freelance science journalist and author
I was recently invited to give a talk for an Environment Week assembly at Katoomba High School in the Blue Mountains. I’m kind of proud of this speech, so here it is: “Thank you Luke and Ainsley for inviting me to speak today, and I hope you don’t regret it at the end. I acknowledge … Continue reading Environment Week speech to Katoomba High School
From The Saturday Paper, 1 June 2024: Tuesday, May 7, was an ordinary, moderate autumn day in New South Wales; nothing to suggest a risk of excessive electricity use, price spikes or blackouts. Between 5.15pm and 5.20pm, however, the wholesale spot price of electricity skyrocketed from about $450 per megawatt-hour – typical for that time … Continue reading Fossil fuels are unreliable backstops in the energy transition
From Nature, 13 December 2023: When it comes to renewable energy, India is lucky to have an abundance of natural resources. It is the seventh-largest nation on Earth, occupying around 2% of the planet’s land mass, and has a mainland coastline that stretches for 7,500 kilometres. Most regions experience between 250 and 300 sunny days … Continue reading Renewable energy for the subcontinent
From WIRED, 15 August 2023: One hundred miles west of Johannesburg in South Africa, the Komati Power Station is hard to miss, looming above the flat grassland and farming landscapes like an enormous eruption of concrete, brick, and metal. When the coal-fired power station first spun up its turbines in 1961, it had twice the … Continue reading This Bold Plan to Kick the World’s Coal Habit Might Actually Work
From WIRED, 14 June 2022: First came the drought. Then the bushfires. Then the floods. And then, on May 21, 2022, came the federal election. After nearly four years as Australian prime minister—a term in office marked by repeated and record-breaking natural disasters—the conservative Scott Morrison was ousted following a contest that hinged on climate … Continue reading Australia has finally woken up to climate change
From Nature, 8 September 2021: Nearly 90% of economically viable global coal reserves must be left in the ground to have even a 50% chance of hitting internationally agreed climate-change goals, according to an updated model of limits to fossil-fuel extraction, published today in Nature. For a 50% chance of remaining below 1.5 °C of … Continue reading Most fossil-fuel reserves must remain untapped to hit 1.5 °C warming goal
Bianca Nogrady 