The announcement by CEP Energy is the latest in a flurry of major energy storage projects for Australia’s national electricity gridDevelopers plan to build what they say will be the world’s biggest large-scale battery in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, the latest in a flurry of major energy storage projects announced for the national electricity grid.CEP Energy said its $2.4bn battery at Kurri Kurri, north-west of Newcastle, would have a power capacity of up to 1,200 megawatts – about eight times greater than the battery at Hornsdale in South Australia, which was the biggest when it began operating in 2017. Continue reading...

Moratorium had been extended twice by both the Country Liberal party and Labor governmentsSeabed mining will be permanently banned in the Northern Territory after an almost decade-long moratorium on the destructive practice runs out next month, the territory government has announced.Conservationists, traditional owner representatives and the territory’s mining lobby all welcomed the decision, announced on Friday morning. Continue reading...

Paper does not include policies to make it more affordable to buy EVs or a phase-out date for the sale of new fossil fuel carsThe Morrison government has ruled out subsidies to encourage people to buy electric or hybrid vehicles, and assumes they will be adopted at a pace that would lead to greenhouse gas emissions from transport increasing over the next decade.A “future fuels strategy” discussion paper released on Friday is largely consistent with a leaked draft in December. It does not include policies to make it more affordable to buy electric vehicles (EVs) or a phase-out date for the sale of new fossil fuel cars, as some other countries have announced. Continue reading...

Mining company South32 had applied to extend the life and output of its Dendrobium coalmineThe New South Wales Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has rejected the expansion of a coalmine near Wollongong because the project could cause irreversible damage to the Sydney and Illawarra drinking water catchments.Mining company South32 had applied to extend the life of its Dendrobium coalmine until 2048 for the production of coal to be used for making steel overseas and in Australia. Continue reading...

Local divisions over Woodhouse Colliery scheme echo rows playing out at national levelPlans for the UK’s first deep coalmine in more than 30 years have led to local divisions in Cumbria, even as it becomes an international issue over the country’s climate change commitments.James Hansen, one of the world’s foremost voices on the climate, this week took the unusual step of sending Boris Johnson a strongly worded letter warning that if the mine was allowed to proceed it would lead to “ignominy and humiliation” for the UK. Continue reading...

Celebrity interventions inflame sentiments in India as police investigate pro-farmers toolkitCounter-protesters in Delhi have burned effigies of the Swedish environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg after she tweeted support for India’s protesting farmers in posts that have prompted an investigation by Indian police.Crowds gathered in Delhi to protest against several international celebrities including Thunberg and the pop singer Rihanna, who inflamed sentiments in India and angered the government after tweeting about the continuing farmer protests this week. Photos of Thunberg and Rihanna were set alight and banners were held aloft warning that “international interference” in Indian affairs would not be tolerated. Continue reading...

Major assessment concludes that ocean soundscape is being drowned out by human activityA natural ocean soundscape is fundamental to healthy marine life but is being drowned out by an increasingly loud cacophony of noise from human activities, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the issue.The damage caused by noise is as harmful as overfishing, pollution and the climate crisis, the scientists said, but is being dangerously overlooked. The good news, they said, is that noise can be stopped instantly and does not have lingering effects, as the other problems do. Continue reading...

Brumadinho disaster, on 25 January 2019, is considered one of worst environmental tragedies in Brazilian historyThe Brazilian mining giant Vale has agreed to pay $7bn compensation for a deadly dam collapse that killed 272 people.Related: Brazil dam collapse: bodies pulled from toxic mud as hope fades for survivors Continue reading...

Research showing severe flood threat caused by global heating may set legal precedent in climate litigationHuman-caused global heating is directly responsible for the threat of a devastating flood in Peru that is the subject of a lawsuit against the German energy company RWE, according to groundbreaking new research.The study establishes links from human-made greenhouse gas emissions to the substantial risk of a dangerous outburst flood from Lake Palcacocha, high in the Peruvian Andes. The resulting flood would trigger a deadly landslide inundating the city of Huaraz, and threatening about 120,000 people in its path. Continue reading...

