Letter says technologies to produce blue hydrogen and capture CO2 are unproven and could hinder net zero efforts
Leading climate scientists are urging the government to pause plans for a billion pound investment in “green technologies” they say are unproven and would make it harder for the UK to reach its net zero targets.
Labour has promised to invest £1bn in carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) to produce blue hydrogen and to capture carbon dioxide from new gas-fired power stations – with a decision on the first tranche of the funding expected imminently.
Lock the UK into fossil fuel production for generations to come.
Result in huge upstream emissions from methane leaks, transport and processing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.
Rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS) during the production of hydrogen – technology they say has been abandoned in the vast majority of similar projects around the world.
Pose a danger to the public if there are any leaks from pipes carrying the captured carbon. At least 45 people had to be taken to hospital after a leak in the US.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
09/25/2024 - 07:00
09/25/2024 - 02:47
How does a massive coal push lasting decades line up with what it has pledged? Leaders of low-lying Pacific nations might appreciate some answers
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The most obvious point to make about Tanya Plibersek’s approval of three coalmine expansions on Tuesday is the most important. The potential climate impact is substantial, and far beyond anything else we have seen approved so far by the Albanese government.
Labor has been criticised for its support of new fossil fuel developments before, but the four coal developments it had backed prior to this were relatively small. They are expected to add about 156m tonnes of heat-trapping carbon dioxide to the atmosphere if fully developed.
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09/25/2024 - 02:39
Nine climate protesters have stopped a coal train headed to the Port of Newcastle in opposition to the federal government’s approval of three new mining projects. Rising Tide, the group behind the move, said in a statement that the three projects – 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 – would create 1.4bn tonnes of emissions
• Tanya Plibersek approves three coalmine expansions in move criticised as ‘the opposite of climate action’
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09/25/2024 - 02:00
Until the government changes its stance on the environment and the war in Gaza and Lebanon, there is nothing to celebrate
On Monday morning, we walked into the main hall of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, before the keynote speech of the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. What we did next, you might have seen.
Shortly after Reeves began her address, two of us stood to speak out on Labour’s complicity in suspected Israeli war crimes, and the party’s ties to climate-wrecking corporations. We were there on behalf of Climate Resistance, a group campaigning to end the cosy relationship between politics and the fossil fuel industry. Just like arms manufacturers, oil companies have been guilty of hindering democratic processes with donations and lobbying, putting human lives on the line for their own profits.
Jack McGinn is a climate activist with Climate Resistance
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09/25/2024 - 00:00
Appointee was a climate chief at the World Bank and will lead UK’s return to high-level environmental diplomacy
Who is Rachel Kyte, the UK’s new climate envoy?
A former climate chief of the World Bank has been appointed to lead the UK’s efforts to forge a global coalition on climate action, the Guardian can reveal.
Rachel Kyte, who previously served as special representative for the UN and a vice-president of the World Bank, will take up the role of climate envoy to lead the UK’s return to the front ranks of global climate diplomacy.
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09/25/2024 - 00:00
The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound recounts some of the astonishing relics he has seen, as detailed in his new co-authored book, Wonders in the Deep
Treasure and shipwrecks go hand in hand – but what are the most magnificent and historically significant items ever salvaged and what do they tell us about the world we live in? The underwater archaeologist Mensun Bound, who was the director of exploration on the team that discovered Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, has written a new maritime history of the world through shipwrecked objects he has encountered over the course of his career.
Here, he reveals some of the most important – and quirky – items that have ever been salvaged from the sea.
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09/25/2024 - 00:00
When sighting rates for basking sharks are high they are low for minke whales, says monitoring programme
The highest ever recorded numbers of minke whales and the lowest number of basking sharks were observed in the Hebrides in 2023, according to a report.
The latest findings of the 20-year monitoring programme by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust suggest a possible association between these two highly mobile and long-lived species. When sighting rates for basking sharks are high, they are low for minke whales, and vice versa.
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09/24/2024 - 22:00
Researchers find climate crisis aggravated the four days of heavy rainfall and deadly floods
‘We’re getting rid of everything’: floods destroy homes and lives in Czech Republic
Planet-heating pollution doubled the chance of the extreme levels of rain that hammered central Europe in September, a study has found.
Researchers found global heating aggravated the four days of heavy rainfall that led to deadly floods in countries from Austria to Romania.
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09/24/2024 - 20:04
Narrative that transition has stalled ‘demonstrably not true’, researcher says, but investment and construction must accelerate
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Large-scale renewable energy investment and construction in Australia is rebounding this year after a slump, but will need to accelerate to reach the pace needed to meet the Albanese government’s goal for 2030.
The country could add more than 7 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity this year, up from 5.3 GW last year, according to data released by the Clean Energy Regulator.
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09/24/2024 - 11:30
The Eiffinger's tree frog found in Japan has a unique biological adaptation: its tadpoles do not defecate during their early developmental stages to reduce the risk of contaminating their small spawning areas. This finding contributes to our understanding of how the species survives in small, enclosed bodies of water.
