offers hope for the whole regionIt is dawn on the shores of Lake Edward and the sun is rising over the volcanoes on the eastern skyline. Mist lies over the still water. In the forest there are elephant, hippopotamus and buffalo. Guarding them a
  
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• Construction sector sustainability: edie launches latest sector insight report

  06-04-2018 12:05
  The key drivers, challenges and opportunities facing sustainable business in the UK construction sector are revealed in edie's latest sector insight report, published this week.
  
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• Barclays offers green homes mortgage on select new builds

  06-04-2018 12:05
  Barclays has launched a Green Home Mortgage scheme, offering homebuyers preferential interest rates and savings of more than £1,300 on energy-efficient new build houses.
  
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• Top 10 sustainability stories of March 2018

  06-04-2018 11:17
  It was a month of plastic take back schemes, big Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitments and high-profile business innovations. Take a look back at March's biggest sustainability stories in this round-up.
  
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• AGL chief determined to turn Liddell into renewables hub

  06-04-2018 09:09
  Andy Vesey says plant remains an extremely valuable piece of AGL’s portfolio until its closureThe AGL chief executive, Andy Vesey, says he plans to “fully execute” his vision of transforming the Liddell coal-fired power station into a renewables hub, saying it will bring cheaper, greener and more reliable energy, while providing quality, long-term jobs for decades. Vesey left little doubt about his desired future for the plant during a speech on energy policy on Friday, again d
  
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• The cycling club helping homeless women regain independence

  06-04-2018 08:15
  Two Sustrans staff members explain how offering residents of a women’s hostel the freedom of cycling is helping to improve their mental wellbeing
  A cycling session at Queen Mary homeless women’s hostel in London starts with some reflection in the tea room. Eleven women discuss how they’re doing this week, how the cycling went for them last week and what they’re hoping to build on in today’s session. Then they push their bikes to a local basketball court to practise
  
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• The life and death of Homaro Cantu, the genius chef who wanted to change the world

  06-04-2018 06:59
  How a homeless child grew up to become the most inventive chef in history. By Kieran MorrisBetween 2004 and 2016, the most inventive food on the planet, possibly in history, came out of a small restaurant in downtown Chicago. At Moto, your first course was your menu itself, which was typically printed in edible ink on a giant tortilla chip. When you finished your menu, you would be handed what looked like a Polaroid of a maki roll. The photograph was made of rice paper and coated in a dust of no
  
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• Country diary: treasures that were once beneath the Cambrian sea

  06-04-2018 06:30
  Assynt, Sutherland, Highlands: The stromatolite fossils lie on the Eilean Dubh Formation, a geologic stratum often marked by coral and shell fossilsAs I climb up from the green-brown valley near Inchnadamph, the early spring countryside changes character. Snow patches appear and soon become abundant, then all seems white as the mountains’ snow-blanketed slopes merge into silver-grey clouds. On this blustery day, when sleet and rain slash across the landscape and wind snatches at all things
  
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• BP plan to drill in Great Australian Bight risked 750km oil spill, documents show

  06-04-2018 06:30
  Under company modelling major spill would pollute beaches and could disrupt southern right whale migrationUp to 750km of coastline was put at risk of contamination from possible oil spill by BP’s plan to drill in the Great Australian Bight, newly released documents show.Government documents released under freedom of information laws show a major oil spill in the sensitive seascape would pollute up to 750km of beaches and shoreline, according to BP’s own modelling. The company also th
  
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• Birdpocalypse? Thousands of corellas cause havoc after swooping on Adelaide

  06-04-2018 05:43
  Drones and fireworks deployed to disperse flocks that are stripping trees and annoying residents with squawking and droppingsThey come at dawn and dusk.At first they arrive by the tens, then the hundreds, some sticking to the treeline, others mustering on the oval. Continue reading...
  
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• The pest controller of Kandahar

  06-04-2018 05:33 via bbc.co.uk
  It's not just spiders, scorpions and snakes for the man in charge of pest control at Kandahar air base.
  
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• Reef umbrellas and 'unforgettable' bags: the best green innovations of the week

  06-04-2018 02:01
  A number of eye-catching and potentially transformational innovations have emerged that could help businesses and nations deliver on resource efficiency, low-carbon transitions and combat climate change. Here, edie rounds-up six of the best.
  
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