Blue & Green Daily: Tuesday 4 February 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.

Sustainability on a sofa: couchsurfing is the ultimate in living like a local

Ban Ki-moon: climate change security threat same as ‘armed group bent on plunder’

Iceland’s next renewable frontier: geothermal energy from magma

The north will ‘underperform economically’ without HS2, says chair

Landowners launch ‘legal blockade’ on fracking as ministers eye trespass law change

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February 4 headlines

Vince Cable: shale gas won’t be a reality in UK for at least a decade

Shale gas is no more than a long-term possibility for the UK and should not be a key plank of energy policy for the next decade, the business secretary has warned. Instead he said energy policies should focus on renewable energy. Guardian.

BP reports 22pc fall in full-year profits

BP became the latest oil and gas major to report falling profits and production as it unveiled a 22% fall in full-year profits, hit by a drop in refining profits and exits from countries. The oil giant has sold almost $40bn of assets since 2010 as a provision for clean-up costs, fines and compensation payments for an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Telegraph.

Cuadrilla to reveal Lancashire fracking sites

Shale gas explorer Cuadrilla will today announce plan for fracking at two sites in Lancashire next year. The company and its partner, British Gas owner Centrica, will begin consultation with residents, ahead of seeking planning permission in coming month to drill and frack wells. Telegraph.

Alaska’s Arctic icy lakes lose thickness

The ubiquitous shallow icy lakes that dominate Alaska’s Arctic costal plain have undergone a significant change in recent decades. The lakes no melt earlier in the season and retain open water conditions for much longer and follow the pattern of diminishing sea ice in the region. BBC.

Bankers adjust their bonus cap

Barclays’ chief executive Antony Jenkins as said he would waive his bonus for the second year in a row, highlighting the contrasting fortunes of top-earning bankers as their pay has yet again shot up high onto the public agenda. Financial Times.

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Interesting picks

Emissions impossible: Did spies sink key climate deal? – BBC

Could bankers save the Great Barrier Reef? – Guardian

Energy economics as if thermodynamics mattered – Green Futures

Britain’s energy crisis is about to boil over – Telegraph