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Waste collection vehicles drive environmental change in Whyalla
New collection vehicles launched by Veolia and Whyalla City Council are set to do more than pick up the towns’ recycling and waste.
Boasting environmentally-positive messages from the community on the vehicles’ sides, they’ll remind residents of the need to practise sustainable waste behaviours to help protect the local environment.
The new fleet of four trucks showcase pictures of Whyalla’s most beautiful landmarks, alongside slogans that encourage people to ensure their household recycling and waste ends up in the right bin, and not in the local environment. The initiative was supported by local residents on Facebook, who rallied around the idea and submitted slogans to accompany the images.
The campaign follows the commencement of Veolia’s new kerbside collection contract with Whyalla City Council, launched on 1 October for up to seven years.
As part of the collaboration, council and Veolia aim to bring the community together to improve recycling rates and protect local biodiversity.
City of Whyalla Mayor, Clare McLaughlin said the initiative is just one way council will work with Veolia to drive a cleaner and greener city.
“We know residents are proud to live in our beautiful city and care about protecting it, which was evident in the number of environmentally-focused slogans we received from the community for these vehicles.
“There’s no better motivator to continue this focus than seeing pictures of our very own town — accompanied by this positive messaging — throughout local streets every day.
“I’m thrilled to see the new vehicles in operation, and hope they remind people to really think about what they’re putting in their bins,” she said.
Veolia’s State Manager, Ben Flanagan said the campaign signified the collective efforts needed to drive positive environmental change.
“Keeping the community clean and protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility and we all need to do our bit. This means ensuring that our at-home waste behaviours are consistently correct.
“Where residents can’t avoid or reuse their waste, we ask them to ensure that all of their household recycling is put in the yellow-lidded bin, so that we can collect it and turn it into something new,” he said.
Residents are also reminded that they can make use of the Whyalla Waste And Resources Transfer Station (WRTS) for items that can’t be placed in their household bins.
“Over the past year, residents have been making good use of the WRTS and this is supporting a more sustainable outcome for waste management in Whyalla.
“We hope this continues long into the future,” he said.
The slogans and imagery being displayed on the collection vehicles are as follows:
Whyalla jetty: ‘Keep Whyalla Beautiful’ (photo by Ben — The Drone Way; slogan by Rachel Coles) — red bin collection vehicle
Wild Dog Hill: ‘Keep our space free of waste’ (photo by Gail Caveides; slogan by Melanie Westbrook) — red bin collection vehicle
Cuttlefish: ‘Educate, Participate, Co-Habitate’ (photo by Carl Charter; slogan by Alex Robins) — yellow bin collection vehicle
Point Lowly: ‘Keep our ocean blue and our Eyre green’ (photo by Mark McInnes; slogan by Ryan Wake) — green bin collection vehicle
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/article/waste-collection-vehicles-drive-environmental-change-in-whyalla-1021570001
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/05/waste-collection-vehicles-drive-environmental-change-in-whyalla/
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How Ireland’s Trinity College is using cloud technology for design of water treatment processes during the pandemic
Does the design of water and wastewater treatment plants in your business still rely on manual, repetitive and linear approaches?
If yes, then, chances are that your designs are being delivered inefficiently.
According to a recent Frost & Sullivan Report on Environmental Intelligence, “inadequacy of the current environmental analytical tools” is one of the main challenges faced by the water/wastewater sector. This trend extends to the initial design of an efficient wastewater treatment plant.
Whereas most industries are thriving with the use of technology, the water sector still falls under the “laggard” or “late majority” categories for adopting new technologies. At the same time, competition continues to increase, and it has become important for water and wastewater engineering businesses to find new ways to work efficiently and effectively.
Water design engineers and consultants know that there is a massive potential for cost saving and efficiency gains but putting changes into practice is difficult.
For many years, the availability of integrated design and process simulation packages has not serviced industrial, reuse and drinking water plant designs as well as it has for biological treatment plants. Engineers and designers in many cases still rely on manual, repetitive spreadsheet-based processes. Design packages, when available are based on mathematical simulation products that have been repurposed from other industries and difficult to learn and based on desktop PCs that are limited in terms of processing power, data storage and tools for collaboration. Emerging technologies for industrial water treatment and drinking water are often not covered at all.
Cloud-based products have the potential to deliver significant innovations to treatment plant design packages by leveraging on-demand increases in processing power and storage as well as the ability to work simultaneously on designs, work remotely and integrate workflow and audit trail capabilities that are critical in delivering effective designs.
Identifying the opportunity in drinking water and industrial water treatment design, Envirosuite, with a long history of delivering complex modelling solutions through cloud-based platforms, recently integrated an emerging and innovative technology in the process design market into its EVS Water Portfolio through an acquisition of AqMB, an emerging provider of design and digital twin solutions for the water industry.
“We recognised that there was a real need for better products in the industrial and drinking water design space. AqMB had embedded strong and deep technical knowledge in a product that serviced a clear gap in the market for engineers and designers of water and wastewater treatment plants and Envirosuite has demonstrated success in delivering complex environmental modelling solutions that leverage the power of cloud computing around the world. We look forward to delivering this product to engineers and designers around the world over the coming years,” says Global Head for Water and Waste at Envirosuite, Chaim Kolominskas.
Cloud-based technology has allowed:
More rapid integration of emerging models for water and wastewater treatment. Plant Designer covers nearly all current drinking water and industrial water treatment technologies and has recently integrated key treatment models for biological treatment. It is unique to see such broad coverage of treatment processes in the one product.
The ability to simulate many models simultaneously. This has led to an innovative capability of ‘automated optimisation’ where 1000s of model scenarios are generated before the best fit for target performance is recommended. This leads to significant savings in design times.
Easier integration and export of engineering deliverables such as equipment sizing, lifecycle costs, material and energy balances and stream properties leading to further design savings.
Simultaneous design, review and audit trail capabilities facilitating much easier remote working and true collaborative process design.
Importantly, the cloud also makes integration of these deterministic models much easier into broader digital twin applications with the ability to process large volumes of real-time information and couple with powerful data science and machine learning capabilities to deliver real-time and predictive management to water and wastewater treatment plants once they have been built.
“The cloud allows us to integrate deterministic models and machine learning approaches, which significantly improves forecast accuracy and speeds up implementation time compared to machine learning only approaches. Having a deterministic model baseline also ensures that the model doesn’t drift, giving our customers better confidence in the recommendations for optimisation. Having spent 20 years in the water sector, we recognised the caution that the water industry has for artificial intelligence only approaches and wanted to make sure that our products are always grounded in strong, leading science and we think we’ve struck the right balance with this approach. The emergence of cloud computing has made that all possible,” says Darren Szczepanski, founder of the product.
Ireland’s Trinity College is now using EVS Water Plant Designer to learn ‘tricks of the trade’ for water treatment processes during COVID-19
When teaching design of water treatment processes, engineering schools are looking for ways to communicate complex science efficiently and effectively. Benchtop or theoretical exercises can be slow and remote learning can be difficult.
