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Sizewell B nuclear power plant granted a 20-year life extension

Extension comes as government encourages first nuclear power projects in a generation to meet UK’s growing need for electricity

Britain’s most recently completed nuclear power plant will continue generating electricity until 2055 after the government granted the power plant a 20-year life extension.

Sizewell B in Suffolk was due to shut down within the next decade, but under a deal with the government its lifetime will be extended to 60 years to help meet the UK’s growing demand for low-carbon electricity.

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Β© Photograph: Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

Datacentres are a ticking timebomb. We must make sure AI’s benefits outweigh the costs | Nicki Hutley

8 July 2026 at 16:00

They suck up energy and water, and blast out heat. Just who is better off from all this investment – aside from tech bros?

The two great existential threats of our time – the climate crisis and AI – come hurtling together in the explosion of datacentres across Australia and around the world.

You can hardly avoid hearing about them these days, either with awed reverence of the promised benefits to humankind or with fear and anger given the implications for the climate, inflation, jobs and even housing affordability.

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Β© Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Β© Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Β© Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

The great carbon capture con: behold the wasted billions Burnham could claw back | George Monbiot

8 July 2026 at 09:10

There are far better ways to tackle climate breakdown, but successive governments have chosen to listen to the fossil fuel companies instead

The new prime minister will be looking for money? Well, here’s Β£21.7bn lying on the ground. The government could cancel its deranged, disastrous carbon capture and storage (CCS) programme at no cost to public welfare: in fact, it would greatly reduce the harm we will suffer.

Sorry, did I say Β£21.7bn? That’s the figure the government has been putting in its press releases for spending on this programme between now and 2050. But this covers only the first phase of the project. The climate experts Dr Andrew Boswell and Simon Oldridge worked through the data produced by the government’s Climate Change Committee, which was scattered across different spreadsheets, and discovered that the projected cost of the full CCS programme between now and 2050 is Β£264bn.

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Β© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian

Β© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian

Β© Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian

GB News co-owner β€˜cashing in on climate chaos’ after leap in fossil fuel investments, critics say

Exclusive: Campaigners argue news channel’s attacks on climate action β€˜work in financial interests’ of Sir Paul Marshall

The hedge fund run by the co-owner of GB News almost tripled its investments in fossil fuel companies in the first quarter of 2026 to $2.8bn (Β£2.1bn), the Guardian can reveal.

Critics have accused Sir Paul Marshall of β€œcashing in on climate chaos” and have claimed the news channel, which frequently attacks climate science and action, was β€œworking in its owner’s financial interests”.

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Β© Photograph: Anna Gordon

Β© Photograph: Anna Gordon

Β© Photograph: Anna Gordon

β€˜Why take those jobs away?’: the unionized workers decrying Trump’s war on wind

6 July 2026 at 12:00

Workers proud of their efforts to grow renewable energy say US president pursuing β€˜personal vendetta’ at their expense

Donald Trump has blamed everything – from β€œnational security” issues, the deaths of birds and whales, and cancer – in his decades-long campaign against windfarms. But as the Trump administration continues to undermine the industry, what worries workers most are their jobs.

Since taking office for a second term, Trump has issued an executive order aiming to halt all wind-energy leases and permits, attempted to issue stop-work orders on wind projects under construction, and paid more than $2.6bn in settlements to buy out wind energy leases. And hundreds of workers have been affected.

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Β© Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images

Β© Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images

β€˜It’s smoke and mirrors’: hope turns to fear in Scottish village chosen for AI datacentre

6 July 2026 at 08:00

Suspicions grow in Lanarkshire that local people have been misled on supposed benefits of the huge development

The promise was that a Scottish community would be transformed by massive investment and empowered to chase β€œthe jobs of the future”. Instead, local people in Lanarkshire fear they may have to sell their properties and lose green belt land because of the errors of a badly planned AI datacentre complex, even as those jobs and investments never arrive.

Late last year, representatives of Oakes Energy Services began to knock on doors in Newarthill, a village east of Glasgow. In letters reviewed by the Guardian, they invited residents to individual meetings. They told them about plans for a solar farm, say local people, and made offers: free solar panels, tree planting, or even cash for their properties.

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Β© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Β© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Β© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

What’s holding back Britain’s green revolution? – a visual story

Labour has approved a wave of renewable energy projects, but turning plans into power remains slow. Why is that?

Labour has a race on its hands if it is to lock in its promise to achieve a virtually zero-carbon electricity system by 2030.

Britain’s next prime minister will have to move fast: the climate emergency is raging, high energy bills are driving up the cost of living and the reactionary right is threatening a fossil fuel push if it wins power.

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Β© Composite: Guardian design / SSE

Β© Composite: Guardian design / SSE

Β© Composite: Guardian design / SSE

New pipeline in Canada to proceed after C$150bn pledged to ease BC and First Nations concerns

Port expansion and protections for whales part of BC and Alberta plan to expand country’s presence overseas

The governments of Canada and the province of Alberta will move forward on a major new oil pipeline after the pair announced a plan to ease concerns of British Columbia and First Nations on the Pacific coast.

