Environment and energy minister Josh Frydenberg said that eight out of Australia’s 12 most emission intensive power stations closed in the last five years. Is that right?
A price on carbon introduced by the Labor government, dubbed the “carbon tax”, was more effective at motivating big emitters to act, compared to the current Direct Action plan.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
New research has found that carbon intensive companies have lost focus on reducing emissions under Direct Action, when compared with the carbon tax.
Nne-star-rated ‘Catalyst’ houses built to maximise passive solar principles were evaluated against seven control houses built to DHHS standards.
Trivess Moore
Emerging research challenges the idea that sustainable housing is unaffordable. It shows sustainability and good design can be affordable when analyses include social, health and wellbeing benefits.
Half a degree could make all the difference for the Great Barrier Reef.
Shutterstock.com
James Whitmore, The Conversation and Michael Hopkin, The Conversation
A new report published by the Climate Institute says Australia could avoid lengthy heatwaves and help save the Great Barrier Reef by meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C global warming goal.
Australia will likely have to close more coal power stations to meet climate targets.
Coal power image from www.shutterstock.com
Australia’s energy watchdog has warned that closing coal power stations could leave us vulnerable to supply problems. But not if we help take the pressure off the grid.
Victoria has joined three other states and territories in setting a renewable energy target.
Wind energy from www.shutterstock.com
Companies could improve their profits 2-10% each year by saving energy, according to a world-first attempt to assess energy performance.
Labor has promised 50% of electricity will come from renewable sources by 2050, but has left the detail for after the election.
Wind turbine image from www.shutterstock.com
Half of the world’s vegetated land has got greener in the past 30 years, mostly driven by rising CO2.
An LNG tanker leaves Gladstone, Queensland. Gas development is one of the drivers behind Australia’s increasing emissions and electricity demand.
AAP/Dan Peled
Modelling done for the Climate Institute indicates that without big policy changes Australia’s path to zero emissions from the electricity sector by 2050 would mean huge disruption after 2030.
Energy companies are realising that, in light of the Paris climate deal, the economics are starting to line up in favour of climate action, not against it.
The Great Barrier Reef is made up of thousands of individual reefs.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr
Shellfish will have more brittle shells as oceans get more acidic – making them more vulnerable to predators. New research gives a fascinating glimpse into how they will adapt.
Renewable energy is at the more expensive end of the emissions cost curve, but is a vital piece of the bigger picture.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Australia’s greenhouse emissions are once again rising, after a decade of consistent declines. But the right policies are already in place to turn things around - they just need to be ramped up.
The IMF wants a levy on ship and plane fuel, but that won’t magically create low-carbon alternatives.
Prime Minister Bob Hawke opening the General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Perth, November 1990.
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia today released selected federal cabinet records for 1990 and 1991. They reveal intense battles over Australia’s domestic climate targets and, above all, a palpable determination that Australia not damage its coal revenue.