Ireland’s Trinity College is one of the world’s most renowned universities and has been teaching engineering since 1841. The School of Engineering has a strong focus on quantitative and analytical methods, the application of innovation and the use of new technology to solve problems in the natural and built environments.
The Challenge: The pandemic hindering collaboration and practical research outcomes
As the pandemic emerged, The University faced a number of challenges in teaching wastewater treatment process design effectively. In-person collaboration was restricted, and benchtop studies became impractical to deliver.
The University was conducting research on landfill leachate treatment and needed a new solution to simulate the treatment processes, understand the implications of different treatment options while still being able to effectively teach the principles of the treatment processes and technologies involved.
The Solution: Learning industrial and biological modelling processes using a single, cloud-based platform
To facilitate a number of higher research projects, Trinity College began using EVS Water Plant Designer to simulate landfill leachate processes. The platform is cloud based and designed for collaborative, remote learning. Multiple users can work on the same design simultaneously and comprehensive audit trail and review functionality makes the teaching and review process much more efficient than traditional methods.
Trinity College’s School of Engineering looked to cloud-based software solutions to facilitate learning of landfill leachate processes.
The platform also provides an automatic calibration function and is supported by excellent-practice models. Thousands of model configuration scenarios can be simultaneously compared and evaluated to provide accurate and reliable calibrated model configurations for the target design, significantly speeding up the calibration and optimisation process.
EVS Water Plant Designer was also able take data directly from the EPA in Ireland to understand excellent-practice models and how they impact process design, facilitating the research and learning of wastewater treatment process design in a collaborate and cost-effective manner.
“Using the technology, the students are able to efficiently design water treatment plants and simulate a variety of treatment processes. EVS Water Plant Designer has been very helpful for teaching the principles of water and wastewater treatment.” — Dr. David O’Connel, Assistant Professor, Contaminant Hydrology and Hydrogeology (Trinity College, Dublin)
A chance to see it yourself
Visit Envirosuite’s website (https://info.envirosuite.com/evs-water-designer) for a free 30 day trial of EVS Water Plant Designer and significantly reduce time it takes to design water processes.
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/wastewater/article/how-ireland-s-trinity-college-is-using-cloud-technology-for-design-of-water-treatment-processes-during-the-pandemic-1438738338
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/05/how-irelands-trinity-college-is-using-cloud-technology-for-design-of-water-treatment-processes-during-the-pandemic/
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Envirosuite partners with Aeroqual
Envirosuite has partnered with air quality monitoring technology designers Aeroqual to develop solutions for the mining, waste, wastewater and industrial sectors.
Joining the two complementary technologies of Envirosuite’s EVS Omnis environmental intelligence technology platform with Aeroqual’s air quality stations, monitors and technology is anticipated to accelerate opportunities for both companies to solve even more complex air quality challenges across these industrial sectors.
Headquartered in New Zealand, Aeroqual’s platform is based on smart sensing technology and advanced software algorithms. The platform is designed to solve challenges in air quality monitoring, delivering validated data cost effectively. It will now stream data onto Envirosuite’s environmental intelligence software platform.
The partnership has already engaged on projects in Spain, Malaysia and USA, which have demonstrated the value of the complementary solution between Envirosuite and Aeroqual.
Jason Cooper, Envirosuite CEO said: “We believe this partnership has the potential to help industries to transform their environmental management practices and accelerate growth within mining, waste, wastewater and industrial facilities.”
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/news/envirosuite-partners-with-aeroqual-413336760
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/05/envirosuite-partners-with-aeroqual/
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Study solves energy storage puzzle
Curtin University researchers have developed a method to determine which chemicals and types of metals are best to store and supply energy.
The development is relevant for any battery-run devices and technologies reliant on the fast and reliable supply of electricity, including smart phones, and could greatly benefit scientists, engineers and start-ups looking to solve the energy storage challenges of the future, according to lead author and Associate Professor Simone Ciampi from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences.
“All electronic devices require an energy source. While a battery needs to be recharged over time, a capacitor can be charged instantaneously because it stores energy by separating charged ions, found in ionic liquids. There are thousands of types of ionic liquids, a type of ‘liquid salt’, and until now, it was difficult to know which would be best suited for use in a capacitor,” Associate Professor Ciampi said.
“What our team has done is devise a quick and easy test, able to be performed in a basic lab, which can measure both the ability to store charge when a solid electrode touches a given ionic liquid — a simple capacitor — as well as the stability of the device when it’s charged.”
The research has also led to development of a model that can predict which ionic liquid will likely be the best performing for fast charging and long-lasting energy storage, Associate Professor Ciampi said.
Research co-author and PhD student Mattia Belotti, also from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said the test simply required a relatively basic and affordable piece of equipment, called a potentiostat.
“The simplicity of this test means anyone can apply it without the need for expensive equipment. Using this method, our research found that charging the device for 60 seconds produced a full charge, which did not ‘leak’ and begin to diminish for at least four days,” Belotti said.
“The next step will be to use this new screening method to find ionic liquid/electrode combinations with an even longer duration in the charged state and larger energy density.”
Funded by the Australian Research Council, the study was led by Curtin University and done in collaboration with the Australian National University and Monash University. The findings have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/malp
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/study-solves-energy-storage-puzzle-1213894588
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/03/study-solves-energy-storage-puzzle/
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Vic EPA appoints first Chief Investigator
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has appointed Ernestina Di Marco as its first Chief Investigator.
Ernestina Di Marco will lead 40 investigators based across the state as part of the new Environmental Crime Branch. The Branch includes surveillance experts, environmental protection officers, intelligence analysts, criminal investigators and prosecutors who will work together to detect, prevent and investigate environmental crime.
The role is part of the new EPA structure which has just come into effect — creating greater efficiency and effectiveness. Under the structure the EPA has 759 roles, more than double the number of just six years ago.
Di Marco has 19 years’ experience in national investigations and intelligence operations with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio said, “Fighting waste crime is critical to keeping the environment and community safe from pollution. I am delighted that such an accomplished investigator will be leading the authority’s efforts in tackling non-compliance.”
Di Marco joins EPA from Emergency Management Victoria where she is currently the Manager of the Cross Border and Preparedness Unit. “I am thrilled to be joining the Environmental Crime Branch at such an exciting time and I look forward to working collaboratively with our partners to drive continuous improvement across waste crime disruption and prevention,” she said.
Environment Protection Agency CEO Lee Miezis said Ernestina’s appointment creates a stronger EPA. “She will lead a bolstered frontline across Victoria, dedicated to preventing harm to the environment and community from pollution and waste, and taking swift action when environmental laws are broken.”
Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/malp
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/news/vic-epa-appoints-first-chief-investigator-1407227256
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/02/vic-epa-appoints-first-chief-investigator/
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Vic Premier’s Sustainability Awards — finalists announced
Victorians leading the transition to a circular economy have been recognised in the 2021 Premier’s Sustainability Awards.
Selected from six new categories that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the 35 finalists include a community group producing educational films on local flora and fauna; organisations implementing innovative renewable energy technologies; groups bringing people together through sustainability initiatives during the pandemic; and a tourism operator using new approaches to achieve sub-zero waste.
Two winners will be announced in each category: a Community Champion award recognising individual and small organisations, and an Industry Leader award celebrating medium and large organisations driving a sustainable future.
The finalists are listed below.
Clean, affordable and secure energy
Community Champion Finalists
Black Stump Technologies
BOOMPower
Sunpower Renewables Pty Ltd
Industry Leader Finalists
Allume Energy
Latrobe City Council
Climate action
Community Champion Finalists
Brentwood Secondary College
Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s Act on Climate collective
Heytesbury District Landcare Network
Industry Leader Finalists
Austeng
Ironbark Sustainability and Beyond Zero Emissions
The Cape
Healthy environment
Community Champion Finalists
First Friends of Dandenong Creek
Macedon Ranges Shire Council
St Monica’s College
Industry Leader Finalists
Blue Carbon Lab — Deakin University
CDC Victoria
The Nature Conservancy Australia
Social and economic justice
Community Champion Finalists
Albury Wodonga Multicultural Community Events
Anika Legal
Yarra Valley ECOSS
Industry Leader Finalists
Jesuit Social Services Ecological Justice Hub
Melbourne Water, Aqua Metro Services and Wara Paring Civil Construction
RMIT University and Language Loop
Sustainable places
Community Champion Finalists
ONE20 Group Architects
Our Future Cities
Yarra Valley ECOSS
Industry Leader Finalists
Cardinia Shire Council
Rail Projects Victoria
The Cape
Waste reduction and the circular economy
Community Champion Finalists
Jo Algie, Advanced Life Support (ALS) Paramedic and Team Manager of Ambulance Victoria
Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board
Wild Adventures Melbourne
Industry Leader Finalists
Australian Ecosystems
HoMie
OzHarvest
The 2021 winners will be announced at a live and interactive online ceremony on Tuesday, 23 November. Registration through Eventbrite is required to attend this free event.
Solar Victoria is the sponsor of this year’s Clean, Affordable and Secure Energy – Community Champion award category, one of six new categories developed for this year’s awards that recognises any individual or small organisation and includes small charities, childcare centres, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and local government.
Solar Victoria CEO Stan Krpan said, “This year’s finalists truly embody the spirit of sustainability and their entries have already gone a long way to cementing Victoria’s status as a renewable energy powerhouse.”
Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/tomertu
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/sustainability/news/vic-premier-s-sustainability-awards-finalists-announced-445050630
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/02/vic-premiers-sustainability-awards-finalists-announced/
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Impact X Summit Sydney being held during COP26
The Impact X Summit Sydney, to be held from 2–3 November, brings together Australian and international leaders from government, NGOs, Indigenous organisations and industry sectors to discuss technology, investment and collaborative pathways to net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.
As the world grapples with the need for urgent and genuine action to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and a 50% reduction by 2030, Australians have consistently stated that they believe the Australian Government should be doing more to address climate change, with one of the most recent polls conducted by the Australian Conservation Foundation showing that 67% of voters overall shared this view, which was held in all 151 national seats.
“Under the Paris Agreement, Australia committed to reduce emissions by 26–28% below 2005 levels by 2030, a level which is well below that of other OECD nations. While a more ambitious target is expected soon, Australian business and industry will then need an unprecedented level of innovation, transformation and investment to deliver on our commitments. Technology will be key to this,” said Tony Gourlay, CEO of Blue Impacts, the organisation behind the summit.
Matt Kean, NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy & Environment, who has been leading the charge for net zero emissions with a series of bold policy commitments, will also be speaking at the summit.
The summit will ensure that a voice is given to Indigenous Australians, who have largely been left out of the conversation on climate change. The Gaimaragal Group founder and Director Susan Moylan-Coombs, who will be speaking at the summit, said, “All Indigenous peoples globally are the caretakers of the planet. We only took what we needed, not what we greeded. The perseverance of all Indigenous people in the face of global extractive economic practices and climate change speaks to the endurance of spirit and our ecological stewardship.”
The event will feature Australians who are committed to making a difference, including Atlassian co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Mike Cannon-Brookes; Fortescue Metals Group Chair and founder Andrew Forrest; NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy & the Environment Matt Kean; Australian Ethical Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director John McMurdo; President of the Business Council of Australia Tim Reed; and Investment NSW Chief Executive Officer Amy Brown, to name but a few.
Australia’s international partners are working hard to ensure that Australia steps up to meet the challenge. Key international speakers include Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and Co-Chair of The B Team; Maria Mendiluce, Chief Executive Officer, We Mean Business Coalition; Jonathan Foley, Executive Director, Project Drawdown; Andrew Steer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bezos Earth Fund; and Keith Tufley, Global Co-Head Sustainability and Corporate Transitions Group, Citi.
Specialist presenters in each sector will dissect the challenges in their particular sector and examine how it can reach net zero. Not only will they look at pathways for their own sector, they will also look at the opportunities. In the built environment, it is not just access to renewable energy and energy-efficient products that is important; finding solutions to embodied carbon in buildings, which can be as high as 62% for some buildings, is also essential.
Agriculture is another sector where cutting emissions is critical, with the sector accounting for 15% of Australia’s total emissions in 2019 — 75% of which was due to methane emanating from livestock. The sector has already been hard hit by the effects of climate change including droughts, bushfires and floods. Technology is key to reducing emissions, with innovation in renewables such as bioenergy, scientific research to reduce methane emissions from livestock by changing feed or selective breeding, and the implementation of sustainable land management practices all under consideration.
The summit will also look at the energy-intensive industry and manufacturing sectors. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of iron ore and metallurgical coal, with the iron and steel sector accounting for 7% of global emissions. With the sector being Australia’s largest contributor to GDP, transition out of coal will be a challenge without investment in new technologies and policy changes.
The transport sector discussions will also shine a light on the third-largest source of emissions in Australia, with transport accounting for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. Given Australia’s low vehicle emission standards and the lack of infrastructure for electric vehicles, the sector is facing some very big challenges which require policy development and commitments from government.
Details of the program and the list of speakers can be found here: https://www.impactx.tech/summit/sydney-2021/home.
Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Stefan_E
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/sustainability/news/impact-x-summit-sydney-being-held-during-cop26-716629959
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/11/01/impact-x-summit-sydney-being-held-during-cop26/
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Envirosuite EVS Water Designer
EVS Water Designer is a comprehensive process design tool for water and wastewater treatment plants with more than 900 registered users, and more than 2500 plants designed.
