Infrastructure is critical to Australia’s growing cities and our way of life - what role do scientists play in making sure we get our infrastructure priorities right? This article is a Q&A with one of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s scientists, Barbara Pedersen, as a contribution to National Science Week. [ + ]

Environment Victoria today released Envirotracker, a free online resource which outlines the environment and climate change policies of the three main parties contesting the 2013 federal election - the ALP, the Coalition and the Greens. According to Environment Victoria CEO Kelly O’Shanassy, this is the first time such an analysis has been conducted on environmental policies in Australia. [ + ]

When Orica, provider of commercial explosives and blasting systems, wanted to reduce operating costs and improve efficiencies at its manufacturing plant in Helidon, Queensland, the company went to Atlas Copco to seek advice. [ + ]

Anyone flushing a toilet in urban Australia today does so confident that they’ll never again see the thing they’ve flushed. They probably also think they are causing minimal environmental harm, thanks to our well-designed wastewater treatment plants. But is our lack of concern for sewage pollution well founded? Recents events in northern Tasmania suggest not. [ + ]

Bringing forward the emissions trading scheme (ETS) in Australia will affect landfill operators in two ways: by reducing certainty due to potentially volatile carbon prices and by reducing viability for Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) projects due to the lower value of Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) generated. [ + ]

Marrickville Council’s successful remediation of Denison Road Playground in Dulwich Hill is complete, meaning the long-awaited community garden can now proceed. [ + ]

CSR Roofing has been manufacturing terracotta roof tiles at its Vermont (Melbourne) factory for over seven decades. To replace its ageing compressor, the company chose an Atlas Copco VSD (variable speed drive) machine. [ + ]

Global water technology company Xylem has announced that its Flygt Experior system has reduced energy consumption and operating costs at a municipal water treatment plant in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia, by 35%. [ + ]

The Environmental Bankers Association of Australia (EBAA) provides information on risk management, sustainable product finance, community responsibility and due diligence to its members. CEO of EBAA Grant Scott provides us with an insight into managing environmental risk from a banking perspective. [ + ]

Consumer preference, regulation, emerging valuation models, organisational change agility and the simple pragmatics of closing the product loop influence the development of the ‘green economy’ in the manufacturing sector. This thought piece unpacks some of those drivers as we begin the conversation to better understand what the challenges and opportunities of the green economy mean for Australia. [ + ]

Having been the Chief Executive of the Australian Water Association (AWA) for just over a month, my steep learning curve on the water industry has become apparent. However, I do have a clear direction for where the association is heading and what we should be doing to assist the Australian water industry. [ + ]

Construction companies that don’t consider the sustainability of assets in the original design phase of projects are missing out on a key piece of information that could significantly reduce costs and increase profits while increasing the sustainability of building practices and the buildings themselves. [ + ]

Australia’s Gulf region is on the verge of a boom that can be facilitated by greater investment in renewable energy, according to the CEO of Cairns-based development agency Gulf Savannah Development. Rob Macalister - one of the keynote speakers at All-Energy Australia 2013 in Melbourne on 9-10 October - is optimistic about the future in the area, which covers nearly 200,000 km, from Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands through to the Northern Territory border. [ + ]

In the early days of water treatment, naturally occurring zeolites (glauconite greensand) were used to soften and remove the iron and manganese from water. The greensand media was not ideal as it was a slow process which required periodic regeneration with potassium permanganate. Also, it couldn’t be used in lower pH waters and had relatively low operating temperatures. Therefore, in the 70s, scientists and researchers in Japan began to look for ways to apply oxidising technology to a silica-sand substrate and came up with the Quantum DMI-65 media. [ + ]

Faced with continuing population growth, climate change and resource and financial constraints, governments around the world are introducing policies aimed at achieving productive, liveable and sustainable cities. From planning and design, to engineering and construction, the quest to deliver a high quality of sustainable living for Australians has become a key objective of both public and private organisations. [ + ]