These seven south-facing solar panels were installed in early July 2025 so we’ve had them, and the battery they fill when our electricity production is greater than our immediate need, for just over a year. Overnight, when there is no solar generation, we use whatever electricity is stored in our battery and then switch to…
Category: Z SMALLER CATEGORIES
RSPB – UK could be set to lose its first bird species due to climate change
UK could be set to lose its first bird species due to climate change The UK’s breeding Dotterel population has declined by 89% since 1988 The rate of decline has increased since the last national survey in 2011 Declines are similar inside and outside of Special Protection Areas, suggesting climate change could be one of the main causes Results from…
RSPB statement re Climate Change Committee’s annual report on the UK’s progress in cutting emissions
RSPB statement re Climate Change Committee’s annual report on the UK’s progress in cutting emissions Katie-jo Luxton, the RSPB’s director of conservation, said: “Nature is our greatest ally in tackling climate change and this week’s extreme heat is yet another reminder of why we need to go further and faster. From renewable energy in the right places helping to reduce…
Iceland whaling 2026
The Icelandic media are reporting that the single whaling firm on Iceland plans to resume hunts for Fin Whales this year. Government has announced that the quota would be 150 Fin Whales this year (less than last year, but then none of it was used last year). A new conservation/welfare NGO, Friends of the Whales,…
Newsblast readers’ poll
I asked the readers of my monthly newsblast six questions on 21 November. Two were about their age and sex, one was about how they felt about the future of wildlife in the UK, and three were about politics. Here are the responses of 464 people up until I closed the poll yesterday at 6pm…
Ban driven grouse shooting will be debated on 30 June
My response to the consultation on heather and grass burning in England
This is how I responded to the consultation on heather and grass burning in England. If you’d like to respond too then you have until 25 May, five days, to do so. It’s pretty quick and it is a way to support the campaign to ban driven grouse shooting, or at the very least to…
No whaling for Fin Whales in Iceland this summer
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There will be no whaling for Fin Whales this summer by the sole Icelandic whaling company, Hvalur hf. Kristján Loftsson, CEO of Hvalur hf told Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið “As the situation appears to us, Hvalur hf. sees no other situation than to wait for better times, but the situation will be taken up again in…
Dear Mr Reed, 2 – Badgers
Dear Steve Reed, in just over three weeks time you may well be Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. If so, that will give you great opportunities to make the world a better place and that must be an exciting prospect. However, one hot potato will be firmly on your desk –…
Iceland issues whaling licence
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Sad to say that the Iceland government has issued a one-year licence for whaling today – click here. It’s clear that the government has not gone as far as whaling interests would like, having taken a long time to make a decision, only issuing a one-year licence and limiting the number of Fin Whales…