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Category Archives: Association for Sustainability in Business

A shift towards clean energy; Victoria’s renewables target

The Victorian Labor government has announced an “ambitious and achievable” Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET). This target will commit the state to generating 25% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2020, and 40% by 2025 as reported by Dylan McConnell. While details of the VRET are yet to be fully fleshed out, it is set to be based on a similar mechanism to the scheme used in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which has managed to sidestep the uncertainty that has plagued the renewables industry in recent years. ACT deputy chief minister Simon Corbell called Victoria’s announcement “a game-changer”. …

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‘Flick’ a start-up shaking up the power business in NZ

“Electricity is sexy and very exciting!” Jessica Venning-Bryan, general manager for brand for Flick Electric Co, said. Flick is a start-up that’s shaking up the power business in New Zealand. For most people, the idea of an electricity company doesn’t exactly match up with words like “sexy” and “exciting”. But just like how Flick is changing the way consumers consume energy, it’s also turning the stilted corporate culture associated with big power companies on its head. Their vibrant office is a reflection of that and in this week’s Workspace, we will be exploring Flick’s base of operating in Wellington as …

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The Future of Renewables, Solar, Battery Storage and Electric Vehicles

A global renewable energy transformation is underway. The proposed merger between Tesla and Solar City outlines the shape of things to come. The integration of solar panels with battery storage and electric vehicles is the paradigm for both ecological global economic growth, and reaching the goals of the Paris Climate accord as reported by Roy Morrison. An integrated renewable energy company will combine electric vehicles, battery storage, and solar electric panels, all with rapidly expanding market share and plunging prices. Globally, investment in cheap and carbon free solar energy is already rapidly supplanting fossil fuels. Whether or not Tesla’s corporate …

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Coal won’t solve energy poverty, but renewables will

Last month, a remarkable story emerged out of Kenya. Not one of violence or unrest that the world is becoming used to, but a lighter one: the national power grid was disrupted by a solitary monkey. The unfortunate primate’s precarious exploration of Kenya’s most important electrical source — a hydro power plant operated by the Kenya Electricity Generating Company — resulted in it falling onto a transformer, short circuiting the nation’s power grid, and causing widespread blackouts and disruption in the process as reported by The HP. While the episode exposed the vulnerabilities of Kenya’s national power gird, it also …

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Energy crowdfunding: the new way to boost renewables

Millions of euros have been crowdfunded in four years to finance small and medium renewable energy projects. And there is still potential to be developed It’s a brand new sector: the first steps date back to 2012. Today energy crowdfunding is a way of financing solar panel or wind turbine projects. For some people, like Andrew Yakub, founder of a US solar manufacturing company, it will save the planet. There is already a big annual conference dedicated to the sector, and a European association that brings together the platforms involved in renewable energy. In March 2016, when one of the …

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Wind farm boom looms as Premier Daniel Andrews looks to boost clean power

Victoria would have 40 per cent clean electricity in less than a decade – nearly tripling the current level – under an ambitious plan announced by the Andrews government. The government has set targets to ramp up wind power and large-scale solar power, paid for through an increase in household and business electricity bills and spending from the budget. With private spending on clean electricity largely stalled due to a lack of confidence in federal government support for a national renewable energy target, the Andrews government believes its policy will make Victoria the centre of a revitalised industry. It estimates …

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Melbourne renewable energy project provides global blueprint

Councillor Arron Wood is the city’s environment portfolio chairman, standing in a rooftop courtyard as the faint sound of trams rises up from Swanston Street down below and the surrounding skyline reaches into a cool autumn sky. Against this backdrop, not to mention the solar thermal panels on the next level, Wood does not hold back when discussing how cities can lead from the front in tackling climate change. In a Guardian interview, he evokes the philosophy of Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire and former New York mayor who has been a major driver of climate change action by the world’s …

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Large-scale hybrid project completed at Australian copper and gold mine

Work has been completed on Australia’s “largest solar and battery storage project to date”, a 10.6MW PV installation at a copper mine linked to 6MW of storage, according to developer Juwi. While it still uses diesel to run alongside the solar panels and batteries, the Germany-headquartered company claims the off-grid project will save the DeGrussa Copper and Gold Mine around five million litres of diesel fuel a year – around 20% of its current usage. The project’s construction began last summer, with support from Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). At the time, CEFC chief Oliver Yates said the project …

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Australia to use almost 40% renewable power by 2030

Nearly 40% of all Australian electricity generation will be from renewables by 2030, a report from consulting firm McKinsey has claimed. The report, released at the APPEA conference in Brisbane on Tuesday, said by 2030 up to 37% of Australian electricity could come from renewable sources. This compares to 14% in 2014. But across all fuel sources, including transport fuel, renewables are still only expected to make up about 5% by 2030. Using a “business-as-usual” approach the McKinsey report said despite an increase in renewables Australia was likely to miss Paris Climate Change Accords emission reductions. “In the power sector, …

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Visionary renewable energy projects that could pay off for Australia

Although there are numerous innovative projects seeking to improve the sustainability of Australia’s energy sector, one of the main barriers to making them happen is – as with most things – money. With the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) set to lose $1.3bn in unallocated funds, the agency has announced a raft of grants for green projects, including $17m for nine research and development projects that “have a pathway to being fully commercial” through industry partners as reported by Annie Kane. According to Arena’s CEO Ivor Frischknecht, the three-year projects all focus on integrating either more renewables or more energy …

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