Latest green news
Big emissions cuts possible at home, study finds
PETER HANNAM 3:37pm Australians could slash their carbon emissions by investing in efficient appliances.
Second mine cleared with some conditions
TOM ARUP A second mine has been approved by Environment Minister Mark Butler in Tasmania's Tarkine wilderness, dealing conservationists a fresh blow on the first day of the federal election campaign.
Solar's rise to transform the power sector, Flannery says
PETER HANNAM Australia's take-up of solar energy is 'impossible to constrain' and will eventually remove the debate over rising electricity prices from the political landscape, according to Tim Flannery.
Mortgage belt leads solar upturn
SCOTT HANNAFORD Australia's working-class suburbs are leading a solar energy revolution that has eclipsed wildest predictions.
Marine life on the move
ANDREW DARBY The first global snapshot of marine life shifting under climate change has found it is on the move towards the poles at a rate of about seven kilometres a year.
Parker orders scrutiny of all-clear report on toxins
Natalie O'Brien A report on the levels of toxic chemicals and metals found around a suburban park is set to be reviewed under the supervision of NSW's chief scientist in a bid to settle a split between environmental experts.
One side of a hot issue
Reviewed by Paul Monk How do principles on global-warming apply when reviewing a book that contradicts conventional wisdom?
Bone city unmasked
NICKY PHILLIPS An isolated piece of Australian wilderness never visited before by Europeans reveals some exciting mysteries about where life came from.
Fossil hunters uncover a vast treasure trove at isolated site
NICKY PHILLIPS In a region of outback Queensland so harsh only the dead seem to survive, palaeontologists have discovered a sprawling new fossil site bursting with the bones of ancient mammals, including a likely new species of primitive marsupial.
Hotter temperatures lead to hotter tempers
As the world gets warmer, people's tempers are likely to get hotter, scientists say.
Sprung - the flowers that believe spring has arrived early
PETER HANNAM Flowers are blooming early, spring birds are on the wing and alpine regions are starting to thaw as mild conditions signal the end of winter.
Canberra's warmest July on record
HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER A weak cold front over the weekend won’t be enough to end a run of warmth that could see Canberra record one of its hottest winters on record.
California says no to linking emissions schemes
TOM ARUP The head of the Californian emissions trading scheme – which will ultimately become the world's third largest – says the US state has no plans to link with Australia's carbon price.
First Solar seeks aid for WA solar plant expansion
First Solar, a partner in Australia's first large-scale solar project, expects a decision to be made within 12 months to boost the size of the development.
China's solar energy overhaul to knock out laggards
Three quarters of China's solar-grade polysilicon producers face closure as Beijing looks to overhaul a bloated and inefficient industry.
Solar energy plants get the green light
PETER HANNAM Australia's biggest solar energy plants have been given the funding go-ahead, clearing the way for the installation of 2 million solar panels at two sites in the NSW outback.
Controversial Tarkine mine gets approval
ANDREW DARBY Federal Environment Minister Mark Butler sped up the reapproval on Wednesday of a controversial mine in Tasmania's Tarkine region that had been overthrown by the Federal Court.
Brisbane winter weather warmer and drier than average
Kim Stephens If you thought winter has been a bit warmer than usual this year, you are not wrong - but if you also think it has been wetter than usual, you are mistaken.
Energy
AGL unveils Australia's biggest solar energy plants
PETER HANNAM Australia will get its largest solar ventures with AGL Energy today announcing it will proceed with two projects in NSW costing a total of $450 million.
New US EPA chief vows to tackle climate change
Gina McCarthy, the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, vowed to tackle global warming with actions that will help spark economic growth.
Harvard fund hires environment head amid carbon divestment demands
Harvard University hired Jameela Pedicini as vice president for sustainable investing, a position created in the wake of student activist calls for the world's richest school to purge its holdings of fossil-fuel companies.
Forest protection laws criticised
TOM ARUP Logging agreements in four states have led to poor protection of forests, a report has found.
Zoo's elder statesman steps down without a fight
NICKY PHILLIPS Humans aren't the only primates who retire to the seaside.
Figures in: July heat points to hot 2013
PETER HANNAM Tales of abnormally warm weather in Australia sound like broken records - most of them are.
2013 likely to be one of hottest years ever
PETER HANNAM It's fair to say tales of abnormally warm weather in Australia sound like broken records - because for the most part they are.
Chief Scientist calls for better gas drilling data
BEN CUBBY NSW Chief Scientist Mary O'Kane says coal seam gas drilling poses health and environmental challenges that should be met by an overhaul of workplace training, greater transparency and more research.
Heatwave deaths to quadruple, government report finds
The number of heatwave-related deaths in Australia’s major cities is set to quadruple by mid-century, research shows.
China outlines renewable energy splurge
China’s spending to develop renewable energy may total 1.8 trillion yuan ($A323 billion) in the five years through 2015 as part of the nation’s efforts to counter climate change.
Indonesian live cattle exports resume to meet post-Ramadan rush
MICHAEL BACHELARD When the Indonesian government took offence at Australia's suspension of live cattle exports in 2011 and announced a new policy of "beef self-sufficiency" it assured its citizens that the local industry was capable of supplying all the country's needs.
Thailand
Oil spill covers beach on Thai island
Thai navy personnel battled Monday to clean up a major oil slick which coated a beach on a popular tourist island in a national park after a pipeline leak.
Shark found strung up after being slashed
MEGAN LEVY A dead two-metre shark that was found strung up by its tail and slashed across the torso in waters off the NSW central coast was probably still alive when it was targeted, according to a diver who discovered the "horrifying" scene.
EU-China deal may curb large-scale solar ventures in Europe
The deal between the European Union and China to curb imports of Chinese solar panels will limit large-scale projects in the 28-nation bloc while having little effect on manufacturers.
