Emmanuel Macron has announced a “renaissance” for the French nuclear industry with a vast programme to build as many as 14 new reactors, arguing that it would help end the country’s reliance on fossil fuels and make France carbon neutral by 2050.“What our country needs ... is the rebirth of France’s nuclear industry,” Macron said in a speech in the eastern industrial town of Belfort, in which he lauded the country’s technological prowess.

Climate change is causing the highest glacier on Mount Everest to melt at a rapid pace, a new study has found.Researchers led by the University of Maine found that the South Col Glacier has lost more than 180ft (54m) of thickness in the last 25 years.The glacier, which sits around 7,906m (25,938 ft) above sea-level, is thinning 80 times faster than it first took the ice to form on the surface.The rate of decline has been blamed on warming temperatures and strong winds.Scientists leading the study found that since the 1990s, ice that took around 2,000 years to form has melted away.ADVERTISEMENTThey also noted that the glacier's thick snowpack has been eroded, exposing the underlying black ice to the sun and accelerating the melting process.Dr Mariusz Potocki, one of the study's lead re...

European scientists say they have made a major breakthrough in their quest to develop practical nuclear fusion - the energy process that powers the stars.The UK-based JET laboratory has smashed its own world record for the amount of energy it can extract by squeezing together two forms of hydrogen.If nuclear fusion can be successfully recreated on Earth it holds out the potential of virtually unlimited supplies of low-carbon, low-radiation energy.The experiments produced 59 megajoules of energy over five seconds (11 megawatts of power).This is more than double what was achieved in similar tests back in 1997.ADVERTISEMENTIt's not a massive energy output - only enough to boil about 60 kettles' worth of water. But the significance is that it validates design choices that have been m...

Ofwat must do more to make the water industry in England and Wales protect the environment, the government has said.Setting out the priorities for the regulator for the next five years the environment minister Rebecca Pow said water companies should significantly reduce the frequency and volume of sewage discharges from storm overflows.

A new study, involving dozens of researchers working in 100 countries, estimates the world to have 73,300 species of tree, with 9,000 not even yet discovered. It is thought 40% of all undiscovered tree species are in South America. Planet Earth is home to 14% more tree species than previously thought, with thousands yet to be discovered, according to a global count conducted by dozens of researchers around the world.The new study, compiled by 140 researchers in 100 countries, estimates the world to have 73,300 species, with 9,000 not even yet discovered.Sponsored linkRecommended byMan Who Made $95 million in 2008 Reveals New PredictionHow to make all the money you need — in any market — using a single stock.VproBut most undiscovered species are rare and live in tropical forests, w...