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The animals are a crucial part of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven scheme to reintroduce 11 vulnerable native mammals

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In the red centre of Australia, a ring-fenced refuge for threatened native mammals is slowly but surely expanding its population.

Earlier this week, 32 threatened greater bilbies moved in and 65 burrowing bettongs will join them before the weekend is out.

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A drone emitting orca sounds will be used in attempt to guide the animal, whose health is fast deteriorating

An orca lost in France’s River Seine is to be guided back to sea using sounds made by the species under a last-ditch plan to save the animal’s life.

The local prefecture said it would monitor the animal, also known as a killer whale, from a distance with a drone while emitting orca communications in an attempt to guide it back to the sea, following a meeting with national and international scientists, including marine mammal specialists.

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Project backed by the National party is expected to top $162,000 per megalitre if cost recovery is pursued

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The new $1.27bn Dungowan Dam, championed by Barnaby Joyce in his New South Wales electorate of New England, is expected to cost the equivalent of $162,000 per megalitre, compared to a current market rate of $1,500/ML, if cost recovery is pursued, a water expert has estimated.

Drew Collins, a former associate commissioner of the 2020 Productivity Commission National Water inquiry, has described the Tamworth-based project as “a hell of a lot of money to not fix the problem” of the Peel Valley’s existing water supply.

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hmmm...what are these for?98,102,65,0,B

Firm says Sunak’s levy creates uncertainty and asks for tax relief that covers investment in renewables

Shell has said Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax is a threat to investment in North Sea oil and gas as Britain attempts to ramp up domestic energy supplies.

The chancellor yesterday announced an “energy profits levy” on oil and gas operators that he hopes will raise £5bn to help fund a support package for households.

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Study finds Pacific rattlesnakes, which can’t control their own temperature, prefer places where the climate averages 80F

Many species are suffering at the hands of a warmer world, but one California inhabitant seems to be enjoying hotter temperatures: the Pacific rattlesnake. Their populations across the south-west are thriving, according to a study by researchers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the University of Michigan.

The study found that when given the choice, rattlesnakes – which cannot control their own temperature and rely on the environment for warmth – actually prefer to live in places where the climate averages more than 80F, suggesting they’re likely to do well as the planet gets hotter.

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New York is the latest, and largest, state to consider charging product-makers to dispose of their packaging. But lawmakers are clashing over how much to involve industry in creating a new system.

(Image credit: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

The federal government plans to build several hydrogen hubs around the country. The goal is to find a cleaner replacement for fossil fuels. But there are challenges in how hydrogen is produced.

(Image credit: Meredith Miotke for NPR)

The growing trend for imported olive trees has brought hoards of invasive snakes to the Spanish island, threatening the future of its wall lizard

Far below the Ibiza sun, a solitary lizard fidgets across the baking rocks on the southern tip of the island, happily oblivious to what may lurk ahead.

After 6m years of isolated evolution, the Ibiza wall lizard, whose scaly finery runs from cobalt blue to acid green, is facing an existential threat summed up in the Catalan phrase sargantanes o serps: lizards or snakes. Over the past two decades, the wall lizards have completely disappeared from some areas of Ibiza and the neighbouring island of Formentera thanks to the rapid proliferation of invasive, non-venomous horseshoe whipsnakes and ladder snakes.

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The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including hungry seagulls, a puffin census and a shy stingray

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Rosemary Penwarden says the solar-powered vehicle has been running smoothly for three years and has thanked oil companies for the motivation

A New Zealand grandmother has converted a 29-year-old wreck into a homemade, solar-powered electric vehicle, “to show it can be done”.

Rosemary Penwarden, 63, has been driving her converted vehicle around South Island roads for three years now. The project took her and a friend more than eight months of solid work and tinkering. “You do have to be a little bit mad,” she said. “I want to thank the oil companies for the motivation.”

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Rallen has steadfastly opposes fracking on its land amid fossil fuel firm’s ‘unprecedented’ legal action to force access

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One of the Northern Territory’s biggest and wealthiest pastoral landholders will join traditional owners to “resist” the entry of fracking companies on to its expansive holdings in the Beetaloo Basin.

The former Morrison government made gas exploration in the Beetaloo a central pillar of its so-called gas-led recovery from the pandemic, accelerating exploration in the region by granting big gas companies tens of millions of dollars in incentives.