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, shuttled between British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday to announce more than C$150bn in new investments in both provinces, part of a broader project of reducing trade with the United States and expanding his country’s presence in overseas markets.

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Β© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

Β© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

Β© Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

ScottishPower owes me Β£1,000 in solar panel payments

1 July 2026 at 07:00

For months I’ve been trying to receive my FIT payment, which should be more than Β£1,000

I moved into my new house 14 months ago, and soon afterwards applied to ScottishPower, with whom the solar panels are registered for a feed-in tariff (Fit), for transfer of ownership of the panels and the tariff.

After many emails back and forth, I got a response saying they had all the information required.

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Β© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

Β© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

Β© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

Fans for fans: power demand surges as England viewers cope with heatwave

24 June 2026 at 16:05

Handful of gas plants paid Β£4m to generate electricity at half- and full-time in World Cup game

A handful of Great Britain’s gas power plants were paid almost Β£4m to generate electricity for just a few hours on Tuesday evening as millions of sweltering viewers turned to air conditioning, electric fans and icy drinks during England’s second World Cup game.

The heatwave has caused electricity prices across Europe to surge this week amid higher demand for cooling and a string of power plant outages due to the record high temperatures.

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Β© Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock

Β© Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock

Β© Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock

Buyer beware: Your sustainable shopping choices may not be as green as they look

24 June 2026 at 12:00
New research reveals that many "green" claims are almost impossible to verify, often masking the full truth. University of Technology (UTS) professor of marketing Natalina Zlatevska said shoppers often rely on the labels as a shortcut when making quick decisions in supermarkets.

Bob Iger’s Disney wanted Apple, Twitter, and 007

24 June 2026 at 11:08
Bob Iger at "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band" Documentary Red Carpet at Academy Museum on October 21, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
You can’t always get what you want. | Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty Images

Bob Iger's tenure as CEO of Disney came to an end a few months ago, after two decades of leading the entertainment giant through some of its most pivotal transformations and acquisitions. Iger, in an exit interview with The Financial Times, has now confirmed some significant efforts that didn't pan out, such as walking away from buying Twitter, being snubbed by Apple, and losing out on the James Bond franchise.

According to Iger, Disney came close to buying Twitter from cofounder Jack Dorsey "at a very attractive price," sometime prior to Elon Musk buying the social media platform in 2022 and changing its name to X. Iger had plans to turn T …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Simple acknowledgment boosts repeat customer participation in take-back programs

24 June 2026 at 02:00
Companies may only need to send an acknowledgment message to boost repeat customer participation in recycling and reuse programs for used goods like laptops and coffee pods, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. The idea for the study arose over a cup of coffeeβ€”more specifically, the single-use pod used to make the coffee. Over a series of experiments, the researchers found that a simple "we received your item" email was all it took to encourage less-engaged customers to become repeat recyclers and to raise the company's sustainability profile.

Walmart, In Biggest Deal In Two Years, Buys Advertising Tech Firm Vibe.co

By: BeauHD
23 June 2026 at 21:00
Walmart is acquiring self-serve connected-TV ad platform Vibe.co for a reported $1.4 billion, adding it to an advertising ecosystem that already includes smart-TV maker Vizio. AdExchanger reports: On Tuesday, Walmart announced that it is buying Vibe.co, the French self-serve ad platform that specializes in helping small brands buy streaming commercials with similar ease and precision as they get from search and social. Vibe has been vying for a bigger share of the ad dollars moving to connected TV, especially in the US, as evidenced by the company's ubiquitous billboards in major cities including New York and San Francisco. Now, Vibe joins Walmart Connect's commerce ecosystem alongside the smart TV maker Vizio. And Vibe's tech is poised to help unify Walmart's growing CTV footprint with the closed-loop attribution provided by its retail sales data. [...] Together, Walmart and Vibe.co strive to "build the best ecosystem for the performance TV market," Vibe CEO and Co-Founder Arthur Querou told AdExchanger. Performance CTV has a high ceiling for growth. The performance budgets dedicated for streaming platforms are still small potatoes compared to search and social, Querou said. Only one-quarter of CTV ad campaigns have lower-funnel objectives, and that number has been static for years, according to data from Advertiser Perceptions. Now that Walmart owns both Vibe and Vizio, advertisers should have an easier time tying streaming campaigns to shopper data. That promise stands to win Walmart more marketing dollars earmarked for retail media and streaming behemoths -- including Amazon. Walmart is especially interested in attracting more small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) who lack the tools, budgets or teams to invest in streaming TV, a Walmart spokesperson told AdExchanger. Other ad platforms, including MNTN and Magnite, have likewise targeted SMB advertisers as a source for continued growth in the CTV market. By adding Vibe.co, Walmart can court SMBs with the pitch that its new self-serve tools will make it easier for them to execute CTV campaigns. Plus, SMBs tend to prioritize performance campaigns, since they are under more pressure to justify tighter ad budgets and thus have to be more selective about which platforms they advertise on. And Walmart is better positioned than most platforms to prove its ads drove performance thanks to its retail data foundation.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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