BMW i3: ultimate electric machine
Greg Kable Innovative i3 heralds electric car future for traditional German car maker.
Anti-nuke move sends Germany's emissions higher
Germany's air pollution is set to worsen for a second year, the first back-to-back increase since at least the 1980s, after Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to shut nuclear plants led utilities to burn more coal.
2013 shaping up to be one of Australia's hottest years on record
David Jones, Blair Trewin, Karl Braganza, and Rob Smalley from Australian Bureau of Meteorology The last 10 months have been abnormally warm across Australia and we’ve seen a notable lack of unusually cold weather this winter. Are we heading for the hottest year on record?
China's solar giants to look elsewhere for growth after Europe deal
A weekend deal between Beijing and Brussels to regulate trade in solar panels could force China's producers to step up sales to 'emerging' markets at home and in the United States and Japan.
Kevin Rudd cops flak for energy savings delay
PETER HANNAM A fortnight after Kevin Rudd made boosting economic productivity one of his top priorities, political rivals have blasted the government for burying a research report that found potentially large energy savings for households and businesses.
Pipeline plan puts protected wetlands in peril, say researchers
BEN CUBBY A pipeline that would pump more than 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools of drinking water a year to Orange, in the state's central west, will rely on water that is essential to sustain an internationally protected wetland, new research says.
Obama downplays Keystone pipeline's economic benefits
US President Barack Obama mocks Republican claims controversial oil sands pipeline will generate many jobs.
Europe, China defuse solar energy trade spat
European Union and Chinese negotiators reached an agreement to curb EU imports of solar panels from China in exchange for exempting the shipments from punitive tariffs.
Sir David on mission to breathe life into neglected fish fossils
NICKY PHILLIPS The naturalist and wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has described a collection of Australian fossils neglected by the state's natural history museum as ''world class''.
Silverback gorilla Rigo died of heart failure at Melbourne Zoo
BRIDIE SMITH Results have confirmed that Rigo, one of Melbourne Zoo's most popular residents, died of heart failure.
Cold weather no llama drama
IAN WARDEN On these bitterly frosty mornings the shuddering humans of Canberra and region might envy the alpacas and llamas of Glynda Bluhm's Alpaca Magic property near Sutton. Tough and beautifully upholstered by their fleecy coats these animals have evolved to cope with far worse than our local climate can fling at them.
Pandoravirus found in La Trobe Uni pond
BRIDIE SMITH One of the largest viruses known to science has been found in a shallow pond in Melbourne.
Developing nations' emissions to eclipse rich world's by 2040: US
Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from developing countries will be 127% higher than in the world's most developed economies by 2040, according to figures released by the US Energy Information Administration.
Melting of Antarctic permafrost speeds up
ANDREW DARBY The accelerating melt of permafrost, a startling feature of the Arctic under climate change, has been pinpointed for the first time in Antarctica.
Melbourne having Sydney's winter
PETER HANNAM There’s been less need than usual to head north to escape Melbourne’s winter with the city’s temperatures more typical of Sydney in July, and the worst of the chill is almost certainly over.
Attenborough in Perth
Attenborough gives audiences a whale of a warning
JILLIAN MCHUGH The greatest nature documentary-maker of all time began his Perth show not with a tale of being the first to film Komodo dragons, birds of paradise or blue whales, but with an apology that his heart problem had forced the audience to wait an extra month for their two-hour story time session.
And these little goats bleated all the way home
JESSICA WRIGHT Two baby goats, Hazel and Duey, have been safely returned to a Mornington Peninsula school after they were stolen from the campus grounds at the weekend.
Arctic melt damage bill put at $65 trillion
BEN CUBBY The thawing of permafrost in one region of the Arctic will cause damage worth $65 trillion, or almost the size of the entire global economy last year, new research suggests.
Energy
EU's finance arm halts loans for coal-fired plants
The European Investment Bank, the EU's finance arm, said it would stop lending to most coal-fired power stations to help the 28-nation bloc reduce pollution and meet climate targets, a move that may put pressure on other lenders.
Energy
EU, China near deal to defuse solar PV spat
Beijing's envoys have agreed central elements of a deal with the European Union that may yet avert punitive duties on Chinese solar panels, Chinese and European sources said.
Canberra winters 101: getting around and dealing with fog and frost
HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER We’ve established that yes, Canberra is cold. But with that cold weather comes a few other phenomena that can make getting around (or into or out of) the capital a little trickier at times – fog and frost.
UN carbon market freezes
An unprecedented freeze in United Nations carbon trading is fanning speculation the five-year-old market designed to combat greenhouse-gas emissions in poor countries is in danger of becoming superfluous.
Arctic methane release could cost $US60 trillion: Nature
A release of methane in the Arctic could speed the melting of sea ice and climate change with a cost to the global economy of up to $60 trillion over coming decades, according to a paper published in the journal Nature.
Canbrrrr! Our coldest morning this year
STEPHANIE ANDERSON Canberrans have shivered through the city’s coldest morning this year as the temperature dropped to minus 6 degrees.
Renewables
Solar energy growth could drive out coal by 2040, expert says
PETER HANNAM Australia could phase out almost all its fossil-fuel sourced electricity by 2040 if it doubled the current rate of take-up of solar energy, says Professor Ken Baldwin, director of ANU's Energy Change Institute.
NSW Forestry Corporation fined for damaging environment
BEN CUBBY State logging body Forestry NSW is guilty of "systematic failures" of forest management including burning protected bushland on the NSW south coast, a judge has found.
Native algae biofuel could make Australia oil rich
Australia could become a major oil exporter like the Middle East if it starts farming native algae, researchers say.