Product features include a drag-and-drop interface built for collaboration on plant design, with pre-populated assumptions for common designs. Scenarios can be up and running in less than 24 h.
The web-based interface provides collaborative change control, audit trail and the ability for multiple team members to work on the same design simultaneously, significantly speeding up design times. The product is reported to reduce design times by up to 70%.
The platform provides a vast number of best practice, literature-supported industrial and biological treatment models, with over 50 different process units covering over 60 different parameters.
For more information, click here.
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/water/hot-product/envirosuite-evs-water-designer-159170491
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/10/31/envirosuite-evs-water-designer-2/
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EXAIR Industrial Vacuum Systems
EXAIR manufactures industrial duty vacuums for chip removal, liquid transfer and cleaning. All systems use compressed air powered vacuum generators that have no moving parts, no impellers to clog and no motors to wear out, assuring maintenance-free operation. Some of the vacuum systems available in the range are shown below.
EasySwitch Wet-Dry Vac is an all-purpose vacuum with the capability of handling any job — dry or wet. Switching between vacuuming liquids or solids is as easy as removing the pleated filter when vacuuming liquids and reinstalling directly into the open filter hatch when working with dry material. It is available in 205 L capacity with either standard or HEPA filtration.
Chip Vac picks up dry or wet chips and delivers them directly to an ordinary drum. It is used to clean chips from fixtures, machines, parts and work surfaces. The lid can be moved easily from drum to drum to keep materials separate for recycling. It is available in 5 gal and 205 L capacities.
Heavy Duty Dry Vac turns an ordinary drum into a powerful, industrial duty vacuum cleaner. It vacuums more dry materials in less time than ordinary vacs. It is suitable for vacuuming abrasives like steel shot, garnet, metal chips and sand. It is available in 205 L capacity with either standard or HEPA filtration.
Reversible Drum Vac is a two-way liquid vacuum that can fill or empty a 205 L drum in 90 s. It is suitable for spill recovery and filling or emptying coolant sumps. It is available in 5 gal and 205 L capacities. The High Lift Reversible Drum Vac provides the high lift power needed to fill or empty below grade (up to 4.6 m) coolant sumps, pits and cisterns.
All EXAIR industrial vacuum systems are CE certified and comply with OSHA’s Safety Requirements for dead-end pressure and noise limitation.
For more information: https://www.caasafety.com.au/product-category/industrial-housekeeping/.
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/hot-product/exair-industrial-vacuum-systems-689462143
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/10/31/exair-industrial-vacuum-systems/
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Organic additive to help plastic biodegrade 90+% faster to generate waste-to-energy
Local Melbourne-based business, Biogone, is leading plastic technology in Australia with an organic additive to help plastic biodegrade approximately 90+% faster than conventional plastics when it’s disposed to a modern landfill.
Unlike the degradable chemical additive that causes the plastic to break up into microplastics in air and sunlight, their technology is not a chemical but a biological process. It is using an organic additive which is a special food source for microbes. It is mixed in with the raw plastic material at product formation time. The inert additive lays alongside the polymer chains and has no impact on them. The plastic retains all its original mechanical properties, such as strength, colour, waterproofness, shelf life and recyclability.
However, the big difference between Biogone plastic and conventional plastic becomes apparent when the plastic is disposed to a microbe rich landfill. There, the naturally occurring microbes seek out the food and start to digest it. No air or sunlight is required which means biodegradation can occur at all locations in a landfill. The enzymes the microbes secrete in that process break the surface polymer chains down so the microbes can then digest them too.
Plastic is one of the most inert materials around and so this process is still slow compared to a piece of paper biodegrading away, but at 90+% faster, this is where the technology offers the most pronounced impact. The byproducts of this biological break down are a humus like sludge, that is an excellent soil conditioner, and a biogas carbon dioxide (aerobic conditions) or methane (anaerobic conditions). Conventional plastic will take many hundreds of years to break down, all the while, it is very slowly releasing the biogas to the atmosphere.
With Biogone plastic, the accelerated biodegradation rate means the methane gas is given off over a much shorter time. This allows the gas to be captured within the lifetime during which a landfill is actively managed. This gas can then be used to generate electricity, displacing the need for electricity produced by fossil fuels.
Biogone’s unique organic additive is inert and added in a very small amount. It does not change the properties of the plastic for any product design considerations and means the product manufacturers can use the additive to make biodegradable versions of their products without having to change any of their machinery.
Also, this means the plastic is fully mainstream recyclable and has the same recyclable properties as conventional plastics. The other features of Biogone’s landfill-biodegradable plastic include:
Strong and durable like conventional plastics.
Have a food-grade rating.
Biodegrade to a humus-like material (organic matter) which is a natural plant fertiliser and a biogas.
Does not fragment to microplastics.
The entire Biogone product range is highly functional and has been handpicked from worldwide sources to offer the best landfill-biodegradable packaging and shipping materials in the market.
According to Dr Ross Headifen, co-founder of Biogone, “With each product we create, we are aiming to reduce the plastic build-up in landfills. Incorporating Biogone landfill-biodegradable technology is like an insurance policy that will allow the plastic to biodegrade away when it is eventually disposed to a landfill and the waste can be converted to energy.”
Unlike metal, plastic cannot be mechanically recycled time and time again. After the plastic has been recycled two to three times, its properties are so compromised it needs to be blended with virgin material or discarded.
The current rate of plastic recycling in Australia is approximately 13%, which means more than 85% is ending up in landfill and generating plastic waste. The 2025 National Packaging Targets for plastic are aimed at significantly increasing this recycling rate. These targets will require significant industry changes and substantial new infrastructure to collect and reprocess the used plastic. All of these factors mean there is still going to be a lot of plastic waste for many years to come until we have a complete and functional circular economy. Having the Biogone additive goes that one step further, allowing them to be recycled when practical, and it also provides a backstop to allow them to biodegrade away when disposed to a landfill circulating its embodied energy.
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/sponsored/organic-additive-to-help-plastic-biodegrade-90-faster-to-generate-waste-to-energy-1220232231
from WordPress https://davidkent.home.blog/2021/10/31/organic-additive-to-help-plastic-biodegrade-90-faster-to-generate-waste-to-energy/
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Padstow Cheese quadruples output with help from Certa pump
When a small cheese producer in Cornwall — Padstow Cheese — could no longer keep up with demand, the company turned to a MasoSine Certa pump from Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG). The switch helped to facilitate the move to a new facility and maximise the advantage provided by upgraded dairy equipment. Thanks to its shrewd investment, Padstow Cheese has increased the quality of its products, grown yield and shortened processing time by up to 2 hours a day.
Lawrence Reynolds and his wife began developing cheese in 2014 as a hobby after they attended a cheese-making course together. The pair took their cheese to a few potential outlets, including the local pub — The Mariners in Rock — which at the time was in partnership with high-profile Michelin Star chef Nathan Outlaw. Within a month of presenting the cheese, it was part of the menu.
