Ferngrove Wines has become a shining example of sustainable winemaking after installing one of Australia’s largest winery solar power systems. The Frankland River-based business has put the finishing touches to its $900,000 SunPowering Ferngrove project, the latest mark of its ongoing commitment to sustainability. [ + ]

Biogas can be burned directly in boilers for heat recovery and used for manufacturing, heating or cooling; this is the simplest method of direct biogas utilisation on site. Alternatively, it can be burned in engines to generate electric power (cogeneration). Combining hot water recovery with electricity generation, biogas can provide an overall conversion efficiency of 65-85%. [ + ]

Todae Solar has announced the completion of two of Australia’s largest rooftop solar systems, totalling 175 kW, on two clubs in NSW. A 99 kW system was installed on the roof of the Euston Club & Resort, while the Rules Club Wagga Wagga installed a 76 kW system. [ + ]

The Kilcoy Pastoral Company’s facilities in Queensland have drastically reduced energy expenditure by refurbishing existing plant and installing new compressor equipment supplied by Compressed Air and Power Solutions Australia (CAPS). [ + ]

SolarMax has announced the installation of its solar inverters at the Yass Soldiers Club, a regional NSW community venue. SolarMax reseller Ygrene Energy worked with the club to install a 100 kW system that includes seven SolarMax 15MT2 inverters to convert the direct current from solar panels into alternating current for use across the site. [ + ]

Optimising growth conditions and matchmaking bacteria is all in a day’s work when bioremediating contaminated sites. [ + ]

Scientists working at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, which is a collaboration between the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and the University of Bristol, have developed a novel way of charging mobile phones using urine as the power source to generate electricity. [ + ]

Major infrastructure projects will make a significant contribution to expanding Australia’s commitment to clean and green energy at a community level under the vision of not-for-profit organisation Embark. [ + ]

CHEP, a provider of pallet and container pooling solutions, has achieved significant energy savings through the installation of energy-efficient Atlas Copco compressors at its pallet production and repair sites in the UK. The savings from the installation have been measured at over 1000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. [ + ]

Green Distillation Technologies is commercialising an innovative process to resolve the long-standing, global environmental problem of tyre disposal, to produce oil and recover steel and carbon from end-of-life tyres. The company plans to start operations in October at its Warren NSW pilot plant and market an IPO next year to fund seven additional plants in Australia in its first five years. [ + ]

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have developed a nanomaterial that could help reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from coal-fired power stations. Their work has been described in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. [ + ]

Take a PET bottle, fill it with sand and put the lid on. Do this with lots more bottles, then stack them up and join them together with mud and cement. What sounds like a fun game for the children’s sandpit is, in fact, a new idea in recycling. The bottles are being used to build houses in an outstanding and ambitious project in Nigeria. [ + ]

Four stages can typically be identified in every economic cycle: growth, development, maturity and decline. Those who believe that the future of solar power in Australia is troubled are wrong, mistrusting a market which last year accounted for 4% of global PV installations and was ranked sixth in the world. [ + ]

Westpac and Meridian Energy are giving farmers in New Zealand easier access to solar energy, potentially helping them save thousands each year on their power bills. [ + ]

Pasteurisation - ie, the rapid heating and cooling of food (usually liquid) - has been used since the late 1800s to treat and disinfect milk. Now, a version of the process will be used in Australia for a different purpose - treating recycled water. [ + ]