VEN Blog

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 , […]

‘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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

  Emissions tracking tool a winner for super funds and Pathzero Aware Super and Hesta use Pathzero software. So do 600 fund managers. It’s already the world’s largest data sharing network for private market carbon emissions. James EyersSenior Reporter in Financial Review Oct 9, 2024 This article is part of the Most Innovative Companies List […]

Exclusive: Study suggests people more willing to reduce own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same Damian CarringtonEnvironment editor in The Guardian Fri 4 Oct 2024  Political leaders “walking the talk” on climate action by flying less or eating less meat could be a “crucial missing link” in fighting global heating, according to […]

Look at the gif above and witness a historic moment in the history of fossil fuel energy.  This short clip, from September 30, captures the exact moment when the United Kingdom ended coal. For good.   Since the opening of “Jumbo,” the world’s first coal power plant in 1882, UK coal plants have burned through […]

Green subsidies may have hidden costs, experts warn Some subsidies that appear to encourage sustainability are not so simple Date: October 3, 2024 Source: University of Connecticut Summary: Government subsidies for business practices and processes should be approached with caution, even when they seem to be environmentally friendly, writes a group of scientists and economists. […]

A report by Ember, a climate policy think tank, estimates that coal power generation has fallen by 52 per cent since 2007 in the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Ember estimates that wind and solar generation mostly replaced coal power. The report states that coal generation accounted for […]

Sustainability scientists’ critique of neoclassical economics Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2024 Mark Diesendorf[Opens in a new window], Geoff Davies, Thomas Wiedmann[Opens in a new window], Joachim H. Spangenberg and Steven Hail Show author details Article Figures Metrics Save PDF ShareCite Abstract Non-technical summary Neoclassical economics (NCE) theory and neoliberal economics practice together […]

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 […]

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 […]