Wind turbine operators are expected to receive a record-breaking £3.1 million in compensation payments after generating too much electricity on August 7. They produced 106% of Scottish demand and were therefore not able to sell the excess electricity to National Grid. All energy producers — including oil, coal and gas generators — are paid compensation when they cannot sell their electricity to National Grid. Michael Rieley, senior policy manager at Scottish Renewables, said the payments were “a normal part of the overall efficient management of our electricity system, given the limitations of the UK’s ageing energy infrastructure.” The Daily Mail Scotland also has the story and an accompanying editorial, while the Daily Express features an editorial on the topic.

Theresa May has written to China’s president seeking to enhance trade and cooperation, amid a dispute over London delaying a $24bn nuclear project at Hinkley Point, following security concerns over Chinese financing. China warned that relations are at a crucial juncture after May delayed signing off the deal last month, calling for the project to proceed.

Even after the fading of a strong El Nino, July 2016 burst global temperature records, according to the latest data from NASA. It was 0.84C warmer than the 1950-1980 global average, and about 0.18C warmer than the previous records of July 2011 and July 2015, which were so close they were said to be in a tie for the hottest month on record. The temperatures are down to human-caused climate change from the burning of fossil fuels, with a boost from the now-gone El Nino, scientists say.

Scientists are relieved by a government promise to guarantee funding for existing EU research projects even after Brexit – but the reassurance only partly allays concerns about the effect leaving the EU will have on UK science, Nature reports. Uncertainty has led to reports of EU collaborators deciding to drop UK scientists from future grant applications, and the UK currently receives billions of euros for research from the EU. “This is encouraging news that provides much-needed stability for British universities during the transition period as the UK exits the EU” said Alistair Jarvis, deputy chief executive of the higher-education umbrella group Universities UK. However the campaign group Scientists for EU issued a statement calling the announcement “decidedly underwhelming” and “a confirmation of the bare essentials, but nothing more”.

The slow retreat of glaciers in South America threatens water supplies that communities have relied upon for centuries. But it can also lead to the risk of a glacial lake outburst flood, or ‘glof’: sudden flooding when the weak walls of a mountain valley collapse under the weight of meltwater. Scientists highlighted this risk at a conference on glacier retreat in Peru last week. Huaraz, a city of about 100,000 people in Peru, is particularly at risk from the glacial Palcacocha lake, just 12 miles up the mountain above the city, experts said.

The price of Brent crude has reached a one-month high of $46.61 per barrel, amid hope that the world’s largest producers may agree a deal to combat the glut of oil supplies. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries – responsible for nearly 40% of world supply – is considering joint action to limit output at an informal meeting in Algeria next month. The Times and the Financial Times also carry the story.

Professor Brian Cox has verbally sparred with a newly elected Australian politician on the Australian panel show Q&A, after being ‘dumbfounded’ by Malcolm Roberts’ claim that climate change data was manipulated by NASA. “I could sit here and read out figures until I’m blue in the face,” Prof Cox said. “The absolute, absolute consensus is that human action is leading to an increase in average temperature. Absolute consensus.” Roberts has previously claimed that the United Nations is using climate change to lay the foundations for an unelected global government, the BBC reports. The Huffington Post also has the story.

Britain could scrap the 18 billion-pound ($23bn) nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point and get the same amount of electricity from offshore wind turbines for roughly the same investment. That’s the assessment of Bloomberg New Energy Finance following Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to review whether to proceed with the first new atomic plant in more than three decades. For the same capital costs, the UK could install about 830 new turbines at sea, which would generate 25 terawatt hours a year – the same amount of power the Hinkley reactors would produce, according to the London-based researcher.

A third of the British public would support fracking even if they received cash payments, a new poll by YouGov and Friends of the Earth has found. They asked more the 1,000 people if they would allow fracking near their homes if they were paid up to £10,000. The findings follow the UK government’s consultation on whether or not to give cash payments to those near shale gas exploration.

Mexico is to launch a year-long pilot of a carbon cap-and-trade program in November, where polluters will be obliged to offset carbon emissions with tradeable certificates, in a test run for a national carbon market due to launch in 2018. The simulation will involve the voluntary participation of up to 60 companies, giving them time to adapt to an upcoming carbon credit system, Reuters reports. Carbon Pulse also has the story.

“The UK is a long way from being self-sufficient in power generation,” says the Bloomberg View columnist. “The decision about whether to give Hinkley the go-ahead has as much to do with whether the government is willing to rely increasingly on imports from other countries to meet its needs as it does about fears that China might plant electronic Trojan horses in power station equipment that could turn out Britain’s lights.”

The shipping sector is projected to contribute more than 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and yet claims to have no control over its rising emissions, blaming the growth in global trade. But low-carbon alternatives such as wind power do exist, notes Tom Levitt in the Guardian Sustainable Business blog. Indeed a recent trial by the MS Estraden using large cylinders to capture wind and help propel the vessel forward has cut fuel costs by 6%. With a “wariness about renewables, low fuel prices and little political incentive”, such trials are important to convince companies of the benefits of green shipping Levitt writes.

“Day after day, week after week, saboteurs behind our lines are unleashing a series of brilliant and overwhelming attacks” climate activist Bill McKibben writes, using a militaristic metaphor to describe the impacts of climate change. The only way to defeat it is to “literally declare war on it”, he suggests, as this mentality will allow us to mobilise our efforts at scale and focus on a single, all-consuming goal, as happened in WWII. Scientific American also reports on his opinion piece.

A new paper describes successful attempts by scientists to spot methane leaks from oil, gas and coal installations from the air. Using near-infrared and thermal infrared sensors mounted onto an aircraft, the researchers flew over the “Four Corners” region of the US – a 1,900-square-mile area where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet. The technique led to the detection and immediate repair of two leaks in natural gas pipelines, the researchers say, and could help companies meet new federal limits on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

Researchers have created a new dataset for the global ocean, which includes observations of 12 variables, such as salinity, oxygen levels, pH, and dissolved inorganic carbon. The new dataset, “Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAPv2),” is its second iteration, and is composed of data from 724 scientific cruises covering the world’s oceans. In a second paper, researchers use the new data to create a global map of each ocean variable, covering the period 1972-2013.

A new study investigates the costs and benefits of mitigating climate change by targeting emissions cuts in cities. Global deployment of low carbon measures that are consistent with a global temperature rise of no more than 2C would require investments of around $1tn per year between 2015 and 2050, the study finds – equivalent to 1.3% of global GDP in 2014. Taking into account the direct savings from these measures in terms of avoided energy costs, the researchers estimate these investments have a net present value of up to $65tn in the period to 2050.