VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog
Household battery scheme to form part of Labor’s pre-election plan for low- and middle-income earners
By chief digital political correspondent Jacob Greber Wed 16 OctWednesday 16 October ABC news Labor has signalled a renewable energy plan to help households install batteries could be introduced before the election. In short: Labor and the Coalition are both looking at policies to spur household battery adoption. The ABC understands the Albanese government is…
Read MoreClimate change course as part of all degrees: US university new requirement
UC San Diego has added an innovative prerequisite to ‘prepare students for the future they really will encounter’ Katharine Gammon Tue 15 Oct 2024 in The Guardian Melani Callicott, a human biology major at the University of California, San Diego, thinks about the climate crisis all the time. She discusses it with family and friends…
Read More“Deconstruction”: Circular construction could be a huge boon for climate—and jobs
Image Source: Heisel F. et al. (eds.) “Constructing a Circular Economy in New York State: Deconstruction and Building Material Reuse.” Ithaca, NY: Cornell Circular Construction Lab, Cornell Just Places Lab, and CR0WD, 2024. In a new study, the researchers tallied up the substantial economic and ecological benefits of taking buildings apart piece by piece rather…
Read MoreClimate change impacts internal migration worldwide
Image from Roman Hoffmann, Guy Abel, Maurizio Malpede, Raya Muttarak, Marco Percoco. Drought and aridity influence internal migration worldwide. Nature Climate Change, 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02165-1 : Differences in migration impacts of drought and aridity across world regions a, Differences in migration impacts by the geographical location of the subnational regions distinguishing effects across world regions…
Read MoreThe idea of burying wood to store carbon is so simple it almost sounds absurd. But is it?
Researchers made an ancient find that suggests with the right conditions the potential impact of “wood vaults” could be significant. By Anthropocene Team October 17, 2024 Efforts are underway all around the world to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it. Trees, of course, are naturals at this. Over their lifetime, they absorb…
Read MoreArtificial plant guzzles carbon and produces electricity
Image from Maryam Rezaie and Seokheun Choi. Cyanobacterial Artificial Plants for Enhanced Indoor Carbon Capture and Utilization, Advanced Sustainable Systems, 2024.: Operating principle of cyanobacterial artificial plants for indoor carbon capture and utilization. a) An artificial plant converting captured CO2 into O2 and bioelectricity during photosynthesis. b) An artificial plant utilizing indoor light, water, and…
Read MoreCommunity level approach to clean homes brings health and financial benefits
Source: Climateworks Centre In Australia and overseas , it’s clear that homes without gas – running on clean energy – are healthier, have cheaper power bills, and produce lower greenhouse emissions. in The National Tribune Environment 23 Oct 2024 Authors Gill Armstrong Researcher in architecture and urban planning, Climateworks Centre Portia Odell System Lead –…
Read MoreTransitioning away from refrigerants that drive global warming is possible, study says
Image: The GESPA group at IQS and the URV are working together on the STOP-F-GAS project, where they are studying, within the framework of the circular economy, the development of new technologies for absorbing fluorinated gases for their reuse and obtaining new, more sustainable refrigerant products. In the Kigali Amendment of 2016 to the Montreal…
Read More10 tips for bringing climate change solutions into the classroom
OCTOBER 17, 2024 from Project Drawdown by Elizabeth Bagley, Ph.D. I joined Teach For America right out of undergraduate and taught 8th-12th grade science at North Central High School in South Louisiana. During my first year of teaching, part of our school roof came off during Hurricane Irene. Naturally, my students and I were shaken…
Read MoreRoss Garnaut: The time is right for carbon pricing
in The Conversation Australia now has a government and parliament wanting timely transition to net zero. We have a government and parliament wanting to build Australia as the renewable energy superpower of the zero-carbon world economy. For the time being, we have favourable international settings for using our opportunity. The government of Australia has embraced…
