Solar panels are overheating amid soaring temperatures, leading to gas power stations across the UK being ordered to fire up production to make up the shortfall.

The post Solar Panels Overheat as Gas Power Stations Ordered to Fire Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Microsoft inked a 20-year power purchase agreement with Chevron, locking in decades of carbon emissions from a new natural gas power plant.

U.S. oil production is expected to grow only modestly next year as companies hesitate to spend more in an uncertain market.

© Arathy Somasekhar/Reuters

It’s the third such deal the Interior Department has struck to pay firms to abandon plans for offshore turbines, spending roughly $2.5 billion to get companies to abandon their wind projects.

It’s the third such deal the Interior Department has struck to pay firms to abandon plans for offshore turbines, spending roughly $2.5 billion to get companies to abandon their wind projects.

© Joshua A. Bickel/Associated Press

Thinktank says decoupling electricity from gas prices has also helped shield Spain from hikes caused by Iran war

Spanish households save €10 a month on electricity bills because of wind turbines and solar panels installed in the last five years, a report has found.

Typical energy bills would be 19% more expensive if electricity costs were still as tightly coupled to gas prices as in 2021, according to Ember, a climate thinktank. It found Spain’s “strategic” expansion of renewables since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 has shielded Spanish households from the latest rises in fossil fuel prices caused by the Iran war.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The pace of the recovery will depend on how confident companies are that the deal between the United States and Iran will hold and be extended.

© Reuters

As the midterm elections approach, many leading Democrats are rethinking their approach to climate change.

As the midterm elections approach, many leading Democrats are rethinking their approach to climate change.

© Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Government plan to de-link gas and electricity prices aims to reduce bills for consumers after global surge in prices

Households in England, Scotland and Wales could save nearly £200 a year on their energy bills if the government stepped into the market to act as the sole buyer of electricity, according to a thinktank.

The research found that public procurement of electricity, meaning the government would become the “single buyer” of power before it is resold to consumers, could shave billions of pounds from electricity prices.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

After a 50-year search, astronomers have uncovered evidence that Sagittarius A* -- the 4.3-million-solar-mass black hole that resides at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy -- is blowing a hot cosmic wind into its surroundings, carving out a giant cavity near the Galaxy’s heart.

The post Astronomers Finally Find Milky Way’s Missing Black Hole Wind appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

We cannot afford to make the same mistake as we did with gas. If tech companies are going to use our land, energy and water for AI, they must pay their fair share of tax

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Over the past few months, tens of thousands of Australians have emailed their local MP calling for a 25% tax on gas exports. More than 2,200 people have even chipped in their own money to fund billboards promoting the idea.

Why?

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© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The Iran war is pushing countries to prioritize domestic energy in order to protect themselves from volatile oil and natural gas markets.

The Iran war is pushing countries to prioritize domestic energy in order to protect themselves from volatile oil and natural gas markets.

© Jes Aznar for The New York Times

Paleontologists have confirmed that Praearcturus gigas, a creature that prowled shallow waters during the Devonian period, 415 million years ago, is the largest scorpion ever found.

The post Giant Scorpions Ruled Ancient Britain during Devonian Period appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Some will question its credibility – but the alternative future to the one imagined in the Global Justice Report is far more bleak

• ‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

In our increasingly dystopian world, who wouldn’t want to at least be open to a utopian antidote? The Global Justice Report, published on Thursday, outlines how to build a prosperous, equitable world within safe planetary boundaries. It’s a push from the modern eco-socialist left in a global battle for ideas that will shape the future.

Based on past social achievements and future energy transformation, it indicates that the overwhelming majority of people on the planet could, by the end of the century, work less and earn more – while keeping temperatures down and avoiding much of the current destruction of nature. It is an ambitious, comprehensive and upbeat plan, and a stronger argument around which to build a political campaign than abstract goals of net zero or decarbonisation.

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© Photograph: Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images

Public concern has surged over the food additive 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), used in cattle feed to reduce methane emissions. Critics claim this approach could lead to widespread cattle culling and a shift towards synthetic food production. Allegations link it to health risks, corporate interests, and a broader agenda against traditional agriculture.

New guidance from the Energy Department would prevent people from receiving rebates after making such swaps.

© Bing Guan for The New York Times

While Westminster’s attention is focused on Andy Burnham and Makerfield, another pivotal byelection is taking place in Scotland’s north-east

The coming byelection in Makerfield, from where Andy Burnham aspires to make rapid progress towards Downing Street, is perhaps the most consequential in British political history. But the decision by the Scottish National party’s former Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, to relocate to Holyrood means that another pivotal contest is taking place more than 350 miles to the north. If Makerfield is a test case for Mr Burnham and Labour’s ability to see off Reform UK, Mr Flynn’s old constituency of Aberdeen South is on the frontline of the increasingly fraught politics of North Sea oil.

Labour, despite finishing second in the 2024 general election thanks largely to anti-Tory tactical voting, will not be expecting much this time round. The ramifications of Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran have exposed Britain’s ongoing vulnerability to fossil-fuel-related energy shocks, highlighting the practical benefits of moving to a green economy. But the knock-on effects of the closure of the strait of Hormuz have also been a gift for the Scottish Conservatives and Reform, who are framing the byelection as a local referendum on reviving oil and gas production beyond Westminster-imposed limits.

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© Photograph: Iain Masterton/Alamy

© Photograph: Iain Masterton/Alamy

© Photograph: Iain Masterton/Alamy

Grattan Institute calls on Labor to set policies that will further reduce the use of gas in order to meet net zero targets

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After more than a half a century of growth, the use of gas in Australia has peaked in all sectors and entered a “structural decline”. But use will need to fall fast to meet climate targets, according to new research from an influential thinktank.

The Grattan Institute warned the government had failed to acknowledge the decline and instead needed policies to further reduce gas use and avoid the need for expensive carbon capture technologies to meet net zero targets.

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© Photograph: Manfred Gottschalk/Getty Images

© Photograph: Manfred Gottschalk/Getty Images

© Photograph: Manfred Gottschalk/Getty Images