XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   Century-old Australian coal plant makes way for giant battery   
   David Stringer, Bloomberg via Carbon Brief   
      
   A 100-year-old coal-fired plant in Australia will be closed early and   
   partly replaced with a giant storage battery "to achieve a faster   
   transition to clean power that's leaving ageing fossil fuel sites   
   uncompetitive", Bloomberg reports. According to electricity provider   
   EnergyAustralia, the Yallourn site which supplies about 20% of   
   electricity demand in Victoria state, will shut 4 years early by   
   mid-2028 rather than 2032, the news website reports. The company will   
   install a battery "larger than anything currently in operation   
   globally" in the same region by 2026, it adds. Reuters reports that,   
   according to experts, coal plants which currently provide 55% of the   
   nation's electricity are set to become "increasingly financially   
   strapped due to an influx of wind and solar farms which have driven   
   down power prices". The Guardian notes that there had been several   
   outages at the ageing coal generator in recent years and there was "a   
   widespread expectation that at least one coal plant would shut early".   
      
   Meanwhile, China Dialogue has a piece looking at the "unexpected   
   victory" last year by local activists against the Kenyan govt,   
   when they succeeded in protecting the heritage region of Lamu against   
   plans to build the country's first coal-fired power plant nearby. With   
   three Chinese state-owned enterprises behind the project, the article   
   notes that Chinese companies "must become better at responding to   
   local environmental concerns, or face an increase in legal action".   
      
   Finally, Montel reports that in the UK, power company Drax has ended   
   commercial generation at its 2 remaining 645 MW (MW)   
   coal-fired units, leaving the country with just 4.6 GW of coal   
   capacity. A spokesperson said this was in line with their commitment   
   to halt coal-fired power generation in March, as announced in Feb   
   last year", it notes.   
      
      
   --   
   Tesla (TSLA), Cloudfare (NET) Breached in Verkada Security Camera Hack   
   Bloomberg, 10 Mar 2021 02:30Z   
   A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data   
   collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live   
   feeds of ...   
      
   Russia says it is slowing down Twitter to protect citizens from illegal content   
   CNBC, 10 Mar 2021 11:25Z   
   Russia has announced that it plans to throttle speeds on social media   
   platform Twitter for failing to remove illegal content from its platform.   
      
   Jeff Bezos's climate change effort, the Bezos Earth Fund, will spend $1   
   bn a year   
   Vox.com, 09 Mar 2021 22:05Z   
   The Amazon founder also named Andrew Steel, the head of the World Resources   
   Institute, as its first CEO.   
      
   Hospitals at breaking point as Brazil hits new COVID deaths record   
   ampAxios, 10 Mar 2021 06:04Z   
   Brazil is facing "overload and even collapse of health systems" because of   
   surging COVID-19 cases, a report by the state-run Fiocruz institute warned   
   Tue, ...   
      
   Biden Moves To Make It Illegal (Again) To Accidentally Kill Migratory Birds   
   NPR, 09 Mar 2021 23:02Z   
   The Biden administration is moving to restore protections for migratory   
   birds that were loosened under former president Donald Trump - a back-and-   
   forth ...   
      
   Hawaii Governor Declares State of Emergency After Floods   
   The New York Times, 10 Mar 2021 11:36Z   
   An evacuation order affected people near the Kaupakalua Reservoir and Dam in   
   the Haiku area of Maui. At least half a dozen homes were damaged or ...   
      
   Microsoft-led team retracts quantum 'breakthrough'   
   BBC News, 09 Mar 2021 12:41Z   
   The team believed they had found evidence of particles useful to developing   
   quantum computing.   
      
   Honeywell Is Developing A Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Engine   
   Simple Flying, 09 Mar 2021 14:41Z   
   Commercial aviation is often singled out as the bad boy of carbon emissions.   
   As such, manufacturers are seeking to minimize their impact on the   
   environment ...   
      
   Rolls-Royce Gets One Step Closer To The Fastest Electric Plane   
   CleanTechnica, 09 Mar 2021 23:06Z   
   When most people think of Rolls-Royce, they think of really expensive but   
   ancient-looking cars. In the Back to the Future series, wrecking into one   
   was bad ...   
      
   Doctors to decide whether Daniel Andrews needs spinal surgery after fall   
   ABC News, 10 Mar 2021 02:45Z   
   The ABC understands the Premier has fractured his T7 vertebra in his mid back,   
   and doctors are expected to decide whether he needs spinal surgery today.   
   Here's what we know.   
      
   Tokyo Olympics reportedly to go ahead without overseas spectators   
   ABC News, 10 Mar 2021 03:44Z   
   Concerns by the Japanese public over the potential spread of coronavirus has   
   led authorities to ban overseas spectators from this year's Olympics and   
   Paralympics, according to a news report.   
      
   Scott Morrison to join Quad talks with Joe Biden and Japanese, Indian   
   counterparts   
   ABC News, 10 Mar 2021 03:44Z   
   Boosting India's capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines will be a focus of "   
   historic" talks between the leaders of the 4 Quad countries.   
      
   The $3.5b plan to develop vaccines within 100 days   
   ABC News, 10 Mar 2021 04:43Z   
   An international coalition sets out what it calls a "moonshot" plan to   
   ensure the development of new vaccines against COVID-19 and emerging   
   epidemics within 100 days.   
      
   Global food prices the highest in 6 years as countries compete to   
   replenish stockpiles   
   ABC Rural, 10 Mar 2021 05:42Z   
   Agri-commodity prices are at their highest level in 6 years sparked by   
   short supplies, rising demand, and are being driven even higher by   
   speculators.   
      
   Cairns Hospital declares 'code yellow' emergency after influx of COVID-19   
   patients from PNG   
   ABC Far North, 10 Mar 2021 05:41Z   
   One of the biggest hospitals in Far North Queensland has declared a "code   
   yellow" emergency indicating it is nearing capacity as it treats 6 fly-in   
   fly-out mine workers.   
      
   Five cases of COVID-19 in Canberra as new infection connected to   
   repatriation flight recorded   
   ABC News, 10 Mar 2021 05:40Z   
   The ACT records one new case of COVID-19, a male aged in his 20s who has   
   been in hotel quarantine since last week and is a close contact of 2   
   previously recorded infections.   
      
   Queensland Public Trustee under scrutiny over fees and charges   
   ABC News, 10 Mar 2021 04:42Z   
   The Queensland Government will establish a new board to provide oversight to   
   the Public Trustee in response to shortfalls in its legal duties and   
   community expectations.   
      
   China and Russia to build lunar space station   
   BBC News, 10 Mar 2021 04:31Z   
   The 2 countries will create research facilities on the surface and/or in   
   the moon's orbit.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)