Most recent 40 articles: |
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| Guardian,Guardian - Energy,Guardian - Climate Change |
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Record-breaking increase in CO2 levels in world’s atmosphere - Guardian (May 9) |
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May 9 · Experts issue warning after finding global average concentration in March was 4.7ppm higher than same period last year
The largest ever recorded leap in the amount of carbon dioxide laden in the world’s atmosphere has just occurred, according to researchers who monitor the relentless accumulation of the primary gas that is heating the planet.
The global average concentration of carbon dioxide in March this year was 4.7 parts per million (or ppm) higher than it it was in March last year, which is a record-breaking increase in CO2 levels over a 12-month period.
The increase has been spurred, scientists say, by the periodic El Niño climate event, which has now waned, ... Read more ...
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Third pilot of household hydrogen heating shelved by UK government - Guardian - Energy (May 9) |
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May 9 · Move suggests homes will rely on electricity for low-carbon heating well into the future
A third pilot project to test the use of hydrogen heating in homes has been shelved by the UK government in the clearest sign to date that households will rely on electricity for low-carbon heating in the coming decades.
The government said it would shelve plans to develop a “hydrogen town” to test whether hydrogen could help to heat homes at scale before taking a final decision after 2026.
The decision comes after the government abandoned plans for two smaller “hydrogen village” trials – in Redcar, on Teesside, and at a village near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire – after months of ... Read more ...
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I understand climate scientists’ despair – but stubborn optimism may be our only hope - Guardian - Energy (May 9) |
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May 9 · Fighting spirit helped us achieve the Paris accords in 2015 – and we need it now the world is on course to overshoot 1.5C
'Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair
Christiana Figueres was the head of the UN climate change convention from 2010 to 2016
“Hopeless and broken”: that is how a top scientist interviewed by the Guardian described feeling as she and hundreds of other climate experts shared harrowing predictions of the future of the planet this week.
I resonate with her feelings of despair. Even as the former head of the UN climate change convention that achieved the Paris agreement in 2015, I, like many, can succumb ... Read more ...
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Trump promised to scrap climate laws if US oil bosses donated $1bn – report - Guardian - Energy (May 9) |
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May 9 · Donald Trump dangled a brazen “deal” in front of some of the top US oil bosses last month, proposing that they give him $1bn for his White House re-election campaign and vowing that once back in office he would instantly tear up Joe Biden’s environmental regulations and prevent any new ones, according to a bombshell new report.
According to the Washington Post, the former US president made his jaw-dropping pitch, which the paper described as “remarkably blunt and transactional”, at a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home and club.
In front of more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, he promised to increase oil drilling in the Gulf of ... Read more ...
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Anthony Albanese faces internal revolt from inner-city Labor MPs over gas strategy - Guardian - Energy (May 9) |
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May 9 · Resource minister Madeleine King released the party’s future gas strategy which says new sources will be needed 'to 2050 and beyond’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is facing an internal revolt with Labor backbenchers pushing back against the government’s support for new gas production.
Five inner-city MPs have criticised the government’s gas strategy, arguing it will overshadow progress on clean energy.
The backbench MPs Josh Burns, Jerome Laxale, Sally Sitou, Josh Wilson and Carina Garland issued statements that either criticised or urged caution about the government’s future gas strategy, released on Thursday. Late on Thursday Ged Kearney, the assistant ... Read more ...
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Vermont poised to become first US state to charge big oil for climate damage - Guardian - Energy (May 9) |
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May 9 · Vermont is poised to pass a groundbreaking measure forcing major polluting companies to help pay for damages caused by the climate crisis, in a move being closely watched by other states including New York and California.
Modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, which forces companies to pay for toxic waste cleanup, the climate superfund bill would charge major fossil fuel companies doing business within the state billions of dollars for their past emissions.
The measure would make Vermont the first US state to hold fossil fuel companies liable for their planet-heating pollution.
“If you contributed to a mess, you should play a role in ... Read more ...
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Labor’s strategy is to reduce emissions from gas – but not if that means doing anything to cut its use - Guardian - Energy (May 9) |
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May 9 · The plan announced on Thursday offers the gas industry – and Western Australia in particular – everything it could want
The bottom line of the “future gas strategy” isn’t what it might mean for the government’s political fortunes, despite what Labor pollsters and political commentators might argue.
