10 May 2015, Climate News Network: Plant growth may speed up Arctic warming: Arctic plants may absorb more greenhouse gases as the region warms – but scientists say this could intensify the warming rather than moderate it. Green may not automatically mean innocent or planet-friendly after all. Korean and German scientists have identified a mechanism that could encourage plants to take up more carbon dioxide – and at the same time amplify Arctic warming by 20%. This counter-intuitive finding is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read More here
Category Archives: PLEA Network
How will the reduced Renewable Energy Target affect investment? After months of uncertainty over the future level of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), the federal government and opposition have reached a compromise agreement to scale back the target. The deal will see the RET wound back to 33,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy by 2020, down from its previous level of 41,000 GWh. The government had earlier sought a target of around 27,000 GWh, but the new compromise was reached after the Labor opposition and the renewables industry each indicated they would be willing to agree on a level in the low-30,000s to end the stalemate. Read More here
8 May 2015, ClimateWire: New England city turns to its wastes to ensure year-round supply of fresh vegetables and fish. By this time next year, residents in Keene, N.H., will have year-round access to local and sustainable fish and vegetables, thanks to their municipal landfill. Keene’s city officials are partnering with an organization called the Local Farms Project with plans to construct a 1-acre greenhouse and a recirculating aquaculture system on the grounds of the closed Keene Landfill. Once it is fully operational, the Keene Energy and Agriculture Project is expected to produce 500,000 pounds of fresh lettuce and herbs and 66,000 pounds of live tilapia for local grocery wholesalers each year. Read More here
Q&A with Ross Garnaut: ‘we’re not there yet’ on climate policy. Following the repeal of the carbon tax, the Australian government has implemented its Direct Action climate policy, centred on the A$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund. The results of the fund’s first auction were released on April 23. So far, the government has signed contracts for 47 million tonnes of carbon emissions for a total of A$660 million. However, questions remain about the long-term adequacy of the fund and its ability to achieve Australia’s unconditional emissions target of 5% below 2000 levels by 2020, and larger cuts beyond. The Conversation asked Ross Garnaut, Professorial Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne and architect of Australia’s carbon tax, what Australia needs to do to build an adequate climate policy. Garnaut was a keynote speaker at the recent Emissions Reduction Summit held in Melbourne. Read More here