Renewable Energy

Low-risk debt could help those stuck in poorly insulated homes vulnerable to summer heat and winter chills

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When Elsa Evers bought her home an hour’s drive south of Sydney, she and her partner began future-proofing it by adding solar panels and disconnecting the gas to get off fossil fuels and warm their leaky, chilly house.

Four years on, though, Evers is facing mounting obstacles to that goal, not least higher interest rates and rising costs for her three children .

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Exclusive: Airlines accused of making misleading claims in same week as first transatlantic commercial biofuel flight

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are facing formal complaints over their sustainable flight claims after being accused of misleading potential customers about the environmental credentials of aviation.

This week, a Virgin Atlantic plane took off on the first transatlantic flight by a commercial airliner fully powered by “sustainable” jet fuel, largely comprising cooking oil. The flight, partly funded by the UK government, flew to great fanfare from airlines and ministers as a potentially guilt-free way to fly. However, scientists and environmental groups are more sceptical.

Speaking in the lead up to Cop28 in Dubai, Christiana Figueres said she has lost faith in oil companies

People must balance outrage and optimism after a “hellish summer” of extreme weather, the UN’s former climate chief has urged at the start of the Cop28 climate summit.

“We have to keep the outrage really high because we are so darn late,” said Christiana Figueres, a veteran negotiator hailed as the architect of the Paris climate agreement. She pointed to the weak policies that governments have set in order to cut planet-heating pollution and the $7tn with which they directly and indirectly subsidise fossil fuels.

Opposition vows to tackle rural connection delays to the grid while Conservatives call for offshore network to preserve landscapes

Labour is promising to “rewire Britain”, making its case to the UK’s rural communities that it will connect farmers and businesses to the National Grid at record-breaking speed.

The pledge comes as Rishi Sunak faces a battle over electricity pylons with the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, and former ministers urging him to pull the plug on crucial grid infrastructure.

State government to contribute $245m to Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, which is set to be operational by 2025

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A huge battery farm that can power up to 200,000 homes has been announced as the first project funded by the Victorian government’s revived State Electricity Commission.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, on Thursday announced the government would contribute $245m for a major stake in the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, which will be built in Melton, in the city’s west.

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