“The demand for our cheese soon outpaced what we could produce,” said Reynolds. “Chefs were buying it from retailers at full price just to get hold of some.”
Rapid expansion
Padstow Cheese simply had to expand, so it took up a unit in 2019 that Reynolds converted into a dairy.
“We went from a 600-litre vat operation, to 2000 litres, and began producing cheese more days a week, essentially quadrupling our output,” he said.
The company’s core product, Cornish Jack, is a stand-alone cheese developed from scratch. Reynolds describes Cornish Jack as an Alpine, Swiss-style cheese, but with a unique flavour profile. The company also produces Old Jack, a mature version of Cornish Jack. In addition, Padstow Cheese has a 50:50 collaboration with Sharp’s Brewery of Cornwall, whereby a special cheese (50 Jack) has been developed that is brined and washed in the brewery’s beer, making it perfect to nibble with a glass of ale.
“To produce our cheese we originally had an off-the-shelf centrifugal pump with two speeds: on and off,” explains Reynolds. “Due to its lack of control and aggressive nature, the centrifugal pump created a lot of foam and air bubbles, which is detrimental to quality. In addition, the pump would damage the curd with its ‘chopping’ action.”
Capital investment
The company’s process took a major step forward with the introduction of a prepress, and knew that a better pump would be a perfect complement to this new equipment.
“We needed a better pump, not just to pump the milk into the curdling tank, but to transfer the curd from the vat to the prepress,” said Reynolds. “Our research led us to WMFTG and others from overseas. However, WMFTG were great from day one. They listened to our requirements and took a real interest, despite our operation being much smaller than the large dairies they are more familiar with serving. They helped specify the right pump in terms of its size and speed capabilities.”
To help Padstow Cheese confirm the capabilities of its proposed investment, WMFTG supplied a loan pump in October 2020: a MasoSine Certa 200 complete with samples of 2″ diameter Aflex FaBLINE hose[JL(U1].
Process transformation
“Within a month we knew that the Certa 200 was perfect for our needs, so we placed an order,” said Reynolds. “The product transfer is extremely gentle, while we also get far less aeration. In addition, by pumping through the hose we can spread the curd evenly as it fills up the prepress.”
Notably, the Certa 200 and FaBLINE hoses have combined to improve the ‘eyes’ of the cheese. Rather than air, eyes in the cheese now form by CO2 created by starter culture bacteria that is purpose-introduced. As the cheese ages and ripens, the CO2 forms small bubbles that spread through the cheese and would escape but for the rind. This rind is tough enough that it traps the bubbles inside the cheese and creates eyes. Today, better eye size and improved texture is opening up new markets and attracting new customers.
By introducing a Certa pump, the company has also decreased the amount of fines in its cheeses, in turn increasing yield. By the very nature of their operation, certain pump types will break curd into fines. The generation of cheese fines is in direct relation to production loss, which means plants produce less cheese from a certain quantity of milk.
“We haven’t calculated it accurately, but I estimate that our yield is up by at least 8–10%,” states Reynolds. “In addition, wastage is down and process speed has increased because the Certa is more efficient at transferring both milk and curd. The pump, in combination with FaBLINE hoses, is saving 90 minutes a day in production time.”
Clean sweep of benefits
Aside from the performance attributes provided by the Certa 200 and Aflex hose, Reynolds highlights cleaning as another major advantage of his investment.
“The Certa pump is so easy to clean, unlike our previous centrifugal pump, which was a nightmare,” he said. “In addition, the smooth construction of Aflex FaBLINE hoses means we can flush the cleaning products through and rinse out very easily.”
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How Ireland’s Trinity College is using cloud technology for design of water treatment processes during COVID-19
Does the design of water and wastewater treatment plants in your business still rely on manual, repetitive and linear approaches?
If yes, then, chances are that your designs are being delivered inefficiently.
According to a recent Frost & Sullivan Report on Environmental Intelligence, “inadequacy of the current environmental analytical tools” is one of the main challenges faced by the water/wastewater sector. This trend extends to the initial design of an efficient wastewater treatment plant.
Whereas most industries are thriving with the use of technology, the water sector still falls under the “laggard” or “late majority” categories for adopting new technologies. At the same time, competition continues to increase, and it has become important for water and wastewater engineering businesses to find new ways to work efficiently and effectively.
Water design engineers and consultants know that there is a massive potential for cost saving and efficiency gains but putting changes into practice is difficult.
For many years, the availability of integrated design and process simulation packages has not serviced industrial, reuse and drinking water plant designs as well as it has for biological treatment plants. Engineers and designers in many cases still rely on manual, repetitive spreadsheet-based processes. Design packages, when available are based on mathematical simulation products that have been repurposed from other industries and difficult to learn and based on desktop PCs that are limited in terms of processing power, data storage and tools for collaboration. Emerging technologies for industrial water treatment and drinking water are often not covered at all.
Cloud-based products have the potential to deliver significant innovations to treatment plant design packages by leveraging on-demand increases in processing power and storage as well as the ability to work simultaneously on designs, work remotely and integrate workflow and audit trail capabilities that are critical in delivering effective designs.
Identifying the opportunity in drinking water and industrial water treatment design, Envirosuite, with a long history of delivering complex modelling solutions through cloud-based platforms, recently integrated an emerging and innovative technology in the process design market into its EVS Water Portfolio through an acquisition of AqMB, an emerging provider of design and digital twin solutions for the water industry.
“We recognised that there was a real need for better products in the industrial and drinking water design space. AqMB had embedded strong and deep technical knowledge in a product that serviced a clear gap in the market for engineers and designers of water and wastewater treatment plants and Envirosuite has demonstrated success in delivering complex environmental modelling solutions that leverage the power of cloud computing around the world. We look forward to delivering this product to engineers and designers around the world over the coming years,” says Global Head for Water and Waste at Envirosuite, Chaim Kolominskas.
Cloud-based technology has allowed:
More rapid integration of emerging models for water and wastewater treatment. Plant Designer covers nearly all current drinking water and industrial water treatment technologies and has recently integrated key treatment models for biological treatment. It is unique to see such broad coverage of treatment processes in the one product.
The ability to simulate many models simultaneously. This has led to an innovative capability of ‘automated optimisation’ where 1000s of model scenarios are generated before the best fit for target performance is recommended. This leads to significant savings in design times.
Easier integration and export of engineering deliverables such as equipment sizing, lifecycle costs, material and energy balances and stream properties leading to further design savings.
Simultaneous design, review and audit trail capabilities facilitating much easier remote working and true collaborative process design.
Importantly, the cloud also makes integration of these deterministic models much easier into broader digital twin applications with the ability to process large volumes of real-time information and couple with powerful data science and machine learning capabilities to deliver real-time and predictive management to water and wastewater treatment plants once they have been built.
