Environment news

• UK energy plant to use liquid air

  06-11-2020 22:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The 50MW facility near Manchester hopes to store enough power for roughly 50,000 homes.
  
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• What's the science behind mink and coronavirus?

  06-11-2020 19:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Denmark's mink-related coronavirus scare has caused alarm, but scientists urge caution.
  
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• Net-Zero Navigators podcast: Meet LSE's head of sustainability Charles Joly

  06-11-2020 16:42
  
  To mark Net-Zero November, edie is publishing a mini series of podcasts interviewing the trendsetters and trailblazers in the net-zero movement. Up first: LSE's head of sustainability Charles Joly.
  
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• Fur is out of favour but stays in fashion through stealth and wealth

  06-11-2020 15:45 via theguardian.com
  
  As mink comes under the spotlight, many stars wouldn’t be seen dead in fur – but it remains a feature of certain luxury brandsDenmark announces cull of 15 million mink over Covid mutation fearsFur has never been less fashionable. In recent years a raft of designer labels – Gucci, Chanel, Versace, Armani, Coach and Prada, to name a few – have gone fur-free. In 2018, London fashion week banned fur from its catwalks.Celebrities have given up fur too, from the queen of social
  
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• Raw sewage dumped into English and Welsh beaches '2,900 times this year'

  06-11-2020 14:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Public health and environment at risk as water companies overuse emergency overflows, says pressure groupWater companies discharged raw sewage into bathing water beaches almost 3,000 times in the past year, polluting the environment and risking public health, new analysis shows. Related: Face masks and gloves found on 30% of UK beaches in clean-upContinue reading...
  
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• #SustyTalk: Zero-carbon energy transitions with Northern Powergrid and Oxford City Council

  06-11-2020 13:46
  
  For Net-Zero November, edie's #SustyTalk video interview series has involved into a selection of panel discussions based on the low-carbon transition. For this episode, Tom Hayes from Zero-Carbon Oxford and Anda Baumerte from Northern Powergrid discuss the energy revolution.
  
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• Danish Covid mink cull and future disease fears will kill fur trade, say farmers

  06-11-2020 13:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Mutation that led to government order fuels debate about future of fur and safety of farmsCoronavirus - latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageJohn Papsø is devastated. You can hear it in his voice over the phone from Jutland. Like every other fur farmer in Denmark, he has 10 days to kill his mink.“It’s horrible. I’m not even sure it’s dawned on me how grave the consequences will be for us. We are shellshocked. I was up at 4am because I couldn’t sleep.
  
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• How maverick rewilders are trying to turn back the tide of extinction – podcast

  06-11-2020 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A handful of radical nature lovers are secretly breeding endangered species and releasing them into the wild. Many are prepared to break the law and risk the fury of the scientific establishment to save the animals they love. By Patrick Barkham Continue reading...
  
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• 'We're seeing more than ever': white shark populations rise off California coast

  06-11-2020 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  CSU Long Beach shark lab has tagged a record amount of white sharks, signaling a healthy ecosystem – and warmer watersChris Lowe is no longer surprised when he sees drone footage of juvenile white sharks cruising near surfers and swimmers in southern California’s ocean waters.Lowe directs the shark lab at California State University, Long Beach, and for the past 12 years he’s been monitoring populations of juvenile white sharks off the southern California coast with tags, drone
  
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• Poor diet: Children 20cm shorter as a result, analysis says

  06-11-2020 11:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A global analysis suggests that on average the world's tallest teenagers live in the Netherlands.
  
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• Half of UK businesses 'have not prepared for climate risks', survey finds

  06-11-2020 11:06
  
  A survey of 122 of the UK's biggest businesses has found that half have done little or no work to prepare for climate change risks - both physical and transition-related.
  
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• £130m battery development centre gears up in Coventry

  06-11-2020 11:04
  
  A new multi-million-pound industrialisation centre to test recyclable and innovative battery systems is ready to become operational in Coventry.
  
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• Two new greater glider species discovered: 'Australia’s biodiversity just got a lot richer'

  06-11-2020 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  One of the world’s biggest gliding mammals, Australia’s greater glider is actually three separate species, according to new researchOne of the world’s biggest gliding mammals, Australia’s once-common and unique greater glider, actually comprises three separate species, according to new genetic research.Researchers said the findings should prompt urgent work to better understand the three species which are under pressure from rising temperatures, bushfires and land-clearin
  
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• BT and Royal mail tell Boris Johnson to bring back his ten-point green recovery plan

  06-11-2020 10:39
  
  The UK's four biggest fleet operators - BT, Royal Mail, Centrica and DPD - are calling for Boris Johnson to announce the remainder of his ten-point green recovery plan, including new policy support for electric vehicles (EVs).
  
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• University of Strathclyde students and staff complete 15,000 sustainable behaviour change activities

  06-11-2020 09:19
  
  Students and staff at the University of Strathclyde have collectively completed more than 15,000 actions designed to reduce waste and emissions since 2019.
  
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• Face masks and gloves found on 30% of UK beaches in clean-up

  06-11-2020 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Conservation volunteers find PPE items in nearly a third of areas targeted in annual drive
  Discarded masks and other items of personal protective equipment were found on nearly a third of beaches surveyed by beach-cleaning volunteers this autumn.The Marine Conservation Society’s annual beach clean found items of PPE on 30% of the areas they cleaned up. Continue reading...
  
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• My favourite place among the trees

  06-11-2020 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Naturalists, campaigners and other contributors to a new book pick the woodlands they love for views, history and magicMy work as a Scottish woodland heritage specialist affords me the privilege of investigating many remarkable old woods. One of my favourites is Castle Wood, at 13th-century Caerlaverock Castle, the triangular moated ruin south of Dumfries. Few visitors know the secrets of the old wood beside it, which recent research has only just uncovered. It is rich with hidden archaeology an
  
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• Country diary: starlings hold a modest gathering | Country diary

  06-11-2020 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Langstone, Hampshire: Pre-roost murmurations have been known to number as many as 100,000 birds, but many roosts are significantly smaller than they used to beWalking along the foreshore, I occasionally spot starlings picking through the wrack-strewn strandline in search of invertebrates, or foraging for leatherjackets in the neighbouring pasture. An hour or so before sunset, small flocks begin to appear, gathering in the sky above the coastal grazing marsh, or wheeling out across the water towa
  
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• Bentley reveals plan to go fully electric by 2030

  06-11-2020 05:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The luxury carmaker will scrap petrol engines within a decade and become carbon neutral.
  
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• The foul-smelling fuel that could power big ships

  06-11-2020 01:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Engineers think ammonia, if made sustainably, could be a greener fuel for shipping, but challenges remain.
  
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