It’s this: the gas industry, one of Australia’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters, is getting what it wants. What it wants, in simple terms, is government approval to make multibillion-dollar investments in new gas reservoirs that will lead to billions of tonnes of emissions.
The strategy’s central claim adopts language used by the industry. It says gas is an important ... Read more ...
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Venezuela loses its last glacier as it shrinks down to an ice field - Guardian (May 8) |
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May 8 · Scientists reclassify Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, after it melted faster than expected
Venezuela has lost its last remaining glacier after it shrank so much that scientists reclassified it as an ice field.
It is thought Venezuela is the first country to have lost all its glaciers in modern times.
The country had been home to six glaciers in the Sierra Nevada de Mérida mountain range, which lies at about 5,000m above sea level. Five of the glaciers had disappeared by 2011, leaving just the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, close to the country’s second highest mountain, Pico Humboldt.
The Humboldt glacier was projected to last at least ... Read more ...
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Renewable energy passes 30% of world’s electricity supply - Guardian - Energy (May 7) |
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May 7 · Report says humans may be on brink of cutting fossil fuel generation, even as demand for electricity rises
Renewable energy accounted for more than 30% of the world’s electricity for the first time last year following a rapid rise in wind and solar power, according to new figures.
A report on the global power system has found that the world may be on the brink of driving down fossil fuel generation, even as overall demand for electricity continues to rise.
Clean electricity has already helped to slow the growth in fossil fuels by almost two-thirds in the past 10 years, according to the report by climate thinktank Ember. It found that renewables have grown from 19% ... Read more ...
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Sizewell C in Suffolk granted nuclear site licence - Guardian - Energy (May 7) |
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May 7 · Campaigners 'appalled’ as French energy company EDF gets go-ahead for next stage of project
A planned nuclear power station at Sizewell in Suffolk has been granted the first site licence in more than a decade as investors and government officials race to finalise a deal for the multibillion-pound project this year.
The licence from the nuclear regulator is considered a milestone for EDF, which plans to build Sizewell C as a replica of its Hinkley Point C project in Somerset, which has been dogged by delays and cost overruns.
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has granted only two site licences to build new nuclear plants in more than 35 years: the first for ... Read more ...
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'It’s going to be messy’: advocates balance climate action and conservation amid Queensland’s green energy boom - Guardian - Energy (May 4) |
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May 4 · 'Some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals’, says WWF Australia
A map of operating windfarms in Queensland does not take too long to survey – of the 100 or so across Australia, only six of them are in the sunshine state.
But this is about to change in a very big way. According to state government data, there are 46 separate proposals for windfarms in Queensland with four more already under construction.
Many of those plans target the winds that sweep across the spectacular mountains and ridge tops of the Great Dividing Range from central Queensland to the state’s far north.
While this wind-grab will help wrench the ... Read more ...
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Brazil: 37 killed and dozens missing in worst floods in 80 years - Guardian (May 3) |
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May 3 · More than 23,000 people forced to leave homes after heavy rains in southern Rio Grande do Sul prompt record-breaking floods
Heavy rains in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed 37 people, with another 74 still missing, as record-breaking floods devastated cities and forced thousands to leave their homes.
It was the fourth such environmental disaster in a year, following floods in July, September and November that killed 75 people in total.
The flooding statewide has surpassed that seen during a historic 1941 deluge, according to the Brazilian Geological Service. In some cities, water levels were at their highest since records began nearly ... Read more ...
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Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind - Guardian - Energy (May 2) |
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May 2 · Exclusive: decision to grant licences condemned by critics as a stunt that shows Tories are 'playing politics with climate’
Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms.
The move has brought renewed criticism of Rishi Sunak from ... Read more ...
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Methane emissions from gas flaring being hidden from satellite monitors - Guardian - Energy (May 2) |
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May 2 · Use of enclosed combustors leaves regulators heavily reliant on oil and gas companies’ own flaring data
Oil and gas equipment intended to cut methane emissions is preventing scientists from accurately detecting greenhouse gases and pollutants, a satellite image investigation has revealed.
