Blue & Green Daily: Friday 8 August headlines

Blue & Green Daily finds and summarises the top sustainability stories around the web every morning. We start with our own picks from Blue & Green Tomorrow.

Microscopic hydroelectrics and space-based solar: the renewable energy of the future

Poll: UK homeowners want sustainable energy upgrades for ‘mouldy, cold and damp’ homes

Al Gore: economic case for coal divestment as strong as moral one

All penguin species at risk because of human activity

European Union still failing to control illegal timber trade, says WWF

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8 August headlines

Solar panels top green wish-list, says Energy Saving Trust

Solar panels top householders’ energy saving wish-list, despite draughty homes being the biggest complaint, a survey has suggested. Some 44% of those asked by the Energy Saving Trust said they lived in a draughty home. Condensation was a problem fro 38% of those asked and 29% said they had mould. BBC.

Drax shares fall after Court of Appeal ruling

Shares in Drax Group fell by as much as a tenth on Thursday after the UK’s Court of Appeal backed the government’s right to exclude the operator of Britain’s biggest power generation site from applying for a subsidy scheme aimed at encouraging low-carbon energy schemes. Financial Times.

Banks to be forced to increase competition in SME lending

Britain’s biggest banks are to be forced to increase competition in the SME loan market in a bid to ensure further growth in a key part of the economy. Under new legislation being drawn up by the Treasury, banks will be instructed to help SMEs find new sources of finance if they have to turn them down. Telegraph.

US lowers odds of El Nino forming by end of year

The odds of an El Nino forming in the equatorial Pacific have fallen to about 65% through the end of the year, the US Climate Prediction Centre said. Computer forecast models delay the onset of the El Nino, a warming of sea surface temperatures and corresponding atmospheric changes. Bloomberg.

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Interesting picks

Facts can convince conservatives about global warming – sometimes – Guardian

Has the era of the ‘climate change refugee’ begun? – Washington Post

Social impact investing: a flash in the pan or the wave of the future? – Forbes

Should the UK be able to feed itself? – Guardian

Photo: Sanja gjenero via Freeimages