Protecting the environment and your reputation with organic carbon analysis
Monitoring and controlling the amount of organic matter in our streams and waterways is critical for environmental protection. Total organic carbon (TOC) is the amount of carbon present in an organic compound and measuring it provides a fast and convenient way to determine water quality. This article looks at the different methods now available for analysing TOC. Read more »
Concept to creation: agricultural waste to energy
Engineers Australia has selected the ‘Make it so’ idea, which will be made a reality by the engineering profession. It is to ‘make it so’ developing communities can re-use their agricultural waste to create energy for cooking and heating. Read more »
Global market for Australian water technology
As a country which has continually had to deal with the scarcity of water, Australia is ideally placed to become a leader in the US$400 billion global water market. But a detailed analysis of our water innovation patents has found Australian companies are failing to leverage their valuable intellectual property (IP) into global markets. Read more »
Inspiring smarter solutions
The Plastiki, a 60-foot (18.2 m) catamaran made from plastic bottles, sailed into Sydney Harbour on Monday 26 July. Designed to raise awareness of the amount of plastic waste in the ocean and plant the seed in everyone’s mind to think about minimising waste and re-using materials intelligently, the Plastiki expedition is the creation of adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild and his organisation, Adventure Ecology. Read more »
A commitment to sustainable packaging
Since 2000, the National Packaging Covenant (Covenant) has been an innovative and unique national approach to dealing with packaging waste. It has engaged the packaging supply and recovery chains, governments and community groups. There was a specific target to divert high-embodied energy materials from landfill and through these activities contribute to a reduction in GHG emissions. Read more »
Fresh science
Cling wrap that captures CO2 and a recycling technique for pig waste are two of the research discoveries in this year’s Fresh Science competition. The national competition identifies new and interesting research being done by early-career scientists from around the country and then helps them present their research to the public. Read more »
Complying with greenhouse and energy reporting
As the 2009/10 financial year comes to a close, corporations are busy with their financial reporting requirements. The end of the fiscal year also signifies the approach of greenhouse gas and energy reporting deadlines under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (NGER Act), where corporations over a certain size are required to report their emissions and energy by 31 October. Read more »
Mining technology looks to a sustainable future
Sustainability and mining are two words that don’t quite seem to fit together. But with evolving social expectations, and under increasing public and media scrutiny, the past decade has seen the mining industry put in a huge effort into sustainable development in order to maintain its ‘social licence to operate’. Read more »
Progress on energy management standard
The future ISO 50001 standard for energy management was recently approved as a Draft International Standard (DIS). Read more »
Glass recycling hits new highs in NZ
The Glass Packaging Forum recently released the latest data about New Zealand’s glass packaging production, consumption and recovery showing that New Zealanders recycled 166,575 tonnes of glass packaging last year and that two out of every three glass containers is now being recycled. Read more »
Source catchment management
Applying a whole-of-catchment approach to water management is now possible thanks to Source Catchments, the first component of eWater’s integrated water modelling suite, eWater Source, to be publicly released. Read more »
Energy-efficiency legislation powering up government agenda
Energy-efficiency legislation is powering up the government agenda but how should the government ensure any new schemes are widely adopted? Peter Garrett, Managing Director, mySmart CTI, comments. Read more »
Building the green economy
Sustainability! Do the major parties have a clue? Green Capital’s ten-point hit list caused debate at its recent Politics of Sustainability event. Whoever wins the looming federal election will need to take immediate action to create the building blocks for Australia’s transition to a green economy. Here are the Green Capital top tips for action. Read more »
Cool roofs can offset carbon dioxide emissions
Can light-coloured rooftops and roads really curb carbon emissions and combat global climate change? The idea has been around for years. A new study by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - the first to use a global model to study the question - has found that implementing cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world can not only help cities stay cooler, they can also cool the world, with the potential of cancelling the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. Read more »
Voluntary carbon market stagnates: report
Sales and investment in the voluntary carbon market have stagnated in the last six months under the impact of federal government policy confusion, according to the latest update of the Carbon Offset Guide. Read more »
Phytocapping of landfills
The waste sector in Australia has significantly advanced over time with developments in technology and research. This has not only introduced advanced/alternative waste technologies (AWT) but has also enhanced waste recycling programs and techniques. Despite all the advances, landfills still exist and need to be managed appropriately. This can create a significant expense for councils. Phytocapping is a relatively new technology that has been trialled in Australia and could provide a beneficial alternative technique for landfill remediation, especially for small to medium-sized sites. Read more »
Australia to be a major force in wind energy
According to GE Energy’s Australian CEO Tim Rourke, Australia is currently positioned to be one of the world’s dominant forces in renewable energy … as long as the government continues to support stable policy making in this area. Read more »
Retrofitting fossil fuel-fired boilers with biomass gasifiers
The delay of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) until 2013 certainly slows investment in the renewable energy sector and favours only highly profitable/low CapEx projects. Despite the ETS delay, there are two incentives remaining for energy consumers to cut fossil fuel consumption: rising fuel prices and the generation of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). Read more »
Environmentally sustainable design in interiors
CSR's new HQ achieves a 5 Star Green Star - Office Interiors v1.1 rating for the fit-out of the Triniti III building in the Stockland Triniti campus at North Ryde. Read more »
Mineral carbonation project for NSW
A CO2 mineral carbonation plant is set to be built in NSW, in a joint venture between GreenMag Group and the University of Newcastle, thanks to $3 million seed funding announced by the NSW Minister for Mineral Resources for a pilot project. Read more »