Thanks to an inter-party agreement, the clean energy hub in the North Sea is set to be the largest construction project in Danish historyDenmark’s government has agreed to take a majority stake in a £25bn artificial “energy island”, which is to be built 50 miles (80km) offshore, in the middle of the North Sea.The island to the west of the Jutland peninsula will initially have an area of 120,000 sq metres – the size of 18 football pitches – and in its first phase will be able to provide 3m households with green energy. Continue reading...

Republican attacks, amplified by Fox News, have been met with a planned response from climate envoy John KerryThe Democrat in the White House may be different, but the attacks are very familiar. Joe Biden’s early blitz to confront the climate crisis has provoked a hostile Republican backlash eerily similar to the opposition that stymied Barack Obama 12 years ago. Once again, efforts to reduce planet-heating emissions are being assailed as radical, job killing and elitist.Republican lawmakers in Congress have denounced Biden’s flurry of executive orders on climate and have even introduced legislation to bypass the president and approve the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline. Republican-led states are also joining the fray with Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, who is vowing to use the courts to block Biden’s move to halt oil and gas drilling on public lands. “Texas is going to protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack launched from Washington DC,” Abbott said. Continue reading...

Patricia Espinosa says fulfilling $100bn-a-year promise must be top priority to support developing worldRich countries must step up with fresh financial commitments to help the developing world tackle the climate crisis, the UN’s climate chief has said.Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN framework convention on climate change, said fulfilling pledges of financial assistance made a decade ago must be the top priority before vital climate talks – Cop26 – later this year. Continue reading...

Proposals to accelerate electric car rollout also call for grants towards buying secondhand electric vehiclesOil companies should be required to install rapid chargers for electric cars in all their petrol stations above a certain size by 2023 in order to speed up the rollout of vehicles with zero tailpipe emissions, according to thinktank Bright Blue.Bright Blue’s report also calls for a reversal in cuts to government grants for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), a new grant to help low income households buy secondhand BEVs, and for the lower lifetime costs of BEVs compared with those of petrol and diesel cars to be made clear at the point of sale. Continue reading...

The Australian prime minister says the new US president did not press him to adopt a more ambitious emissions commitmentIn the Trump era, journalists didn’t have to speculate about what a US president said to an Australian prime minister during a private phone call. Famously, the entire transcript of a fraught conversation between Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 was leaked.But in more sedate times, leaders provide their own readouts. Continue reading...

Woman sentenced in New Zealand for biosecurity violations after hiding plant material inside stockingsA woman has been sentenced in New Zealand after being caught trying to smuggle nearly 1,000 cacti and succulents strapped to her body.Wenqing Li, known as Wendy, pleaded guilty at the Manukau district court to charges under two separate violations of biosecurity laws, attempting to bring in plants from China. Continue reading...

Keith Pitt argues coal sector not in decline as David Littleproud says Australians ‘sick of platitudes’ and should avoid ‘self-loathing’ over climate recordSenior National party ministers have poured cold water on the growing push for Australia to adopt a concrete commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, cautioning against “platitudes” and arguing the coal sector is not in decline.While Scott Morrison has attempted to perform a rhetorical pivot – expressing a preference for achieving net zero by 2050 or even sooner – the prime minister is yet to make a firm commitment to the goal that has been adopted by many of Australia’s trading partners. Continue reading...

Mining firm reports $650m January intake from rough stones, marking strongest sales in three yearsDe Beers has revealed its strongest diamond sales in three years following a Christmas surge in jewellery purchases, with sales 10% above the group’s 20-year average.The world’s biggest diamond miner made $650m from its rough stones last month, well above sales of $551m in early 2020, amounting to the highest sales since January 2018. Continue reading...

Engineers at RMIT say the road-making material could help tackle the vast amount of waste generated from Covid protective equipmentDisposable face masks used to prevent the spread of Covid-19 could be recycled to make roads, a new study suggests.Researchers at RMIT said they had developed a road-making material by combining shredded single-use masks and processed building rubble. Continue reading...

State found guilty of ‘non-respect of its engagements’ aimed at fighting global warmingA Paris court has convicted the French state of failing to address the climate crisis and not keeping its promises to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.In what has been hailed as a historic ruling, the court found the state guilty of “non-respect of its engagements” aimed at combating global warming. Continue reading...

