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In Victoria, Ventura’s Ivanhoe depot has been converted to accommodate the state’s largest fleet of zero-emissions buses.

Global warming surged last year, but there is also good news

Confirmation that the world had hit 1.5 degrees of warming last year shocked observers, but innovations in the way we generate, move and use energy are working.

  • Nicholas Osiowy

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Specimens collected by botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on Captain Cook’s first voyage have been digitised for the first time.

What do scientists, artists and fashion designers have in common? One million plants

NSW’s vast collection of plant specimens is not just for budding botanists. For the first time, artists and designers have access to images of the state’s flora.

  • Alexandra Smith
An 8-star home, which includes solar generation, energy storage and an electric car, can be $6000 a year cheaper to run than other homes.

How home owners can save $6000 a year and stay cool

New modelling shows that spending $25,000 on improving energy efficiency – and driving an EV – can save $300,000 over a 25-year mortgage.

  • Jim Malo
Joost Bakker at the home he has built for his mother in Monbulk, Victoria.

He’s known for his zero-waste mantra. Now Joost Bakker is turbo-charging it – for his mum

Building with straw, turf and recycled materials are no small-scale fantasy for Bakker: he says the world needs millions more homes like one he’s just built.

  • Andrew Mackenzie
Chevron’s Gorgon carbon capture at Barrow Island.

WA throws more cash at carbon injection, but flagship project still fails to hit mark

The technology is still failing to live up to expectations in WA, with the latest figures from Chevron’s Gorgon project revealing it fell 2.65 million tonnes short of its obligations last financial year. 

  • Hamish Hastie
PlasmaLeap: Lightning in a bottle using renewable electricity, air and water to make green ammonia

From bottled lightning to ‘hempcrete’: The Australian innovations that could save the world

From harnessing the power of lightning to make fertiliser to using yeast to produce forest-friendly palm oil, these start-ups are helping solve big environmental problems.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
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Melbourne has far too little tree canopy, which increases the heat island effect and leads to increased rates of obesity, depression, anxiety and heatstroke.

The maps that show the tree-free heat islands in your city

Australia’s two largest capital cities have far too little tree canopy, which leads to increased rates of obesity, depression, anxiety and heatstroke.

  • Bianca Hall
Australian-made solar panels will never be exported if they have to compete with Chinese-made panels.

NSW will miss its net zero target – unless we get our act together. Here’s how we can

The way we all use energy will make a big difference, but we also have to divert labour and resources from big infrastructure projects to private investment in the net zero economy.

  • Peter Achterstraat
Children should have the world in their hands, but will they?

The climate killer we ignore: Women are losing babies. I call it ‘maternalcide’

Soaring heat and compounding natural disasters are triggering fatal heart-related illnesses, mosquito-borne viruses and other fetal abnormalities.

  • Nathalie Beasnael
The Western Green Energy Hub has lodged plans to build the world’s biggest renewables hub in Western Australia.

World’s biggest renewables hub planned for Australian desert

Donald Trump’s US election win is raising hopes for green investment growth in markets outside the US – and plans are afoot for Australia to capitalise.

  • Mike Foley

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/climate-solutions-6gy2