Architectural Design Making a Positive Impact on Sustainability in your Liveable City

If you are faced with the question; “Are you part of a liveable city”, would you know how to answer? Many would consider any city that they live in as a liveable city, but what does that really mean? The answer revolves around a few simple words that some of us are well versed with, while others are not. – sustainability, conservation, environmentally friendly, eco-friendly and carbon friendly (to name a few). Creating a more liveable city comes down to several factors, beginning with residential and commercial designs that offer sustainable features. Modern technology is now proving that there are …

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5 Ways New York City is Becoming a Sustainable City

When a person thinks about New York City, sustainability is not the first thing that comes to mind. Among all the artwork, high-end businesses, fast-paced lifestyle, endless parties, and traffic jams, you’d probably expect that sustainability is the last thing on New Yorkers’ minds. People here seem to only concerned with making money and figuring out the best ways of spending it. On the other hand, you have legislation and efforts that indicate that New York City is becoming a sustainable city at a surprising rate. So, what is the real picture? Well, let’s take a closer look. Is New …

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What are the Benefits of Renewable Energy Use?

Renewable energy, or clean energy, comes for natural processes that are regularly replenished. For example – sunlight and wind. The sun keeps shining and the wind keeps blowing. Many people think of renewable energy as a new technology, but in fact, we have been using it for a long time for lighting, heating, and transportation. It is true that people have been using cheaper but dirty energy like coal or gas for the last five hundred years. However, now that scientists have found less expensive methods of capturing wind and solar energy, tables are turning. Renewable energy is booming and …

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2018 Program Available for Download

The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference Program is now available online. The 2018 National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Brisbane.  The sustainability topics that will be embraced include integration, politics, technology, automation, future of renewables, procurement, food security, sustainable construction and waste as a resource. Featured Speakers for 2018 include: Mr Lucas Cullen, Board Member, Blockchain Association of Australia Dr Helen Lewis, Adjunct Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney & Environmental Consultant, Helen Lewis Research Mr Chris Nunn, Head of Sustainability, Real Estate, AMP Capital Mr Tony …

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New Tech Could Turn Windows Into Solar Panels

See-through solar cells have been created which could turn windows into small-scale power plants. Researchers at Michigan State University have developed thin, transparent, plastic-like material that can act as an energy-generating coating on windows, and provide additional power when coupled with a rooftop solar installation. While the technology has existed in its early stages since 2015, it is only now developed enough for projects of scale. The technology works by utilising organic molecules within the transparent film that absorb ultraviolet and infrared lightwaves – which are invisible to the human eye – and converts them into electricity by directing these lightwaves to small photovoltaic cells at the edge …

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Virgin Starts Brisbane Biofuel Trial

Brisbane airport will become one of the first airports in the world to use biofuel, with Virgin Australia trialling the sustainable fuel source. Virgin has partnered with US-based renewable fuel supplier Gevo Inc to supply “biojet” fuel to Virgin planes out of Brisbane for the next two years. Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti said the airline wanted to test whether the renewable fuel was a viable alternative to straight jet fuel. “The project announced today is critical to testing the fuel supply chain infrastructure in Australia to ensure that Virgin and Brisbane Airport are ready for the commercial supply of …

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Melbourne’s Trams To Be Solar Powered

Melbourne’s trams network will soon be powered by the first large-scale solar plant to be built in Victoria. The solar plant, which will be completed by the end of 2018, is expected to be located in Victoria’s north-west. The state government announced on Thursday that the solar plant would produce 75 megawatts of power, with about half of that production to be linked to the tram network. Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the government would use its purchasing power as a “large energy consumer” to boost investment in renewables. The project is expected to create 300 …

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Mr John O’Brien, Managing Director at Australian CleanTech to join us at #NSBC17

The National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held in Brisbane next week from the 23-24 March 2017. Mr John O’Brien, Managing Director at Australian CleanTech joins us next week to discuss ‘The Visions 2100 Project: Recalibrating Environmental Communications through Positive Storytelling’. Visions can mobilise communities, countries and global networks to deliver extraordinary outcomes. The human race can do extraordinary things when it needs to. With the right motivation, humans can win unwinnable wars, put men on the moon, build pyramids or create atomic bombs. However, the complex issue of climate change is one that our race is struggling to address. The …

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Compost could be harnessed for clean energy production

A 2015 Churchill Fellowship recipient says his research has shown there is huge potential to generate clean energy from compost. Gippsland Water agribusiness manager Jono Craven has just completed his fellowship report, titled ‘The Investigation of Effective Recycling of Urban and Agricultural Waste to Provide Positive Outcomes for Agriculture’. Mr Craven said he adopted the topic to try and work out how to get better agricultural results out of compost. He travelled to Israel, the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the US and Canada to research best practice compost production. “Before I left I saw varying results through the use …

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How New Systems Can Make The World A Greener Place

Global energy consumption has grown steadily over the past century. This trend, driven by population and economic growth, is set to continue in spite of rising efficiency of both production and consumption. The IEA estimates that over the period to 2035 the investment required each year to supply the world’s energy needs will rise steadily to $2,000 billion. In response to new opportunities such as renewable energy and smart technologies – and new policy goals – to reduce emissions and extend energy access, Distributed Energy Systems (DES) encompasses a diverse array of generation, storage, energy monitoring and control solutions. DES …

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