Vicious circle of cheap but damaging food is biggest destroyer of nature, says UN-backed reportThe global food system is the biggest driver of destruction of the natural world, and a shift to predominantly plant-based diets is crucial in halting the damage, according to a report.Agriculture is the main threat to 86% of the 28,000 species known to be at risk of extinction, the report by the Chatham House thinktank said. Without change, the loss of biodiversity will continue to accelerate and threaten the world’s ability to sustain humanity, it said. Continue reading...

Lawmakers and residents hope name change could spotlight social justice – and encourage donationsFor years, Sandy Galef has received complaints and questions from many of her constituents over the Donald J Trump state park in suburban New York.And since Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol earlier this year, lawmakers, advocates and residents are once again pushing to rename the underdeveloped 436-acre park in hopes of sparking a dialogue on social justice and spurring much-needed private contributions to improve the space. Continue reading...

Antarctic bergs travelling north spark changes in ocean circulations and affect composition of our atmosphereHow does an ice age start? We know that changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun alter the amount of solar energy reaching our planet, but it has long been a mystery as to how this triggers such a dramatic change in the climate. A study shows that Antarctic icebergs may be responsible for tipping the balance.Aidan Starr, from Cardiff University, and his team analysed sediments recovered by the International Ocean Discovery Program from the ocean floor south of South Africa. Within those sediments were tiny fragments of rock dropped by melting Antarctic icebergs. By studying the chemistry of the tiny deep-sea fossils found throughout the sediment core, the scientists were able to show that when climate conditions enabled icebergs to travel this far north they made the North Atlantic fresher and the Southern Ocean saltier. Continue reading...

The Oakey Coal Action Alliance, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, wins long-running legal caseActivists have had a victory in the high court, which has upheld an appeal to have the expansion of the New Acland coalmine in Queensland’s Darling Downs reassessed by the state’s land court.The Oakey Coal Action Alliance, represented by the Environmental Defenders Office, won its long-running legal case in a judgment handed down on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Federal court loss a major blow to the Bob Brown Foundation, which had described it as ‘the great forest case’Former Greens leader Bob Brown’s eponymous environment group has lost a legal challenge to native forest logging in Tasmania that claimed the industry’s logging was at odds with federal conservation laws.The case by the Bob Brown Foundation, lodged in the federal court in August and billed by the group as “the great forest case”, argued an effective exemption from environment laws granted to logging meant a regional forestry agreement between the federal and Tasmanian governments was not legally valid. Continue reading...

African wild dog pups are a dim black and look ancient, like old bronze, like the Capitoline WolfThe African painted dog – also known as a wild dog or painted wolf – has ears that look as though they have been stitched together by a mad old toymaker. They are huge, bristly black disks – stretched upwards slightly and delicately pinned so that they form shallow bowls. At their bases are tufts of white bristles, for luck.As a child in South Africa, I was forced more than once to watch – on a large pull-down projector screen in the school hall while it rained outside – Paljas, a uniquely, skin-crawlingly kitsch film set in a dusty railroad town that is visited by a travelling circus. Continue reading...

Coalition tensions in evidence as growing chorus of Nationals call for new coal plants after PM sends zero emissions signalThe Nationals are continuing to agitate for new investments in coal, cutting across Scott Morrison’s ongoing efforts to telegraph a significant pivot on climate policy.After the prime minister used a scene-setting speech at the National Press Club on Monday to declare he wanted Australia to get to net zero emissions “as soon as possible” and “preferably by 2050” – Morrison’s strongest formulation to date – Nationals in the Senate issued a joint statement declaring Australia needed to build “modern coal-fired power stations” to generate affordable, reliable energy. Continue reading...

Collapse of wall at Mogden treatment works on Friday led to wastewater entering Duke of Northumberland’s River in IsleworthAn MP is calling for Thames Water to compensate residents in west London after part of a wall in one of the largest sewage works in the UK collapsed, and homes and gardens were flooded with untreated sewage.Residents living along the Duke of Northumberland’s River in Isleworth had gardens and homes flooded as foul-smelling water poured down the waterway on Friday. Continue reading...

Waste policy, climate adaptation and reform of conservation laws top government agenda, letter reveals

Scott Daines secures public apology from Indian mining giant for ‘extremely hurtful’ allegationThe mining company Adani has paid $2,000 to an anti-coal activist and issued a public apology after it wrongly accused him and his protest group of throwing rocks and kicking work vehicles.Scott Daines, 53, secured the apology and payment after sending legal letters to the company when it named him in a Facebook post on 8 October 2020. Continue reading...

