A huge new desalination plant in Lonsdale will provide South Australia with up to 100 billion litres of water each year for decades to come. Adelaide Aqua (a consortium of four Companies, United Utilities, Acciona, Abigroup and McConnell Dowell) has been contracted to design, build, operate and maintain the plant for the next 20 years.

Rising energy bills, carbon pricing, and increasing regulation and reporting requirements are challenging business leaders to be more sustainable and accountable at a time of stress and volatility on global markets.

Christchurch in New Zealand is planning to rebuild after the devastating earthquakes that hit the city earlier this year. The Christchurch City Council’s draft Central City Plan (dCCP), released in New Zealand in August, offers a timely case for discussion. This plan outlines a vision for rebuilding the city and while it covers a broad range of aspects for redevelopment, this article reflects on the future of transport in the city.

Governments warned: window to limit global warming closing.

Even with significant over-estimation of the cost of renewable energy, a new report by the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA) still shows the cost has been modest, according to the Clean Energy Council.

Shoppers don’t usually give a second thought as they reach into a cooler to grab milk, cheese or prepackaged lunches. Open-front refrigerated display cases, which make up roughly 60% of the refrigerated cases in grocery stores and supermarkets, provide quick access to chilled products such as dairy, meat, fish and produce. While they are popular with shoppers and grocery stores, they’re less popular with electric utilities and others concerned with energy efficiency.

Rising out of the red earth, under the blazing sun of central Australia, a ‘forest’ of solar panels stands against the horizon.

The Hassell-designed Government Services Office development in Dandenong, Victoria, has achieved the highest sustainability rating available from the Green Building Council of Australia.

In an industry known for its voracious use of water and power, Edstein Creative Stone is showing how eco-friendly manufacturing practices respect our environment and save money.

US-based grocery retail company Supervalu has installed energy monitoring hardware and has enrolled in a demand-response program with Net Peak Energy Group. The program organises payment to the retailer for effectively ‘selling’ their electricity back to their utilities when demand is high. Additionally, the program can call for the retailer’s distribution centres to shed up to 1.2 MW of power.

Melbourne architects CK Designworks have designed a cutting-edge, 24-storey industrial and commercial building in Nanjing, China. Robert Caulfield, partner in charge of the project, said that the building would set new levels of sustainability and environmental conservation for industrial buildings and could set the scene for similar buildings in other parts of the world, particularly where land is at a premium.

For over 14 years, the Moe Wastewater Treatment Plant has been effectively and successfully processing sewage. Located in Gippsland, Victoria, the medium-sized plant serves an equivalent persons population of 22,000. Its average daily flow is 5 ML per day.

It is no secret that truck transports use fuel, but with relatively modest means fuel consumption and thus emissions can be considerably reduced. The Volvo Trucks updated web service Environmental Footprint Calculator helps customers become more eco-conscious. The upgraded tool also offers tips for reducing truck emissions.

Increased water conservation and water use efficiency are a priority for countries worldwide. A vital process, in a number of countries, is to boost the supply of potable water by desalination. However, large-scale desalination typically requires large amounts of energy as well as specialised, expensive infrastructure, making it very costly compared to the use of fresh water from rivers or groundwater.

In these times when sustainability and environmental responsibility are increasingly important, the measurement of soil moisture is vital. If the soil moisture and soil type is known then the exact amount of water can be applied for optimal growing conditions. This logic also applies to game day. Much research has been done on the potential for injury to lower extremities on turf surfaces. The potential for injury is directly related to the amount of traction the player has on the surface. The easiest way to adjust this level of traction is to apply water to the surface. If the moisture level in the topsoil can be measured then playing conditions can be optimised for a reduced potential for injury.