Energy companies operating in countries such as the US, UK, Germany and Norway appear to have installed technology that could stop researchers from identifying methane, carbon dioxide emissions and pollutants at industrial facilities involved in the disposal of unprofitable natural gas, known in the industry as flaring.
Flares are used by fossil fuel companies when capturing the ... Read more ...
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'Magical thinking’: hopes for sustainable jet fuel not realistic, report finds - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · IPS report says replacement fuels well off track to replace kerosene within timeframe needed to avert climate disaster
Hopes that replacement fuels for airplanes will slash carbon pollution are misguided and support for these alternatives could even worsen the climate crisis, a new report has warned.
There is currently “no realistic or scalable alternative” to standard kerosene-based jet fuels, and touted “sustainable aviation fuels” are well off track to replace them in a timeframe needed to avert dangerous climate change, despite public subsidies, the report by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive thinktank, found.
“While there are kernels of ... Read more ...
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Australia risks being 'world’s nuclear waste dump’ unless Aukus laws changed, critics say - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Labor-chaired inquiry calls for legislation to rule out accepting high-level nuclear waste from US and UK submarines among other recommendations
Australia risks becoming the “world’s nuclear waste dump” unless the Albanese government moves to rewrite its proposed Aukus laws, critics say.
A Labor-chaired inquiry has called for the legislative safeguard to specifically rule out accepting high-level nuclear waste from the US and the UK. One of the members of a Senate committee that reviewed the draft laws, independent senator Lidia Thorpe, said the legislation “should be setting off alarm bells” because “it could mean that Australia becomes the world’s nuclear waste ... Read more ...
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Banks have given almost $7tn to fossil fuel firms since Paris deal, report reveals - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Among world’s top 60 banks those in US are biggest fossil fuel financiers, while Barclays leads way in Europe
The world’s big banks have handed nearly $7tn (£5.6tn) in funding to the fossil fuel industry since the Paris agreement to limit carbon emissions, according to research.
In 2016, after talks in Paris, 196 countries signed an agreement to limit global heating as a result of carbon emissions to at most 2C above preindustrial levels, with an ideal limit of 1.5C to prevent the worst impacts of a drastically changed climate.
Many countries have since promised to reduce carbon emissions, but the latest research shows private interests continued to funnel money to ... Read more ...
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Biden proposes end to new leases in US’s largest coal-producing region - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Republicans opposed to plan from Bureau of Land Management affecting Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the US as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel.
The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana.
The immediate impact is likely to be limited because coal leases take many years to develop and demand has flagged in ... Read more ...
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Brutal heatwaves and submerged cities: what a 3C world would look like - Guardian (May 1) |
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May 1 · Climate scientists have told the Guardian they expect catastrophic levels of global heating. Here’s what that would mean for the planet
Global heating is likely to soar past internationally agreed limits, according to a Guardian survey of hundreds of leading climate experts, bringing catastrophic heatwaves, floods and storms.
Only 6% of the respondents thought the 1.5C limit could be achieved, and this would require extraordinarily fast, radical action to halt and reverse the world’s rising emissions from fossil fuel burning.
However, the experts were clear that giving up was not an option, and that 1.5C was not a cliff-edge leading to a significant change in ... Read more ...
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Comments on Global Warming Acceleration, Sulfur Emissions, Observations - Guardian (May 1) |
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May 1 · Missing a target doesn’t mean the sense of emergency should fade. What it must do is stop politicians dithering – and fast
I remember the first time I heard the 1.5C target. It was in a room at the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009. With the expectation of a binding agreement slipping away and negotiations failing, some of us activists joined delegates from vulnerable African and island nations in chanting “1.5 to stay alive”. It was a frank recognition that the 2C goal the climate diplomats were endlessly talking about – though not pursuing – was insufficient to deal with the increasingly clear realities of climate science.
Since then, three things have ... Read more ...
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Consumer groups criticise energy companies charging solar panel owners for exporting power - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Critics argue change could lead to people installing smaller solar power systems so they aren’t penalised for exporting excess energy during the day
A new tariff that will charge solar panel owners for exporting their energy during the middle of the day could discourage solar uptake, consumer groups say.
