Latest Climate & Energy News Today: 8 November 2026

Fortescue is installing wind turbines with 89-metre blades at the Nullagine Wind Farm in Western Australia's Pilbara region, part of its real zero by 2030 vision. The blades will arrive by ship at Port Headland, with site upgrades to ease access and reduce local traffic impact. The turbines will help power electric dump trucks using 6MW robotic fast charging, cutting 26% of Fortescue's emissions.

Global plug-in vehicle registrations rose 3% year on year in September to about 2.16 million, close to the all-time record of 2.17 million set last December. Pure electric vehicles set a monthly record at 1.54 million, while plug-in hybrids fell 9% and left the 2026 EV share at 25%. Tesla Model Y led sales with a record 165,000 units, as plug-in hybrid sales weakened.

Los Angeles and Long Beach ports have left hydrogen out of detailed deep-sea fuel planning in their October Clean Marine Fuel Feasibility Assessment. The assessment recommends developing commercial methanol bunkering demonstrations, continuing existing ship-to-ship LNG bunkering and avoiding major new fuel terminals until demand becomes credible. The move is notable because California has spent two decades promoting hydrogen for transportation.

Lake Powell reached a record low last month, less than 150 feet above dead pool, where water can no longer flow through Glen Canyon Dam's bypass tubes to Lake Mead. The low level reduced hydropower generation, complicated ecosystem management, and cut water deliveries to Arizona, California, and Nevada. As the 27-year drought and climate change shrink the Colorado River, some are considering draining Lake Powell entirely.

New analysis says Ineos is spearheading growth in the trade of US fracked ethane used to make plastics for consumer items in Europe. The British company has a 15-year deal with Range Resources to supply fracked gas. Campaigners point to health and environmental concerns around fracking, including in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where 36 wells surround a campaigner's property.

Ecologists and conservationists warn that reintroducing white-tailed eagles in England and Wales could collapse breeding populations of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes. The dispute centres on plans to release up to 60 eagles in Gwent, south Wales, in addition to 20 young birds to be released on Exmoor over the next three years. An eagle from the Exmoor release was sighted over Skomer, a seabird sanctuary, last month.

Councils have adopted a five-year North Pennines National Landscape plan that prioritizes climate readiness and public access. Measures include restoring peatland to reduce flooding and protecting woodlands, while farmers are being equipped with wildfire tools such as drones. The plan responds to expectations of warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers in upland areas.

More than 430 seagrass shoots were found across 50 seabed patches in the Fowey Estuary after a restoration trial. Volunteers planted seeds collected from a donor meadow in Torpoint in autumn 2025, and the growth gives hope for recovering one of the UK's most important marine habitats. The project will plant more seeds in the Fowey and Helford estuaries, with monitoring planned for spring 2027.

Banana producers in Latin America are asking for better pay to offset climate impacts from this year's super El Niño. High winds in Colombia, heavy rainfall in Peru and Ecuador, and expected drought in the Dominican Republic are reducing output. Colombian Caribbean exports fell 32% to $122m between July and September, with September shipments down 42% year on year.

The Prince of Wales's Earthshot prize will hold its annual awards ceremony at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on 17 November. The venue is part of Reliance Industries, which owns the world's biggest oil refinery at Jamnagar. Conservationists criticize the choice because the Ambani family's foundation also funds Vantara, a private zoo with more than 150,000 animals.

Tesla is about to end Cybertruck production after the vehicle fell far short of its sales targets. The annual target was 250,000 units, with a goal of reaching 500,000, but output was a small fraction of that. One estimate put the net project loss at about $2 billion, and the truck cost roughly twice as much as planned while delivering about half the expected range.

The proposed $1.5 billion, 500-megawatt Four Creeks wind farm in Peoria County, Illinois, has passed a key approval step. The milestone follows a federal review change in August 2025 that put at least 155 onshore projects totaling 45 gigawatts in limbo and drew a lawsuit. Attorneys General in 19 states intervened in July, supporting the lawsuit over a process that normally involves collaboration with the Department of Defense.