VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog
People power stops world’s largest seismic blasting project
Southern Ocean coastline communities celebrate David Prestipino – September 27, 2024 National Indigenous Times NEWS Community, environmental and First Nations groups are breathing a sigh of relief after multinational gas exploration company TGS backtracked on plans to conduct large-scale seismic blasting off Australia’s south coast. (Image: Matt Sedunary) Concerned community, environmental and First Nations groups…
Read More‘Reconductoring’ to equip the grid for the energy transition
Image: Conventional conductor technology compared to lines reconductored with advanced conductors. (A) A comparison of a cross-section of a conventional ACSR conductor compared to an equivalent-diameter advanced composite-core conductor and (B) a schematic of an existing transmission line reconductored with advanced composite-core conductors. Source: Chojkiewicz E. et al. “Accelerating transmission capacity expansion by using advanced conductors in…
Read MoreF-List! Marketing and Ad agencies with clients whose primary business is the extraction, processing, transportation, or sale of oil, gas or coal.
From Clean Creatives The first combined F-list for Australia and New Zealand has revealed oily lobbying and dirty greenwashing. Clemenger/Omnicom’s GRACosway has the most fossil fuel clients (8) followed by SEC Newgate, Spring Street Advisory and WPP’s Purple, with 6 each. The most marketed fossil fuel company was Ampol, with 6 agencies in Australia and…
Read MoreAlbanese and Plibersek approve three new coal mining projects
– 24 September 2024 by Ed Hill Climate Action Network Australia The Albanese Government published its decision on Tuesday afternoon to approve three new large coal mining projects in NSW: Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri thermal coal project to 2066, MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant thermal coal project to 2058, and Yancoal’s Ashton coal project to 2064. See…
Read MoreAntarctic krill can lock away similar levels of carbon as seagrass and mangroves
Image: The krill pellet carbon sequestered in MtC per October-April growing season is given and converted to per km2. Krill sequester less per surface area of the ocean than coastal vegetation blue carbon, but the vast area krill inhabit puts the pellet carbon sequestered in the same order of magnitude as the coastal vegetation stores,…
Read MoreUK and US legal decisions against fossil fuels
High Court overturns decision approving new UK coal mine: The High Court has overturned the December 2022 planning permission granted by former Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Levelling Up, Michael Gove, for West Cumbria Mining’ (WCM) proposed Whitehaven mine. Mr Justice Holgate ruled in favour of the appeal brought by Friends of the…
Read MoreCop31 is a chance to redefine ourselves from climate laggard to global leader
Hosting the conference would help us overcome our colonial mentality and the fossil fuel lobby, both of which have held us back from tackling climate change. Thu 19 Sep 2024 Anna Cerneaz in The Guardian As the world grapples with the climate crisis, Australia stands at a crossroads. Our bid to co-host the UN’s climate…
Read MoreTipping points could work both ways as nature can evolve rapidly
Coral reefs can reach a tipping point where small environmental changes trigger a dramatic shift from vibrant, diverse ecosystems to bleached, depleted ones. Michael J. McDonald/Wikimedia Commons How do ecosystems collapse? Our study shows evolution plays a role – and can delay a disaster Christopher Blake PhD Student, Monash University Michael J. McDonald Associate Professor of…
Read MoreSaying “97% of scientists believe climate change is real and caused by humans” increases action and reduces polarisation
A massive multi-country study suggests that simply closing the gap between the actual and perceived consensus moves the needle on climate beliefs without polarizing groups. By Sarah DeWeerdt in Anthropocene September 17, 2024 Communicating the overwhelming scientific consensus about climate change – at least 97% of climate scientists agree that climate change is happening and…
Read MorePersonal cooling device overcomes AC’s flaws
Figure 6 Energy comparison between traditional convective air-conditioning systems and pure radiant cooling device (A) Schematic diagram of the experimental platform. (B) Cooling energy transport process in traditional convective cooling scenario. (C) Cooling energy transport process in pure radiant cooling scenario. (D) Energy consumption of the two systems in scenarios with different air changes per hour…