Read MoreThe ‘active transport’ ideas from around the world that could make Australians healthier and our cities cleaner
Graham Readfearn Mon 21 Oct 2024 the Guardian Policies such as cash payouts for bicycle commuters have knock-on effects including reduced pollution and better physical and mental health It’s time for a major rethink of transport in Australia, experts say – and, while some new ideas may meet resistance, “these are not ideas from radical…
Read MoreBP pushes back start date for Australia’s biggest renewable energy hub to end of decade – before buy-out was planned for 2024 launch…
Image: Pilbara WA Yuri Renewable Energy Hub project. Original blurb from ‘Engie’: “Scheduled for completion in 2024, the first phase of the Yuri project will produce up to 640 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year as a zero carbon feedstock for Yara Australia’s ammonia production facility in Karratha. This will be key to developing a…
Read MoreThese 5 ‘post-truth’ claims are fuelling the water wars in Australia
in The Conversation Published: October 10, 2024 12.30pm AEDT Authors Quentin Grafton Australian Laureate Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University John Williams Adjunct Professor in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, Charles Sturt University, and Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The contest between truth and post-truth…
Read MoreResearchers find a new use for biochar: filtering microplastics from farm soils
Figure 8. Plot showing the reduction in each type of microplastic after passing agricultural runoff samples through the pinewood biochar column (A) = BC, (B) = NSD.Removal of microplastics from agricultural runoff using biochar: a column feasibility study. Olubusoye Boluwatife S. , Cizdziel James V. , Wontor Kendall , Heinen Edward , Grandberry Tony ,…
Read MoreAussie Bird Count – go to aussiebirdcount.org.au and join in!
‘I felt like a bird god’: why comedian Geraldine Hickey is excited for this year’s Aussie Bird Count The keen birdwatcher encourages others to take 20 minutes out of their day, describing the experience as ‘meditative’ Petra Stock Mon 14 Oct 2024 the Guardian In early October the comedian Geraldine Hickey went looking for tawny…
Read MoreThe air contains 6x more water than all the world’s rivers. Here’s how to harvest it.
Image from Antrhopocene magazine: Schematic of the concept to capture oceanic water vapor. Courtesy of Praveen Kumar and Scientific Reports. Researchers designed a cooling technology that extracts water from the air using only gravity and no electricity. By Anthropocene Team October 3, 2024 Rising global temperatures and a growing world population have made fresh water…
Read MoreBig Oil knew monster storms were coming. We have the receipts.
Internal documents over the last 45 years reveal the fossil fuel industry has long known their products would supercharge extreme weather. ARIELLE SAMUELSON OCT 12, 2024 in HEATED David Hester inspects the damage to his house after Hurricane Helene Florida on September 28, 2024. Climate change is making hurricanes more intense. Source: Chandan Khanna/AFP via…
Read MoreAn overlooked solution for climate-friendly buildings: Better floor plans
Image: AI generated by Anthropocene magazine When researchers auto-generated small apartment floor plans to make them efficient and comfortable, they found they could often reduce carbon emissions more than by changing the building exterior By Sarah DeWeerdt October 8, 2024 in Anthropocene magazine A new algorithm-based method of designing floor plans for apartment buildings could…
Read MoreScientists and startups are exploring ways to turn rivers and oceans into carbon sinks by adding limestone to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
EHN Curators Sep 25, 2024 Brad Plumer and Raymond Zhong report for The New York Times. In short: A startup in Nova Scotia plans to use limestone to capture carbon dioxide from rivers, which could reduce emissions if scaled up. The method is part of a growing trend of ocean-based carbon removal strategies, but challenges…
Read MoreHuman Rights Watch: COP29: Upholding Rights Crucial for Climate Action
Governments Should Ensure Fossil Fuel Phaseout, Civil Society Participation Click to see Image President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan speaks on day two of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, April 26, 2024. © 2024 Sean Gallup/Getty Images (Baku) – Governments participating in the 29th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) should fulfill their…
Read More