The new president is focusing on seven key areas to reverse a legacy of environmental destruction and climate denialismFaced with an unfolding climate crisis that is fueling more powerful storms, enormous wildfires and scorching heatwaves in the US, Donald Trump unapologetically set about dismantling policies to cut planet-heating emissions, mocked or ignored climate science, and threw open vast tracts of American land and water to fossil fuel development.The systematic reversals in environmental protections pose a challenge to Joe Biden, Trump’s successor as US president, who has called climate change the “existential threat of our time”. Biden has set about the task of undoing Trump’s legacy with hyperactive zeal, through a flurry of executive actions. In all, about 100 Trump-era environmental policies are being targeted, although some may take several years to reverse. Here’s how Biden is doing it. Continue reading...

Protesters told to immediately stop tunnelling under London station and give details of people down thereAn emergency application to the high court by environmental protesters to halt HS2’s eviction of them from a tunnel close to Euston station because of safety concerns has been rejected by a judge.Mr Justice Knowles ordered that Larch Maxey, a protester who lodged the application on Monday night, should immediately stop tunnelling and give details about the layouts of the tunnels and how many people are down there. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome fishing restrictions to help restore habitats including Dogger Bank, but say government must go furtherGovernment proposals to ban destructive bottom trawling fishing in the Dogger Bank, announced on Monday, marked a “really big day” for Britain’s seas, conservationists said.Under proposed bylaws put out for consultation by Britain’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO), bottom trawling, which involves weighted nets being dragged over the sea bed, would be prohibited in the Dogger Bank special conservation area, alongside three other English marine protected areas (MPAs). There are 40 MPAs in England and 76 in the UK. Continue reading...

Every single American has a right to live and work in a safe environment. President Biden can help ensure we canIn his first 100 days, President Biden is racing to secure comprehensive reforms that both address the immediate challenges of today’s concurrent crises and make our economy and society more resilient for the future. Next month, he’ll unveil the second part of his recovery plan which is expected to focus on infrastructure investment and job creation. It is crucial that this plan includes an emphasis on protecting the health and safety of communities that are consistently failed – and often seriously harmed – by ageing infrastructure. Biden has already put equity and justice at the center of his climate plans, but he’ll need to do the same for any infrastructure plan he puts forward.Related: Flint review – a humanitarian disaster doc for toxic times Continue reading...

They store carbon and are havens for wildlife – it’s no wonder experts are calling for Britain’s hedge network to be extended

Nine-year-old spends a day in intensive care after being bitten in her Alice Springs bedroomA nine-year-old girl is in hospital in the Northern Territory after a highly venomous snake bit her on both feet while she was in bed.The Alice Springs girl was in her bedroom on Monday evening when the king brown snake bit her on both feet. Continue reading...

New measures of success needed to avoid catastrophic breakdown, landmark review finds

Australian biologist astounded by discovery: ‘I would have bet the house it wouldn’t have been there’A critically endangered species of moth has been discovered in an urban area next to a rubbish tip in Wangaratta in Victoria’s north-east.A resident, Will Ford, was walking his dogs one evening in December when he spotted a moth he didn’t recognise. Continue reading...

Report warns if $56bn worth of developments go ahead, it could threaten the goals of the Paris climate deal and lead to billions of dollars in stranded assetsAustralia has $56bn worth of gas pipelines in development that, if all built, would be expected to allow pumping of greenhouse gases equivalent to 33 coal-fired power stations, an analysis has found.The report by the Global Energy Monitor, an anti-fossil fuel research group based in San Francisco, said there are more than US$1tn ($1.3tn) in oil and gas pipeline projects on the books globally. Continue reading...

Hopes the above-water unit on King Island can be expanded across Australia’s vast southern coastlineTechnology that harnesses wave energy through a “blowhole” is being tested at a remote Tasmanian island in a project backed by federal grants and investors.When the mostly above-water unit is connected in about a month, King Island in Bass Strait will be powered by three renewables – wave, wind and solar. Continue reading...

