The Bolivar Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is claimed to be the largest wastewater treatment plant in the Adelaide region, processing almost 70% of Adelaide’s metropolitan wastewater. The South Australian Government has approved a $25.8 million project for SA Water to optimise the energy utilisation on the site. This project will provide a major upgrade to the WWTP power supply by the installation of on-site electricity generation fuelled with the digester gas produced during the treatment plant process.  The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and support for renewable energy projects are aligned with the state’s strategic plan. [ + ]

The first offset projects under the national Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) have been approved, with four landfill sites set to reap environmental rewards by capturing harmful greenhouse gases from waste. [ + ]

Simons Green Energy has designed, and is supplying and installing, the 1200 kWe of natural gas fired cogeneration at the soon to be completed Little Creatures Brewery in Geelong. The installation of the cogeneration system will provide a large portion of the brewery’s electricity demands and will use the waste heat generated by the engines to provide hot water for the numerous process heating applications. The units will be configured to run parallel to the grid, meaning that the only energy to be purchased from the grid will be that over and above what the engines can supply, which is expected to be very little. [ + ]

MPower has recently completed the design, supply and installation of a trigeneration plant for the Tyree Energy Technology Building at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The trigeneration system helped the university to achieve the Six Star Green Star design rating for the building. As the power generation equipment is located on the roof of the building, space plus noise and vibration levels were challenging. [ + ]

The road to clean technology is not a smooth one. It requires the spending of time and money to get ideas off the ground, and then a change in attitude in order for other people to implement these ideas. The challenge of overcoming these issues was discussed at the opening panel session of GE Australia’s ‘At Work’ event, held in Sydney from 21-22 August. [ + ]

McConnell Dowell is using Campbell Scientific data loggers and sensors within its new weather monitoring and marine navigation system installed at Hay Point in North Queensland. The main purpose of the system is for Operations Health & Safety, ensuring safe working conditions for McConnell Dowell personnel. [ + ]

Engineers at Oregon State University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater, opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants will not only power themselves, but will sell excess electricity. [ + ]

Ziltek and CSIRO have announced the commercialisation of a handheld device for the rapid in-field analysis of petroleum contamination in soil. [ + ]

While our athletes strived for gold at the London Olympics 2012 (achieving seven gold medals, 16 silver and 12 bronze), the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) tried to achieve the ‘most sustainable Games ever’ and match the sustainability standard first set back in 2000 by Sydney. [ + ]

AvivaPure, a clean technology business from Notting Hill in Melbourne, is working towards commercialising its ECube, large-scale, solar- and wind-powered accelerated evaporator and antifouling technology. To assist in further research and development of its products, the company sought business advice from Enterprise Connect and undertook a business review. The advice and recommendations opened up new connections for the company with researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Monash University. [ + ]

These are interesting days for product stewardship. The days of strict extended producer responsibility (EPR) being forced by governments upon unsuspecting and entirely unwilling industries have waned. Recycling at end of life is no longer seen as the sole means of demonstrating product stewardship. Broader aspects of sustainability and their roles in reducing the life-cycle impacts of products across supply chains are recognised more than ever before. [ + ]

Sustainability can be a hard idea to wrap your head around because it’s so broad. So here are two ways we want to think about it at Xylem: first, we have a global definition - meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs; and second, we have a business definition - generating shareholder value by controlling risks and capitalising on opportunities associated with environmental and socioeconomic issues. [ + ]

Enviropacific Services’ (EPS) main role during the BHP Remediation works was the practical implementation of the Material Management Plan (MMP) (Maunsell, 1999). This involved the classification and management of contaminated material identified in preliminary investigations and encountered during earthworks. [ + ]

Scientists have discovered an abrupt increase in the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide by the land biosphere (which comprises all of the planet’s plant and animal ecosystems) since 1988. Without this natural increase in uptake, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would probably have increased even more rapidly over the last two decades. [ + ]

ALERT stations are typically set up to acquire and transmit hydrological and meteorological data on a timed and event basis. Campbell Scientific data loggers that are used to run ALERT stations have plenty of capability to spare, and that capability can be leveraged to perform a variety of services. [ + ]