Beetaloo Basin court ruling against gas development ‘win for law’

A multimillion-dollar plan by the Morrison government to develop an onshore gas field in the Northern Territory has been slapped down by the Federal Court. Three $21m grant contracts commissioned by Resources Minister Keith Pitt for a gas exploration program in the NT’s Beetaloo Basin were ruled invalid and void, and “legally unreasonable” as the Morrison government had signed off on them while they were still subject to court proceedings.

One of the world's healthiest marine environments off the Kimberley Coast, home to almost 100 protected species, will be threatened by a major oil and gas seismic testing.

Hot conditions and strong winds will mean an extreme fire risk on Christmas Day across WA, with mercury predicted to soar over 40 degrees across the state.

...and the Canopy is taking a well-deserved pause for the festive break but will return to your inboxes on January 4. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our support network. Catch you on the flip side.

Beetaloo Basin gas development grants ruled “null and void” in court challenge

A Federal Court judge has ruled a $21 million grant to speed up fracking in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin invalid because of the Morrison government’s "unreasonable" move to quietly award the money while a court challenge was underway. Lawyers for the Environment Centre NT had argued Resources Minister Keith Pitt failed to consider the climate risks associated with his decision to award Imperial Oil and Gas, which is fully owned by Empire Energy, three grants totalling $21 million in July this year.

'Reckless' plan to search for oil and gas near Rowley Shoals in north-west Australia will put one of the world’s healthiest reefs at risk

One of the world's healthiest marine environments, home to almost 100 protected species, will be threatened by a major oil and gas drilling program. A Perth-based company, Seismic Searcher, has applied to conduct seismic testing to search for oil and gas across a 8,584km sq area on the doorstep of state and federal marine parks protecting the three atolls that make up the Rowley Shoals, 300 kilometres off WA's Kimberley coast. According to the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA), the exploration permits for these areas are held by Santos, Pathfinder Energy and 3D Oil.

Scientists and engineers have pumped 300 litres of simulated whale poo into the ocean off Sydney for capturing and storing carbon

Known as WhaleX, researchers released simulated poo – a mix of nitrogen, phosphorus and trace elements - which can spur phytoplankton growth, absorbing carbon dioxide in the process into the open ocean off Port Botany. The tests are part of efforts to snag a share of Elon Musk’s US$100m prize for sourcing methods capturing and storing carbon at a scale of a billion tonnes or more a year.

Hottest Perth Christmas on record forecast with ‘unusual’ heatwave and extreme fire risk

Hot conditions and strong winds will mean an extreme fire risk on Christmas Day, with mercury predicted to soar over 40 degrees across WA. The average forecast across Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in Perth will break the prior highest average of 40.3 degrees set in 2007, which means this year will be the hottest Christmas period since records began more than 100 years ago

Spanish-Australian duo unveil massive offshore wind projects off NSW Hunter Coast

Spanish offshore wind group BlueFloat Energy and Australian developer Energy Estate have unveiled plans for three offshore wind farms totalling 4300 megawatts (MW). The projects include the 1.4GW “Hunter Coast”, which will use floating technology and will be located off the coast south of Newcastle in the Hunter Coast region of NSW.