Ausgrid, which has about 280,000 customers in New South Wales with rooftop solar panels, has introduced a two-way tariff system to incentivise solar panel owners to export their power into the grid in the evening, when it is most needed.
This will include a charge to solar panel owners of 1.2 cents a kilowatt hour to send electricity to the grid between 10am and ... Read more ...
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Don’t despair about the climate. Be part of the social tipping point - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · A Guardian survey of leading climate scientists revealed their despair about the future. John Coghlan, Rachael Orr, Natalie Bennett, Dr Robin Russell-Jones and Gregory Johnson find reasons to keep on fighting
I must commend the Guardian and Damian Carrington for the excellent reporting on the views of leading climate scientists ('Hopeless and broken’ Why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair, 8 May). I have experienced climate despair, which has led me to take part in non-violent protests, and I can certainly bear witness to the fact that this kind of collective action goes a long way to offset the despair. However, protest is not for everyone. There are other ways ... Read more ...
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Fossil fuel firms forcing countries to compensate them, Mary Robinson says - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Former Irish president and Ban Ki-moon say fossil lobbying is hampering climate progress
Fossil fuel companies are forcing governments to compensate them for lost earnings in the transition to a low-carbon global economy, and destroying the world’s ability to counter their harmful activities, former top UN officials have warned.
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland who was twice a UN climate envoy, said she was “outraged” by the activities of fossil fuel companies, including forcing governments into “investment treaties” that reward them with billions in compensation when countries reduce their reliance on oil, gas and coal.
“It is well worth looking at ... Read more ...
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Jim Chalmers claims there won’t be 'any new money’ for gas in budget as Labor faces caucus revolt - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Albanese government has already telegraphed budget will include $566m over 10 years to map Australia’s soil and seabed for gasfield exploration and $100m to speed up environmental approvals
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has attempted to head off a caucus backlash against the Albanese government’s future gas strategy by promising there “won’t be any new money” for the plan in next week’s budget.
The resources minister, Madeleine King, released the government’s gas roadmap on Wednesday, which sets out plans for gas to be used in Australia to 2050 and beyond, including the exploration and opening of new gas fields as a priority.
However, the announcement created ... Read more ...
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MPs and peers urge Sunak to U-turn on oil and gas extraction plans - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Cross-party group of 50 calls on prime minister to appoint climate envoy and back Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance
A cross-party group of MPs and peers has urged Rishi Sunak to make a U-turn on his oil and gas extraction plans as part of a broader plea to increase efforts to address the climate crisis.
The 50 politicians, including three Conservatives, wrote to the prime minister calling for the UK to regain its international leadership on the crisis by ending the licensing of new oil and gas fields, appointing a climate envoy, and backing the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance.
All countries agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels” at the Cop28 UN climate summit last ... Read more ...
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Targeting India’s most harmful power plants could slash mortality - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Study finds about a quarter of health burden comes from power stations that generate just 3% of country’s electricity
India struggles with some of the worst air pollution in the world. Now scientists have worked out which of the country’s power plants are the worst in pollution terms, narrowing it down to 30 units which are responsible for about a quarter of the mortality burden.
Electricity generation accounts for nearly three-quarters of India’s enormous coal use. But despite regulations set in 2015, less than 5% of India’s power plants have modern systems to clean up air pollutants including sulphur and mercury.
The new study from Stanford University looked at ... Read more ...
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Think before you click – and three other ways to reduce your digital carbon footprint - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · It’s been called “the largest coal-powered machine on Earth” – and most of us use it countless times a day.
The internet and its associated digital industry are estimated to produce about the same emissions annually as aviation. But we barely think about pollution while snapping 16 duplicate photos of our pets, which are immediately uploaded to the cloud.
This is the invisible downside to our online lives: the data we produce is stored and processed in giant energy-guzzling datacentres dotted all over the world.
Over the past year I’ve delved into digital waste and learned key ways we can lower our digital carbon footprints.
Every document, photo and email – ... Read more ...
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Trump pledges to scrap offshore wind projects on 'day one’ of presidency - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Republican frontrunner vows to put an end to 'horrible’ wind turbines, pledging to undo yet another key US green policy
Donald Trump has vowed to immediately halt offshore wind energy projects “on day one” of a new term as US president, in his most explicit threat yet to the industry and the latest in a series of promises to undo key aspects of the transition to cleaner energy.