“The cloud allows us to integrate deterministic models and machine learning approaches, which significantly improves forecast accuracy and speeds up implementation time compared to machine learning only approaches. Having a deterministic model baseline also ensures that the model doesn’t drift, giving our customers better confidence in the recommendations for optimisation. Having spent 20 years in the water sector, we recognised the caution that the water industry has for artificial intelligence only approaches and wanted to make sure that our products are always grounded in strong, leading science and we think we’ve struck the right balance with this approach. The emergence of cloud computing has made that all possible,” says Darren Szczepanski, founder of the product.
Ireland’s Trinity College is now using EVS Water Plant Designer to learn ‘tricks of the trade’ for water treatment processes during COVID-19
When teaching design of water treatment processes, engineering schools are looking for ways to communicate complex science efficiently and effectively. Benchtop or theoretical exercises can be slow and remote learning can be difficult.
Ireland’s Trinity College is one of the world’s most renowned universities and has been teaching engineering since 1841. The School of Engineering has a strong focus on quantitative and analytical methods, the application of innovation and the use of new technology to solve problems in the natural and built environments.
The Challenge: COVID-19 hindering collaboration and practical research outcomes
As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, The University faced a number of challenges in teaching wastewater treatment process design effectively. In-person collaboration was restricted, and benchtop studies became impractical to deliver.
The University was conducting research on landfill leachate treatment and needed a new solution to simulate the treatment processes, understand the implications of different treatment options while still being able to effectively teach the principles of the treatment processes and technologies involved.
The Solution: Learning industrial and biological modelling processes using a single, cloud-based platform
To facilitate a number of higher research projects, Trinity College began using EVS Water Plant Designer to simulate landfill leachate processes. The platform is cloud based and designed for collaborative, remote learning. Multiple users can work on the same design simultaneously and comprehensive audit trail and review functionality makes the teaching and review process much more efficient than traditional methods.
Trinity College’s School of Engineering looked to cloud-based software solutions to facilitate learning of landfill leachate processes.
The platform also provides an automatic calibration function and is supported by excellent-practice models. Thousands of model configuration scenarios can be simultaneously compared and evaluated to provide accurate and reliable calibrated model configurations for the target design, significantly speeding up the calibration and optimisation process.
EVS Water Plant Designer was also able take data directly from the EPA in Ireland to understand excellent-practice models and how they impact process design, facilitating the research and learning of wastewater treatment process design in a collaborate and cost-effective manner.
“Using the technology, the students are able to efficiently design water treatment plants and simulate a variety of treatment processes. EVS Water Plant Designer has been very helpful for teaching the principles of water and wastewater treatment.” — Dr. David O’Connel, Assistant Professor, Contaminant Hydrology and Hydrogeology (Trinity College, Dublin)
A chance to see it yourself
Visit Envirosuite’s website (https://info.envirosuite.com/evs-water-designer) for a free 30 day trial of EVS Water Plant Designer and significantly reduce time it takes to design water processes.
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Kerbside waste to be recycled to make tram stops
Recycled plastics from kerbside waste will be used to create modular tram stops in Melbourne as a part of the Development of Next Generation Tram Stop Platforms Using Recycled Materials project.
The project is a partnership between Monash University’s Institute of Railway Technology, Yarra Trams, Integrated Recycling and Advanced Circular Polymers.
Director of the Monash Institute of Railway Technology Professor Ravi Ravitharan said the project will identify how reinforced recycled plastics can be used effectively to construct a modular platform that can be rolled out on a large scale.
“Our team of researchers will look at a number of suitable options of recycled materials that can be manufactured into a prototype which will then be trial assembled and load tested at the Institute of Railway Technology laboratories,” Professor Ravitharan said.
“The development will consider recycled rubber for damping components as well as reinforcement options to achieve the intended design concept.”
The project was recently awarded $300,000 by the Recycling Victoria Research and Development Fund — Materials and is delivered by Sustainability Victoria on behalf of the Victorian Government, as part of Recycling Victoria.
The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Monash University researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Arts, Monash University Accident Research Centre and Monash Art, Design and Architecture with Monash Institute of Railway Technology.
“This partnership with the Monash University Institute of Railway Technology is just one example of how Yarra Trams is working to make our operations more environmentally friendly. From all our trams being powered by one of Victoria’s largest solar farms, to recycled materials being utilised in infrastructure projects across the network, to the ongoing installation of solar panels and energy efficient lighting in our depots, we’re playing our part to create a greener and more sustainable Melbourne,” said Yarra Trams’ Chief Executive Julien Dehornoy.
Integrated Recycling, creators of the Duratrack railway sleeper, will manufacture and trial modular elements of tram stop platforms for testing and prototyping purposes.
“By incorporating waste plastics into the concept design we hope to achieve maximum benefits,” said General Manager Stephen Webster.
Plastics recycling technology provider Advanced Circular Polymers will supply the recycled plastic mix recovered from kerbside waste collections that will be used for the production of the base material in the tram stop platforms.
“This collaboration will explore new research and development to add value to recycled plastics through new product innovations. Developing new value-added recycled products with advanced manufacturing is essential for the recycling sector to create demand and secure the supply chain for recycled plastics,” said Advanced Circular Polymers Managing Director Harry Wang.
The project outcome will be to deliver a circular economy framework involving a complete supply chain of recycled materials. It hopes to not only offer alternative solutions for tram stop platforms, but also create an awareness of the application of these materials into other industries such as railway platforms, bridges, domestic decking and level crossing panels.
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Time to speed the switch to electric vehicles
Emissions from road transport account for 10% of global emissions — and that number is rising faster than any other sector, as highlighted in the latest Global EV Outlook report.
This month, governmental delegates from around the world will meet in Glasgow as part of the United Nations’ 26th annual climate change summit, the Conference of the Parties (COP26). Countries are asked to bring ambitious targets to deliver on carbon-reducing initiatives including the switch to electric vehicles (EV).
Developed nations around the world, including the United Kingdom and Canada, have already pledged to phase out sales or registrations of new internal combustion engine cars by a certain date — but Australia has not.
Nowhere near the finish line
Despite being one of the world’s leaders in renewable energy research and innovation, Australia’s vehicle emission standard is still based on the European Emission Standard five, which is now over a decade old. More than 80% of the global car market now follows ‘Euro six’ vehicle emission standards, including Europe, the United States, Japan, Korea, China, India and Mexico.
Beyond the failure to reduce regional air pollution, Australian standards have also fallen behind in mandating fuel efficiency and hence lowering greenhouse emissions. Cleaner and more fuel-efficient internal combustion engine cars can assist in reducing both local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
So how can Australia commit to zero emission vehicle goals if it’s behind on global vehicle emission standards?
Associate Professor Iain MacGill, Joint Director of UNSW Collaboration on Energy and Environmental Markets, said despite Australia’s move to support clean electricity initiatives, it hasn’t made a serious effort to address transport related emissions.
