This white paper examines the current challenges for clean energy infrastructure and identifies solutions that industrial clusters, transport and logistics industries, and the wider clean energy value chain can jointly explore in order to accelerate its deployment. Thirteen new industrial clusters from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, India, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, …
Despite the rapid increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in marine mammal research, knowledge of the effects of UAVs on study animals is very limited. We recorded the in-air and in-water noise from two commonly used multi-rotor UAVs, the SwellPro Splashdrone and the DJI Inspire 1 Pro, …
The Baird government has approved the expansion of the most aggressive coal mine in the Special Areas of Greater Sydney's catchment despite not knowing the compounding impact it will have on water supplies. South32 won approval for two more 305 metre-wide longwalls at its Dendrobium mine, extracting coal from underneath …
Adani’s Carmichael mine has been “covertly funded” by the World Bank through a private arm that is supposed to back “sustainable development”, according to a US-based human rights organisation. Adani Enterprises acquired exploration rights for Australia’s largest proposed coalmine in 2010 with a US$250m loan from banks including India’s ICICI, …
Australia's first cyclone of the 2016-2017 summer season has been downgraded to a tropical storm after losing punch over the Indian Ocean, but could reform in the next two days, forecasters said on Friday. "Ex-cyclone Yvette weakened overnight but may reintensify as it approaches the coast on the weekend," The …
The Adani Mining Pty Ltd is confident of commencing construction of the Carmichael mine by mid-2017, which will be Australia's largest coal mine, despite growing concerns and protests from environmental and indigenous groups that it will jeopardise the Great Barrier Reef and Aboriginal heritage. There were protests in Melbourne and …
A new study has found that higher water temperatures have ravaged the Great Barrier Reef, causing the worst coral bleaching recorded by scientists. In the worst-affected area, 67% of a 700km swath in the north of the reef lost its shallow-water corals over the past eight to nine months, the …
Plastic pollution threatens to wipe 7.4 per cent off the value of Sydney homes in areas where litter is apparent, a new report shows. The report, released by Boomerang Alliance, found that if just 5 per cent of 1.6 million homes in Sydney neighbourhoods are adversely affected by litter, the …
The government is failing to protect the reef from the effects of shipping disasters, according to environmental lawyers, who say inaction to secure remediation funds will become a bigger problem as shipping traffic increases. The issue could cause a problem for Australia when it reports to the Unesco world heritage …
Australian scientists have taken a step in the "right direction" to creating a vaccine for the deadly HIV virus. Researchers from South Australia's University of Adelaide and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital have used a common cold virus to introduce their DNA-based vaccine into the immune system of laboratory mice, Xinhua …
Several studies have identified the association between ambient temperature and mortality; however, several features of temperature behavior and their impacts on health remain unresolved. We obtain daily counts of nonaccidental all-cause mortality data in the elderly (65 + years) and corresponding meteorological data for Melbourne, Australia during 1999 to 2006. …
Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere put shallow, warm-water coral reef ecosystems, and the people who depend upon them at risk from two key global environmental stresses: 1) elevated sea surface temperature (that can cause coral bleaching and related mortality), and 2) ocean acidification. These global stressors: cannot …
Australia is lagging behind other countries on tackling climate change after signing the historic Paris Agreement last year, a new report shows. The Climate Council’s new report, “Towards Morocco: tracking global climate progress since Paris,” questions Australia’s ability to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target. It says Australia is likely …
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO have released their fourth biennial State of the Climate Report. State of the Climate 2016 provides an update on the changes and long-term trends in Australia’s climate. The report’s observations are based on the extensive climate monitoring capability and programs of CSIRO and …
Smoke from wildfires poses a significant threat to affected communities. Prescribed burning is conducted to reduce the extent and potential damage of wildfires, but produces its own smoke threat. Planners of prescribed fires model the likely dispersion of smoke to help manage the impacts on local communities. Significant uncertainty remains …
In some parts of the world, proprietorship, price incentives, and devolved responsibility for management, accompanied by effective regulation, have increased wildlife and protected habitats, particularly for iconic and valuable species. Elsewhere, market incentives are constrained by policies and laws, and in some places virtually prohibited. In Australia and New Zealand, …
The lights were hardly out in South Australia before politicians and lobby groups were staking out their ground in the argument over climate change and renewable energy. Within hours of a massive storm that triggered a statewide power blackout, the Climate Council was blaming global warming for the wild weather. …
Power was restored to the state of South Australia on Wednesday after storms a day earlier caused an unprecedented statewide blackout which disrupted operations at mining majors like BHP Billiton, closed ports and halted public transport. The blackout of the country's fifth most populous state, with 1.7 million people, prompted …
Storing carbon in land is no substitute for reducing fossil fuel emissions. The report finds that while increasing carbon in land systems is important, Australia is muddying the waters by combining land carbon and fossil fuel reduction policies – which is giving an inaccurate picture of Australia’s progress in tackling …
Public support for Australia to be a world leader in climate change solutions has rebounded to its highest since the major political parties agreed on emissions trading, research shows. About 65% of the nation want to see Australia lead the world in solutions, an increase from 52% in 2010-12 when …
Australians waste $10bn of food annually with “excitable” Generation Y consumers the worst offenders, according to a new report. The RaboDirect Financial Health Barometer 2016 Food and Farming Report found that households wasted up to $1,100 worth of food each year, or 14% of their weekly groceries, with one in …