Read MoreWhat to do? Project Drawdown’s Interactive table of solutions
LEARN. Familiarize yourself with the spectrum of climate solutions. Project Drawdown’s Solutions Library offers eye-opening insights into 93 science-based technologies and practices that together can halt climate change. DO. Alter your own activities to reduce your personal contribution to climate change. Check out our Get Involved page for specific suggestions. SHARE. Communicate the opportunity to…
Read MoreOut of 1,500 global climate policies, only 63 have really worked. That’s where green spin has got us
Image: Fig. 4. Effective policies and policy mixes. (A) On the basis of point estimates for country-specific breaks in emissions (tables S12 to S19), we compared the average effect sizes of all breaks in which a policy instrument appears individually with that of all breaks in which this policy instrument appears in a mix. For…
Read MoreSuccesfully deploying offshore renewable energy
Image WWF report: Figure 2: Projected installation of wind energy capacity (gigawatts) 2022-2026, Source: Global Wind Energy Council, Global Wind Report 2023 The Global Wind Energy Council expects 680 GW of wind capacity to be added globally between 2023 and 2027, of which 130 GW will be offshore. This represents more than half of the…
Read MoreWA and NT undermining Australia’s climate targets
Image: SBS News and Climate Council The two places ‘undermining’ Australia’s efforts to cut emissions Australia is making “impressive” progress on transitioning to renewable energy — but not every state and territory is pulling their weight, according to a new report. Two parts of Australia are “undermining” national efforts to embrace renewable energy and cut…
Read MoreThe IRA’s wins in climate, public health, and economic equity—and where we must go next.
The Inflation Reduction Act Turns Two AUGUST 16, 2024 in Roosevelt Report How the IRA Is Shaping a Better Economy Two years ago, President Biden signed one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation in decades: the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). On the landmark law’s second birthday, Roosevelt’s Alí R. Bustamante reflects on how the…
Read MorePrisoners doing environmental projects could reduce reoffending.
Landcare project gives Broken Hill inmates hope for the future while restoring Imperial Lakes environment By Oliver Brown ABC Broken Hill Topic:Prisons and Punishment Mon 29 JulMonday 29 July (see original article for images) This prisoner from the Broken Hill Correctional Facility hopes this prison term will be his last. (ABC Broken Hill: Oliver Brown)…
Read MoreExtracting lithium just got cheaper and more sustainable
Image: from Rong Xu et al. Continuous lithium extraction from brine by efficient redox-couple electrodialysis. Matter, 2024 New electricity-driven chemical process filters out lithium from brines efficiently and for less than half the cost of current techniques By Anthropocene Team August 29, 2024 A new method to extract lithium from salty brines is more efficient…
Read MoreWe can restore our continent’s landscape to its pre-European state with less than a quarter of what we spend annually on our pets
Repairing landscapes, growing food, sequestering carbon Posted on 30 July 2024 by Peter Boyer in South Wind magazine A new assessment by eminent scientists of Australia’s degraded environment has worked out that we can restore our continent’s landscape to its pre-European state with less than a quarter of what we spend annually on our pets.…
Read MorePeople turn to making and mending their own clothes to save money as cost of living crisis looms large
By Holly Tregenza Monday 29 July in ABC news (See original article for image) Sophie Parry’s sewing studio in Redfern has seen a 40 per cent increase in interest for repair and alteration classes. (ABC News: Holly Tregenza) In short: A sewing studio in Sydney has seen a 40 per cent increase in interest in their…
Read MoreFossil fuel windfall selling cheap: link between fossil fuel political donations and project environmental approvals
Give, and thou shalt receive. Million dollar links between donors and environmental approvals by Kim Wingerei | Sep 5, 2024 | Energy & Environment, in Michael West Correlation does not always imply causation, but the link between fossil fuel companies’ multi-million political donations and projects receiving environmental approvals is no coincidence. Kim Wingerei reports. Between…
Read More