Some enterprising people at the University of East London have been making building blocks out of sugarcane waste, which, it turns out, is a viable alternative to dirty old concrete – at least according to this video on comparatively calm and nutcase-free social media network, LinkedIn.

So, sugarcane waste (‘bagasse’) – which I’m assuming is the bits of leaves and sticks which are left over after they’ve shaken all the sugar out – can be induced to form lightweight blocks (called ‘sugarcete’) that are extremely strong, and which have a much smaller carbon footprint than the aforementioned evil concrete.

Furthermore, it’s resistant to fire and very insulative. Excellent, I’ll take a crate! Oh, it’s not ready yet – tests continue. But it’s a nice story, nonetheless, no?

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A bunch of people got together 13 years ago and set up an eco-village that aims to tackle the twin pestilences of the climate crisis and loneliness. And things appear to be going quite well, in the second piece of good news for a column that traditionally bulges with carnage and horror.

Oh, and you can read all about the thing that appears to be going quite well here.

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You won’t believe this, but it seems that the fossil fuel industry may have had intimate knowledge of the danger their products presented to the world all the way back in 1954!

Outrageous. You can read more about this startling news, revealed by some old documents somebody found, here.

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The Norwegian government has been delivered a kick in the hydrocarbons after a court ruled that the administration must factor in the damage from emissions when granting new North Sea oil and gas drilling licences.

Oslo district court’s decision follows an earlier case in Norway’s Supreme Court, which came about after Greenpeace Norway and Young Friends of the Earth Norway went after the government, aggrieved that it had approved three new oilfields.

However, naturally, the government is appealing the decision. Nevertheless, the action and subsequent ruling shows a certain effective tenacity – oil-mad UK prime minister Rishi Sunak dished out HUNDREDS of new oil and gas drilling licences late last year, in an act of belligerence that seemed calculated to simultaneously please fossil fuel companies and attract voters who are dismayed by attempts to prevent the environment being busted beyond repair.

Anyhow. It’s all good fun, isn’t it? Read more about the Norway case here.

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Ready for the next potentially dire consequence of climate change? No, probably not, but here it is, nevertheless. The likelihood of conflict between humans and elephants is probable to rise due to our addiction to pumping carbon into the atmosphere.

Researchers who set about mapping human–elephant clash risk found that battle is likely to commence as temperatures rise and suitable elephant habitats are encroached upon by climate-scorched humans.

We can’t get anything right, can we? Here’s the story.