Trump repeated false accusations about wind projects as being lethal to whales during a rally on Saturday in Wildwood, a resort city on New Jersey’s coast, promising to stamp out an industry that has been enthusiastically backed by Joe Biden.
“We are going to make sure that that ends on day ... Read more ...
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UK 'net zero’ project will produce 20m tonnes of carbon pollution, say experts - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Government told Net Zero Teesside gas scheme will be massive polluter despite its carbon capture claims
A multibillion-pound “net zero” project backed by two of the world’s biggest fossil fuel firms will be responsible for more than 20m tonnes of planet-heating carbon over its lifetime, according to research submitted to the UK government.
The Net Zero Teesside scheme to build a new gas-fired power station in north-east England is backed by BP and Equinor and says it will use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to capture up to 95% of its emissions and bury them beneath the North Sea.
But according to evidence submitted to the government, even if the ... Read more ...
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Union urges Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without plan for jobs - Guardian - Energy (May 1) |
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May 1 · Unite launches bid to persuade Keir Starmer to invest more in north-east Scotland
The UK’s oil and gas workers risk becoming “the coal miners of our generation,” Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has warned, urging Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without a clear plan to safeguard jobs.
Unite is launching a billboard campaign in six Scottish constituencies aimed at persuading Keir Starmer to commit more investment to north-east Scotland, the centre of the offshore oil and gas industry.
Unless Labour can show it will protect jobs and communities, it should be willing to continue issuing new licences for oil and gas exploration, Unite argues. The ... Read more ...
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England could produce 13 times more renewable energy, using less than 3% of land – analysis - Guardian - Energy (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · Onshore wind and solar could provide 226GWh of electricity without impairing food production, says Friends of the Earth
England could produce 13 times more renewable energy than it does now, while using less than 3% of its land, analysis has found.
Onshore wind and solar projects could provide enough electricity to power all the households in England two and a half times over, the research by Exeter University, commissioned by Friends of the Earth (FoE), suggested.
Currently, about 17 terawatt hours of electricity comes from homegrown renewables on land. But there is potential for 130 TWh to come from solar panels, and 96TWh from onshore wind.
These figures ... Read more ...
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World’s biggest economies pumping billions into fossil fuels in poor nations - Guardian - Energy (Apr 9) |
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Apr 9 · G20 countries spent $142bn in three years to expand operations despite a G7 pledge to stop doing so, study finds
The world’s biggest economies have continued to finance the expansion of fossil fuels in poor countries to the tune of billions of dollars, despite their commitments on the climate.
The G20 group of developed and developing economies, and the multilateral development banks they fund, put $142bn (£112bn) into fossil fuel developments overseas from 2020 to 2022, according to estimates compiled by the campaigning groups Oil Change International (OCI) and Friends of the Earth US.
Canada, Japan and South Korea were the biggest sources of such finance in the ... Read more ...
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Shower power: Australian bathrooms are wasting energy and increasing your costs - Guardian - Energy (Apr 6) |
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Apr 6 · Experts say 'bare minimum’ building codes and a lack of interest from builders are making Australian bathrooms less energy-efficient
A long shower at the end of the day might be a relaxing escape from reality, but there is a reason to stay alert. Energy efficiency experts say the way Australian bathrooms are being built will drain your wallet – and the environment.
Alan Pears, a senior industry fellow at RMIT who helped develop Australia’s appliance energy star ratings, describes showers as “almost perfectly designed to waste energy and make you feel uncomfortable”. He says bathrooms lack “basic design principles” and are often cold and poorly ventilated, which ... Read more ...
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‘Simply mind-boggling’: world record temperature jump in Antarctic raises fears of catastrophe - Guardian (Apr 6) |
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Apr 6 · An unprecedented leap of 38.5C in the coldest place on Earth is a harbinger of a disaster for humans and the local ecosystem
On 18 March, 2022, scientists at the Concordia research station on the east Antarctic plateau documented a remarkable event. They recorded the largest jump in temperature ever measured at a meteorological centre on Earth. According to their instruments, the region that day experienced a rise of 38.5C above its seasonal average: a world record.
