Posted in Carbon Footprint

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 Starts Brisbane Biofuel Trial

Photo: article supplied

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 these exciting fuels,” he said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said over the course of the trial the biofuel would be produced overseas and shipped to Australia, but she hoped over the next two years it would be able to be sourced locally.

“To get up and running, industrial-scale biorefineries need a critical mass of customers to supply,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“That’s why it’s vital to get big industries like aviation and defence on board as potential customers.”

The Queensland government has already signed a deal to supply biofuel to the US Navy, with an agreement to supply 50 per cent of their fuel needs by 2020.

This was originally published by SBS.com.au.

Click here to read the entire article.

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 solutions are not beyond us in any way. Technological solutions exist, scientific knowledge is plentiful, the world can afford the transition but still significant action eludes us. The complexity of climate change is now in the psychology of change.

Mr John O’Brien

The human brain is hard wired to react to imminent threats. Telling most people of an impending catastrophe in 20 years will over no impact on current behaviours.
Visions 2100 holds stories from some of the world’s leading environmental thinkers and influencers. The eighty short visions come from authors including Mary Robinson, Christiana Figueres, Bill McKibben and many others. These are the people who are shaping your future world. Their visions tell what they want to see in their future. What future do you want?

The National Sustainability Conference themed ‘Renewables – Markets – Innovation – Opportunities – Capital’ will address the need for sustainable business practices, and what this means in today’s ever-changing world.

The conference will update delegates on a range of effective sustainable business practises including Renewable Energy and Carbon initiatives. We will examine Governments’ sustainability and business funding plans. Join us and discover new business opportunities and trends in the sector along with the findings of recent research.

Click here to download the conference program.

For more information on the 2017 National Sustainability in Business Conference please visit the conference website.

 

 

Lowering the Carbon Footprint of Cities while Creating Business Opportunities

The National Sustainability in Business Conference will be held in Brisbane from the 23-24 March 2017.

Prof  Deo Prasad, Chief Executive Officer at CRC Low Carbon Living joins us this month to discuss ‘Lowering the Carbon Footprint of Cities while Creating Business Opportunities.’

There is ongoing discussion on future energy mix in cities – from a coal based to renewables.  The long term aspiration may be fine but how do we navigate the transition?  More and more roof top PVs or local area mini-grids, storage – all at households to community to network scale are being explored. What is more certain is that there needs to be an integrated approach tying demand side efficiencies to supply side options where reliability remains critical.  This talk will discuss the outcomes from the national research and innovation hub for the built environment which aims to underpin a low carbon living while ensuring job creation from the processes.

Conference Topics Include:

  • Renewable Energy Systems and Sources – Biofuel, Biomass, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, Hydropower, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, Wave Energy, Tidal energy, Energy Storage and Wind Power. This can also include energy transformation from renewable energy system to grid.
  • Think Local First – development of the local economy and community, urban agriculture, Buy Local.
  • Innovative Business Opportunities – Incubators, Start Ups, Venture Capital / Entrepreneurs.
  • The Energy Market – Regulators, Wholesale and Supply Chain, Retailers, Consumer Demand, Carbon trading, Emissions.
  • Trends, Policies and Strategies – current and emerging trends, technologies, research, government policies and industry initiatives within the environmental and sustainability sector
  • Financial Impact – social and environmental risk, industry development, operational and managerial impact, market risk and opportunity, stakeholder issues
  • Innovation – energy transition, application and feasibility, social and economic change, research & development opportunities

Click here to download the conference program.

For more information on the 2017 National Sustainability in Business Conference please visit the conference website.