Free electricity in Australia, and the week's other eco wins
Germans save an ancient woodland from coal mining, Australia gives away surplus solar power, and how does a city become the world's best place for
Germans save an ancient woodland from coal mining, Australia gives away surplus solar power, and how does a city become the world's best place for cyclists? The Hambach forest stays After a decades-long fight, one of Germany's last remaining pieces of intact ancient woodland has been saved from coal-mine expansion. The remaining part of Hambach forest, between the western German towns of Aachen and Cologne will remain standing as the as the country phases out coal, the most polluting fossil fuel. For decades, environmentalists and locals had been campaigned for the forrest and even occupied treehouses high in the forest canopy to stop the felling, only to be evicted again and again.
In October 2018, some 50,000 people flooded the forest to protest plans to turn it into an open-pit mine — and eventually won a legal battle to halt the clearing. Environmentalists protected the forest by occupying treehouses Image: David Young/dpa/picture alliance Meanwhile in the US, federal lands are being opened up to drilling and extraction, but some local communities are fighting back too. Australia's electricity giveaway The sunny land down under is producing so much solar energy that it's giving electricity away for free. To ease pressure on the grid and shift demand from peak evening hours, authorities hope to encourage consumers to do electricity-hungry tasks like laundry while the sun is shining.
Most of Australia's energy still comes from climate-wrecking fossil fuels, but renewables advocates call this a step in the right direction. How a Dutch city got rid of cars (almost) Utrecht, in the Netherlands, has transformed itself from a car-clogged city into a haven for cyclists — and now beats Copenhagenon the Copenhagenization Index, a ranking of the world's best cities for biking and urban mobility. Some 49% of trips in the city are now made by bike. Getting there took time and a multi-pronged approach, including turning a highway into a canal lined with places to walk, sit and cycle, and building park-and-ride facilities at the edges of town.
Other cities around the world are trying to boost cycling too. Edited by: Anke Rasper
The BriefWire