“The transport sector is one of the continuing growth areas of Australia’s emissions profile,” he said.
“However, we’ve seen so many petrol-fuelled sports utility vehicles and twin cab utes being purchased that it seems likely that the average fuel efficiency of Australian cars is going backwards.
“We are actually making progress on cleaning up electricity, but really struggling with transport emissions, which continue to climb.”
European countries, such as Iceland, Norway and Sweden, have all pledged to phase out the sales or registration of internal combustion engine cars.
Chicken and egg debate
The pathway to zero-emission transport almost certainly requires electric vehicles fuelled by zero-emission electricity. Last year, less than 1% of new cars bought in Australia were EVs. That compares with more than 4% globally, almost 6% in China and nearly 75% in Norway.
Renewable energy expert Associate Professor Anna Bruce from UNSW School of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Resources said the absence of clear government policy is the biggest reason why Australia is lagging in the transition to EVs — making it difficult for manufacturers to focus on serving the Australian market.
“The catalogue of EVs available to Australian drivers is very limited because we don’t really have a clear policy on it. This discourages car manufacturers from investing in producing left-hand drive versions of vehicles that are already available overseas,” she said.
“It’s also difficult to import second-hand vehicles into the country, and on top of that, there are additional road taxes for EV owners. So, it’s roadblocks like these that are impeding the adoption of EVs in Australia.
“It’s like the chicken and egg dilemma — but without proper policy and regulation, then demand for EVs will remain low.”
The same can be said about the network of EV charging infrastructure, said A/Prof. MacGill.
“Why should Australia invest in more charging stations if there are little EV sales? At the same time, why would drivers buy an EV if they’re concerned about the lack of charging stations?” he said.
“Australia’s an interesting mix in that we’re highly urbanised — so we take the view that our car should get us around town for 51 weeks of the year. But for the other week, we might want to drive all the way to another state.
“In most cases, nearly all the charging happens at home anyway but it’s for those special occasions where we need to drive long distances.
“The charging network can satisfy the number of current EVs but if that number were to double overnight, there will be challenges and we’ll need to roll out more infrastructure to support demand.”
Electrify everything
UNSW PhD candidate Katelyn Purnell, whose research thesis explores electric vehicles and electricity grid modelling and planning, said we need to think bigger if Australia wants to meet its Paris Agreement commitments.
“While private vehicles make up a majority of transport use, there is a huge opportunity to electrify the entire transport network including bicycles, buses, taxis and rideshare and even ferries,” she said.
“Cross-modality transport is an important factor in reducing emissions because people are moving around differently — so policy discussions shouldn’t be limited to just motor vehicles.”
The road ahead
There’s a lot to learn from how other countries have successfully adopted EVs.
If Australia wants to get serious about reducing emissions from transport, then it needs to start with a cohesive and holistic approach from both the state and federal government, Purnell said.
“If we look at Norway, they went with a portfolio method when introducing policy. Beyond initiatives such as reducing upfront capital costs, subsidies or access to special lanes, they signalled to the market that they were serious about this and there was no going back.”
Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Olivier Le Moal
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Cool roofs, pavements to reduce heat island effects
Overpopulation and rapid urbanisation are driving up temperatures, transforming cities into urban heat islands.
“One of the major problems in the built environment is urban overheating, or regional climatic change,” said Mattheos (Mat) Santamouris, Anita Lawrence Professor of High Performance Architecture at the University of New South Wales.
Human activity — waste heat from industry, cars and air conditioners — makes cities significantly warmer than surrounding areas. This affects more than 500 cities worldwide.
“As our cities heat up, heat-related morbidity and mortality rise,” he said. In 2020, 593 and 391 people died from heat-related deaths in Melbourne and Sydney respectively, a substantial increase from 289 and 176 in 2007, according to the Australia State of Environment.
Radiative coolers
To combat this issue, UNSW Sydney and the University of Sydney have teamed up to create building materials — super cool roofs, pavements and coatings for buildings — that reflect rather than absorb solar energy.
They can reduce peak temperatures in our cities by up to four degrees, enough to save lives, Professor Santamouris said.
“The way we build [also] increases the temperature of our cities. We’re using [heat-absorbing materials like] asphalt, we’re using concrete,” Professor Santamouris said.
Super cool roofs and pavements by contrast reduce the energy needed for cooling. This in turn decreases carbon dioxide emissions that increase the magnitude of climate change. This makes our cities more economical, environmentally friendly and livable, he said.
The new-generation materials were tested as part of a study to reduce temperatures in Australian cities, mainly in the frame of an ARC Discovery Project.
The study found that introducing super cool materials with other heat-mitigating strategies, such as increased greenery and shade, could save around 10 lives per year per 100,000 residents.
“Under the sun, [with] 42 degrees ambient temperature, the [super cool] materials’ surface temperature was 25. It’s a natural air conditioner without expending any energy — super cool materials,” the energy physicist said.
“And all these new technologies and new materials have been developed here in Australia.”
Energy efficiency
Professor Santamouris and his team are partnering with the Department of Industry, Science, Enterprise and Research (DISER) on two projects to promote energy efficiency in the built environment.
The team will provide cost-benefit analyses and scientific documentation on the adoption of cool roofs in Australia, and ways to improve energy efficiency in new and existing commercial buildings, such as office buildings, aged-care facilities, hotels, childcare centres and shopping centres.
With around 40% of the total energy consumption in developed nations attributable to buildings, there is huge potential for impact, Professor Santamouris said.
“The reduction of energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation measures is vital to achieving energy and climate goals in the cities,” he said.
International application
Professor Santamouris is applying his research to reduce temperatures in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s hottest cities. The Royal Commission of Riyadh has engaged his team to develop an all-pervasive heat-mitigation plan, the largest of its kind.
The project uses computational tools empowered with rich urban datasets to model building performance at the urban scale, identify energy retrofits and inform urban planning.
Extensive aerial monitoring using airplanes and infrared technologies, performed by industry partner National Drones, will map the city’s thermal conditions. Large-scale high-resolution simulations of the city will evaluate different scenarios to decipher optimal strategies.
The project also considers the city’s vegetation, water, ventilation and introducing super cool materials.
The team is coordinating similar studies for the cities of Dubai, UAE; Kolkata, India; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in collaboration with local researchers.
Professor Santamouris is ranked the top most cited scientist for building and construction globally for 2019 and 2020 in the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford. He and his team are involved with more than 200 large-scale heat-mitigation projects around the world in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Rose
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Race to zero: $36m electric bus pilot takes off
A $36m pilot program, aimed at driving a cleaner future for public transport, will see 40 new electric buses deployed across Sydney.