This startling leap – in the coldest place on the planet – left polar researchers struggling for words to describe it. “It is simply mind-boggling,” said Prof Michael Meredith, science leader at the British ... Read more ...
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Elmer and the climate crisis: Lost story by David McKee set to be published - Guardian (Apr 6) |
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Apr 6 · The late illustrator’s elephant hero is to star in a new ecological fable after the discovery of a rough manuscript and drawings
From the depths of his extraordinarily vibrant imagination, he famously conjured up Mr Benn, Not Now, Bernard, King Rollo and Elmer the patchwork elephant.
Now a manuscript and rough sketches for a new illustrated story about Elmer has been in the archive of the late British children’s author and illustrator David McKee. It will be published next year by his family.
Dates on the handwritten manuscript suggest McKee finished writing and drawing the book shortly before he fell ill and died of a pulmonary dysfunction 10 days later on 6 April ... Read more ...
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Extinction Rebellion co-founder avoids jail term for drone action near Heathrow - Guardian (Apr 5) |
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Apr 5 · Roger Hallam and two other activists given suspended sentences at Isleworth crown court in London
Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil’s co-founder Roger Hallam has avoided imprisonment after attempting to bring disruption to Heathrow airport by getting involved in an action to fly toy drones in the vicinity.
Climate activists said the aim of the plan was to raise awareness about the impact of the airport’s proposed third runway on the climate.
Hallam, along with Dr Larch Maxey, had previously been found guilty of conspiracy to cause public nuisance in relation to the Heathrow drones action. A third man, Mike Lynch-White, pleaded guilty.
At a sentencing ... Read more ...
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Southern frontlines: Latin America and the Caribbean - Guardian - Energy (Apr 5) |
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Apr 5 · A few years ago, as age began to take its toll, Rosa Velásquez decided it was time to leave the restaurant she owned in the coastal town of Cabo de la Vela and move back home for a peaceful retirement.. However, when she returned to the tiny rural community of Jotomana, on the arid plains of Colombia’s northernmost tip, she found the place she and her ancestors had called home for generations littered with giant wind turbines.
Towering white turbines punctuate the horizon a few miles from Cabo de la Vela. The region, in the northern state of La Guajira, is home to all of Colombia’s windfarms and its largest Indigenous population, the Wayúu.
“We live among turbines. The ... Read more ...
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China braced for rise in air pollution deaths - Guardian - Energy (Apr 5) |
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Apr 5 · Country needs to speed up environmental response to protect its ageing population, multinational study finds
In 2005 Beijing was crowned the smog capital of the world. Concerns about air pollution and athlete health overshadowed preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games and required industry and traffic shutdowns to clean the air during the event itself.
Now, a team of researchers at Chinese, German and Canadian universities have tracked the impacts of deteriorating air at that time. They found that particle pollution deaths in China were increasing at about 213,000 a year and peaked at 2.6mn people in 2005.
More positively, the impact of rapid improvements in ... Read more ...
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Mercury pollution at Eraring power plant rose 130% in 12 months - Guardian - Energy (Apr 3) |
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Apr 3 · Environment groups say increased pollution levels means it would be 'absurd and harmful’ to extend life of Eraring, which is due to close in August 2025
Mercury and particulate pollution from Australia’s largest coal-fired power station soared last year, prompting an environmental group to argue it would be “absurd and harmful” for the New South Wales government to extend its operations.
Origin Energy’s 2,880-megawatt Eraring power station, slated by the company to close in August 2025, reported mercury pollution jumped 130% in 2022-23 compared with the previous year, according to data from the national pollution inventory. The heavy metal permanently damages brains and ... Read more ...
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Boom in mining for renewable energy minerals threatens Africa's great apes - Guardian (Apr 3) |
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Apr 3 · Up to a third of Africa’s great apes are threatened by a boom in mining projects for minerals required for the renewable energy transition, new research shows.
An estimated 180,000 gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees are at risk due to an increase in demand for critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel and cobalt, a study has found. Many of those minerals are required for clean energy technologies such as wind turbines and electric cars. Researchers say the boom in demand is driving destruction of tropical rainforests which are critical habitats for Africa’s great apes.
“Africa is experiencing an unprecedented mining boom threatening wildlife populations and whole ... Read more ...
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