Scientists say animals with higher levels of DDT, PCBs and others in their blubber are more prone to cancer triggered by herpesSea lions in California had been dying of a mysterious cancer for decades. Now, scientists say they have finally uncovered the likely cause: toxic chemicals from industrial trash, pesticides and oil refinery waste.A team of mammal pathologists, virologists, chemists and geneticists have concluded that sea lions with higher concentrations of DDT, PCBs and other chemicals in their blubber are more prone to cancer triggered by a herpes virus. Continue reading...

One year ago Jessica Hamilton divested from fossil fuels. Here’s what she has learned sinceThis time last year I changed my banking and superannuation, and I did it out of climate anxiety. Was it a smart financial decision? At the time, I had no idea. But as I sat inside in a city clouded by bushfire smoke, I decided that even if only $1 of my money was invested in coal, oil or gas – the leading drivers of the climate crisis – that was still $1 too much.That same climate anxiety drove my friend Ash and I to find an answer to the question that plagues so many of us: what the heck can everyday people like us do in the face of the climate crisis that will actually make a difference? Continue reading...

Political parties have to tell us what they are doing to keep within our carbon budgetWe need to change how we talk about climate change policy. No longer can we hand out pass marks for irrelevant targets that sound good but actually fail to prevent climate change.Back in 2018, the IPCC announced that we had 12 years to limit temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Continue reading...

Hunting and recreation found to have greater impact than urbanisation and loggingHuman activity is fundamentally altering the distances the world’s animals need to move to live, hunt and forage, according to a study that examined the impact on more than 160 species across six continents.All activities changed the behaviour of animals, but the study found destructive activities such as urbanisation and logging affected the movement of animals less than sporadic endeavours such as using aircraft, hunting and recreation. Continue reading...

Rigs burn off enough unwanted gas to heat 1m homes, UK regulator said last yearThe UK’s North Sea oil rigs release as much carbon dioxide as a coal-fired power plant every year by deliberately burning unwanted gas into the atmosphere as giant flares, according to research.A report has revealed that almost 20m tonnes of CO was released into the atmosphere in the five years to the end of 2019 by “flaring and venting” the extra gas released from oil wells. Continue reading...

Energy watchdog’s Fatih Birol says shift away from coal in key regions needs to be made a global priority

Endangered giants face potentially fatal encounters with the 1,000 daily fishing vessels moving through main feeding area off Chile, scientists warnThe largest mammal ever to live on the Earth, the blue whale, is under threat from boat collisions as one of its main feeding grounds in Chilean Patagonia is overrun with vessels, a new study has revealed.The endangered whales must contend with up to 1,000 boats moving daily through an important feeding area in the eastern South Pacific, according to research published in the scientific journal Nature. Continue reading...

For too long we have been failed by every layer of government, from the president, to congressional representation, from our state governor, to our state environment agencyFor five years I have fought against the polluters who have poisoned our community in Louisiana’s “cancer alley”, or as we call it now, “death alley”. And for decades our fight has been ignored by the US government.This makes President Joe Biden’s decision to reference “cancer alley” earlier last week, as he signed new climate and environmental justice orders, a meaningful and great moment. But for me the distance between seeing Mr Biden address our problems directly, and anything actually coming to fruition, is a long gap. And I will have to wait to see some direct results. Continue reading...

The Biden-Harris administration can restart fundamental environmental policies and programs, and restore the federal commitment to environmental protectionNow that the Trump administration’s four-year assault on environmental protection and conservation has crested, the work of restoration must begin. As professionals in the field of conservation, we watched with dread and dismay as the laws, policies, science and stewardship of waters, air, wildlife and public lands were systematically dismantled.While the damage is profound, the Biden-Harris administration can reverse these harms, restart fundamental environmental policies and programs, and restore the federal commitment to environmental protection and lands and waters stewardship. What is needed is a tactical plan for restoration. Continue reading...

River Chess Association say untreated sewage is causing untold harm to infant trout and other habitats

Kaja Kallas, 43, took power on Tuesday after the previous coalition collapsed due to a corruption scandalEstonia’s first female prime minister has promised to implement changes in both style and substance in the governance of the Baltic nation, as she takes charge after two years in which a far-right party was in the ruling coalition.Kaja Kallas, a 43-year-old lawyer and head of Estonia’s Reform party, was sworn into office on Tuesday. Continue reading...