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The Future of Architects

How we will move between and around our Cities? I believe Architects in the future need to be more interested in what makes cities work rather than style individual buildings. That is certainly born out by the work of Weston Williamson which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. On looking to the future it is sensible to reflect on the past. As Steve Jobs said “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. “ I am an avid reader on the subject of ancient history, the Persians, the Ancient Greeks, the Egyptians. But I am particularly intrigued …

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Is It Time We Upgrade Our Energy Network?

Australia is an exciting place to be right now – changes that previously took 25 years to happen are now happening in five years, and with a customer-led shift in the utility sector to a market in terms with transition. In response, we must find ways to coordinate all the complexity in the market. On the generation side and on the low side, the grids are the glue behind it all. We need grid extension, transitional lines for power transfer, and examples of reinforcement of our distribution grids with a lot of the centralised generations embedded. Increased efficiency in our …

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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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Australia large-scale renewable investment hits a low point

Australian investment in large-scale renewable energy projects fell sharply in the first quarter of 2016, more than six months after the Coalition government promised “certainty” after forcing Labor to agree to slash the renewable energy target to 33,000GWh. New data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance showed that investment in large-scale renewables – wind and solar – slumped to just $US69 million, falling back to levels seen in the midst of the investment freeze, when the then Abbott government sought to abolish the RET altogether, or seek bigger cuts. The impact in 2014 was so dramatic that large-scale investment actually dried up completely …

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Solabat: Solar + Battery Hybrid System

The Solabat project gives new meaning to the term solar + storage – it aims to combine the two on a single device. Researchers at the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) say they are entering largely unknown scientific territory with the project. While small solar + battery devices are already widely available, the Solabat project is thinking much tighter integration and potentially much bigger – up to full size solar panels such as those used in home solar power installations. “Currently single systems of photovoltaic cells which are connected together – mostly lead-based batteries and vast amounts of cable …

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Global Geothermal Power Market is Expected to Grow at 11.6% CAGR

The global geothermal power market was estimated at $3,233.5 million in 2015, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.6% during 2016 – 2022. The factors driving the growth of the global market include increased government support for geothermal power projects and stringent environment regulations, high capacity factor, and increasing need for energy independence and geopolitical energy security. Asia-Pacific dominated the global geothermal power market in 2015, and it is anticipated to retain its dominance during the forecast period. The geothermal power market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow, due to high energy demands in the region …

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A cleaner era in energy appears to be digging in

Environmental impacts are business as usual in mining and other extractives. Yet amid an uptick in the demand for metals, minerals, fuels and rare earths that feed everything from cars to construction to clean energy technologies, the mining industry — squeezed by ever greater forces — is slowly shifting, and even cleaning up its act. There’s no question that the mining industry finds itself in a hole, reputationally speaking. Activists long have targeted mining titans over working conditions, most recently in electronics and jewelry supply chains. Then there’s outrage over ecological degradation. Yet more potent than lawsuits or sanctions is …

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Energy markets: the planet’s unlikely new ally in the emissions effort

In the aftermath of Paris climate talks, analysts lined up to point out why the celebrated agreement was simply not good enough as outlined by the Conversation. Certainly, the scale of the climate crisis requires urgent emissions reductions, which Paris did not secure at anything like the necessary scale. Questions also remain over the agreement’s legal status, how future commitments will be made, and what enforcement mechanisms (if any) will be in place. In Australia, fears that the post-Paris situation would simply return to business as usual seemed borne out by a RepuTex analysis that predicted Australia’s emissions would rise …

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Will wind energy have longevity?

Wind power is currently the cheapest source of large-scale renewable energy. It involves generating electricity from the naturally occurring power of the wind. In a TriplePundit article published yesterday; Wind Energy is Top-Dog in the EU … But Will It Last? It refers to a report by the European Wind Energy Association and discusses whether or not it will remain top of the league board. The article states, it’s a good time for wind energy, particularly in the European Union. The EU added more new wind-energy capacity than any other form of power last year, according to the EWEA report. …

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