Technology - the key to sustainability
26 March, 2010 by Nikki Williams*, NSW Minerals CouncilThe NSW Minerals Council recognised that climate change was a major issue more than a decade ago and the mining industry is now positioning itself to be part of the solution - it is currently developing sophisticated technology to reduce emissions and to capture and store carbon.
Changes to RET scheme
01 March, 2010The federal government announced last week that it will be dividing its Renewable Energy Target scheme into two parts: the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET).
LED lights trial
10 February, 2010A new lighting trial reveals barriers and trends to making LED lighting viable for widespread use.
COAG commitment on new building energy efficiency fulfilled
27 January, 2010Changes will be made to the 2010 Building Code of Australia to increase the energy efficiency of new buildings, fulfilling a COAG commitment.
US Dept of Energy selects Eaton and HP to improve IT energy efficiency
18 January, 2010Eaton has announced that it is collaborating with HP on a federally funded project to improve energy efficiency in information technology (IT) systems. Among the 14 projects chosen by the US Department of Energy, the joint proposal from Eaton and HP was selected as the third-largest grant recipient at US$7.4 million.
A holistic perspective of energy management
02 January, 2010How can lighting designers use intelligent controls to improve building energy management? Philips Dynalite Energy Management Segment Manager, Brett Annesley, explains how an environmentally sustainable development (ESD) strategy can deliver energy efficiency outcomes, while addressing indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and changing occupancy requirements.
Student’s vision of clean energy may come true
02 January, 2010 by Richard MainoA young engineering student may have found a brilliant way to fulfil every scientist’s ‘unattainable’ dream of renewable energy.
Hitting the compressor ‘sweet-spot’
01 January, 2010Properly matching an air compressor to the application is the first step towards improving energy efficiency. Rather like a tennis racquet, each compressor variant has a 'sweet-spot' - defining the duty zone at which the compressor operates with the highest efficiency. Represented graphically, the sweet-spot is a distinct zone within a given range of operating hours per year, and percentage loads.
Lighting the way through the ‘green’ building rating maze
02 December, 2009 by Brett Annesley, Dynalite Segment Manager - Energy ManagementEnergy management and environmental performance are becoming increasingly significant across today’s commercial building sector. Building owners, developers and occupiers face a complex mix of design, application and classification requirements to meet Australia’s two key ‘green’ rating tools for office buildings - Green Star and NABERS Energy. Brett Annesley, Dynalite Segment Manager - Energy Management, sheds light on the issues from a lighting control and automation perspective.
Paint IT green
01 December, 2009Once upon a time, the IT department was ignored when it came to sustainability. But now, more and more Australian companies are wising up to the benefits of green IT. Andrew Collins explains how these new technologies can cut carbon emissions, power usage and your power bill.
Algal synthesiser offers renewed hope of rapid CO2 emissions reduction
23 November, 2009A new technology that may hold the key to rapid, large-scale CO2 emissions reduction from existing coal- and gas-fired power stations and other smoke-stack industries such as smelters and refineries has been unveiled as a curtain-raiser to three major trial installations along the east coast of Australia next year.
Better way to harness waste heat
20 November, 2009New MIT research points the way to a technology that might make it possible to harvest much of the wasted heat produced by everything from computer processor chips to car engines to electric powerplants, and turn it into usable electricity.
Energy-efficient lighting
10 November, 2009 byThe Nimbus LED.next lighting claims to deliver energy savings of up to 70% compared with conventional fluorescent and incandescent lighting and is claimed to be more than twice as energy efficient as low-voltage halogen lighting.
Heat exchanger design
10 November, 2009 byThe Deep Dimple design of the Dimpleflo heat exchanger range achieves good heat transfer coefficients when processing slurries and viscous products or waste streams.
Meeting building codes for lighting systems
10 November, 2009Clothing wholesaler Gazal Apparel recently consolidated its warehousing operation to its distribution centre in Banksmeadow, NSW. In order to maximise space at the centre, high-density pallet racking and mezzanine flooring were installed. During the upgrade, consulting engineers Heggies highlighted to Gazal’s management the Building Code Association (BCA) Section J requirement for minimum energy efficiency standards.