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One more test with the Wyze Cam V3 remote setup.  I found that the 20-watt panel I used in the last test had the 12 volt 5 amp hour battery fully charged within 2 hours as soon as the sun was up so I checked out how a 10 watt panel works today.  Fully charged in 4 hours (which sounds about right) so that works for me.  Going to install the new gear for my neighbor's camera tomorrow - and put away that extension cord.  99,102,57,0,B  

Report says Adani’s Carmichael mine in central Queensland seems ‘rather a political decision, not an economically driven one’

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Any new coalmines in Australia’s Galilee Basin, including Adani’s Carmichael mine, will not be economically viable in the long run under even the most generous assumptions about the future of the fossil fuel, according to an analysis by German academics.

The study, developed in conjunction with Australian experts, found it was “highly implausible” that mines in the central Queensland basin could run profitably and there was a high chance they would end up as stranded assets.

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New treasurer says Labor is ‘not contemplating’ extending fuel excise cut or low and middle income tax offset

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The new treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is banking on a surge in capital spending to boost productivity in the economy and ease a “cost-of-living crisis”.

After the Australian Energy Regulator on Thursday lifted standard power prices by as much as 20% for some customers, Chalmers said the increase revealed “a very serious situation” and was just one of several challenges left by the Morrison government.

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Strong climate action could wipe $756bn from individuals’ pension funds and other investments in rich countries

Individuals in rich countries face huge financial losses if climate action slashes the value of fossil fuel assets, a study shows, despite many oil and gas fields being in other countries.

The researchers estimated that existing oil and gas projects worth $1.4tn (£1.1tn) would lose their value if the world moved decisively to cut carbon emissions and limit global heating to 2C. By tracking many thousands of projects through 1.8m companies to their ultimate owners, the team found most of the losses would be borne by individual people through their pensions, investment funds and share holdings.

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Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree were pioneers of rewilding in the UK. Now they are setting their sights on regenerative agriculture, which will supply food to a new farm shop and cafe

It’s odd to hear the owners of the UK’s pioneering rewilding project at Knepp estate in West Sussex gushing about farming. But Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree are returning to a sector they left 20 years ago. In 2000, they let their unprofitable dairy and arable farm go to seed. Now Knepp Wildland is a 1,400 hectare (3,500 acre) rewilding project, home to a smörgåsbord of remarkable wildlife, including critically endangered nightingales and turtle doves. It is a success story that has inspired many to think differently about land, and how much wildlife we should expect in our countryside.

Now, another chapter is being added to the Knepp story, as the last 150 hectares of land is amalgamated into the project. For decades, land scattered around the villages of Shipley and Dial Post was run by a tenant farmer who used it for grazing sheep. But the farmer has left and it is being scruffed up and transformed into the Knepp estate regenerative farm, which will supply local food to a new farm shop and cafe, due to open later this year. They are also opening a market garden, which will make use of manure from the cows. Knepp visitors will be able to go on farm safaris, just like they do on the rewilding project.

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Exclusive: Fears over regulator’s ability to cope with planned expansion in nuclear energy

The number of formal reports documenting security issues at the UK’s civil nuclear facilities has hit its highest level in at least 12 years amid a decline in inspections, the Guardian can reveal.

Experts said the news raised concerns about the regulator’s capacity to cope with planned expansion in the sector.

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Parliamentary committee also recommends cut-off date for sale of diesel and petrol cars

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A Victorian parliamentary committee has recommended the Andrews government consider a ban on gas connections in new homes to help accelerate the state’s transition to renewables.

It also urged Victoria to commit to a cut-off date for the sale of new petrol, diesel and gas-fuelled vehicles.

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Customers in NSW could see power bill increases of up to 18%, South Australia almost 20% and parts of Queensland could see rises of 12%

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Households in Queensland, New South Wales and elsewhere will face double-digit increases in their power bills from July after the regulator lifted its standard electricity price after generation costs soared by close to half.

The Australian Energy Regulator, which was ordered to delay the release of its default market offer (DMO) from 1 May until Thursday by the outgoing Morrison government, said residential customers in south-east Queensland will see increases of 11.3%-12.6%, or about double the expected inflation rate.

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