As part of the project, the Leichhardt depot in NSW is being retrofitted to include the use of 40 electric buses with a combination of 368 kWh and 422 kWh onboard batteries, five 120 kW electric bus chargers capable of charging two buses at a time, thirty-one 80 kW electric bus chargers, 2.5 MW/4.9 MWh of stationary batteries and 387 kW of rooftop solar PV. The electric bus fleet will service public bus routes in Sydney’s Inner West, the CBD, Mascot and Green Square.
The first 12 of the 40 new electric buses will start entering service this month, with the rest of the fleet arriving over the next six months.
Being delivered through a joint venture between Transgrid and Zenobe, with support from Transit Systems and Transport for NSW, the project is said to be an Australian first, transitioning diesel buses to electric, in addition to upgrading the charging infrastructure and retrofitting the Leichhardt bus depot.
Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor said the pilot aims to show the technical and commercial viability of using electric buses travelling a full route without the need to stop to recharge along the way.
NSW Minister for Transport Rob Stokes said, “We’ve set an ambitious target to transition our fleet of 8000 buses to zero emission technology by 2030 and this project is a huge step in that direction.”
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is injecting $24.5 million, which will enable project counterparties Zenobe and Transgrid to own, operate and lease the electric buses and infrastructure to Transit Systems and Transport NSW. The project is also being supported by a $5 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $6.5 million in equity from Transgrid and Zenobe.
“The innovative financing model adopted means we’re able to deliver 40 new electric buses for the Inner West quickly, at no extra cost to the NSW taxpayer,” Stokes said.
NSW Treasurer and Minister for Energy and the Environment Matt Kean said, “Transport is one of the major sources of carbon emissions, which is why we need to forge ahead with initiatives that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and drive us towards a cleaner and greener future.”
The three-year trial will drive the commercialisation of electric buses in Australia and continue the development of the Australian Government’s Future Fuel Strategy, which aims to empower consumer choice, stimulate industry development and reduce emissions in the road transport sector.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said previous electric bus trials in Australia have involved fewer than four buses each, making this trial important to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of the electrification of large depot-scale bus fleets capable of travelling a complete route without needing to be recharged.
“Heavy vehicle transport is an important area to target given that together buses and trucks account for 25% of transport-related carbon emissions and 5% of Australia’s total carbon emissions.”
Electrifying the NSW bus fleet will drive down noise and pollution on Sydney’s busy road network. It is expected to abate two-thirds of carbon emitted for every kilometre travelled, saving 2600 tCO2e annually and up to 39,000 tCO2e over the expected lifetime of the equipment.
The transport sector was responsible for 17.5% of Australia’s emissions in the year to March 2021.1 This was down 13% on the previous year, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel and economic activity. But emissions are increasing again: they rose 5% in the March quarter and are projected to rebound in 2022, peaking at 101 Mt CO2-e in 2026.2
CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said that while transport continues to contribute significantly to Australia’s carbon footprint, our uptake of electrical vehicles has stalled. Last year, EVs made up less than 1% of total car sales in Australia3, compared to 10.7% in the UK and 75% in Norway.
“Improving these figures is critical to the ongoing decarbonisation of the economy. And with vehicle makers confirming they will stop producing pure internal combustion engines in coming years, now is the time to accelerate our transition. There is [an] enormous opportunity to electrify substantial elements of our transport sector, including cars, buses and heavy vehicles,” Learmonth said.
Zenobe co-founder and Director Steven Meersman said the project hallmarks a new way to make an environmentally sustainable solution for our public transport fleets, which is financially sustainable as well.
Transgrid Acting CEO Brian Salter said, “Our energy system is evolving rapidly and Transgrid and its commercial arm, Lumea, are playing an important role in leading the transition to a clean energy future. Electrification of transport is an essential feature of the modern energy system and this initiative is a welcome addition to the grid-scale batteries and multipurpose energy hubs that Lumea is developing throughout Australia. We are delighted to be bringing Zenobē’s global experience and capability to Australia through this project.”
Taking the successful electric pilot programs to scale has required significant planning and infrastructure works to ensure the grid and electrical network can cope with the charging and energy storage needs, said Clint Feuerherdt, CEO of SeaLink Travel Group, which owns Transit Systems.
“With responsibility for transporting over 207 million passengers each year, we strive to not just meet the community’s needs today, but ensure we futureproof our solutions with sustainable outcomes that will benefit us all tomorrow.
1 Quarterly update of Australia’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory: March 2021, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources 2 Australia’s emissions projections 2020, December 2020, Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources p29 3 State of Electric Vehicles August 2021, Electric Vehicle Council
Images supplied by Transit Systems.
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Global experts to deliver AU$30bn AAPowerLink project
Sun Cable has announced that SMEC (Surbana Jurong Group), PwC Australia, Bechtel, Hatch and Marsh will deliver the AU$30+bn Australia-Asia PowerLink (AAPowerLink) project.
AAPowerLink, said to be one of the world’s largest renewable energy projects, is being developed to provide renewable electricity to Darwin and support Northern Territory’s ambition to develop an AU$40bn economy by 2030. It will be a high-capacity solar generation, storage and transmission system that will supply dispatchable renewable electricity from the Barkly Region of the Northern Territory to Darwin and Singapore markets.
Michael Gunner, Chief Minister, Northern Territory Government, said, “The Australia-Asia PowerLink will inject $8 billion into the Australian economy, with most of it being spent right here in the Northern Territory.” Sun Cable has established an office in the Territory and employed more than a dozen Darwin firms for initial works, and the project will continue to create more jobs and opportunities for Territorians, Gunner said.
Sun Cable will integrate a range of technologies and infrastructure to develop a 17–20 GWp solar farm in the Northern Territory. It will be supported by a 36–42 GWh battery and approx. 4200 km undersea high voltage direct current (HVDC) cable system from Darwin to Singapore. AAPowerLink’s total carbon emissions abatement is estimated at 8.6 million tonnes of CO2e per year.
The project’s key components are: a solar farm precinct including energy storage and voltage source converter (VSC); a high voltage direct current (HVDC) overhead transmission line (OHTL) from the solar farm to Darwin; VSCs and a utility-scale battery in Darwin; a subsea HVDC cable system from Darwin to Singapore; and a VSC and utility-scale battery in Singapore.
Construction for the project is expected to begin from late 2023, with first supply of electricity to Darwin in 2026 and to Singapore in 2027 (full capacity by end of 2028).
David Griffin, CEO, Sun Cable said, “To secure the support of these globally recognised experts is an important vote of confidence in the significance and feasibility of Sun Cable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink. Sun Cable is proud to have the expertise of Bechtel, Hatch, SMEC, Marsh and PwC Australia reinforcing our team as we deliver this game-changing infrastructure for Australia, Indonesia and Singapore. This project is designed to significantly accelerate the carbon zero ambitions of the region and we have brought together a dream team to bring it to fruition.”
Following the recent granting of the subsea cable route recommendation from the Indonesian Government and approval to undertake the next stage of the subsea cable survey, the appointment of the Integrated Project Delivery Team (IPDT) is the next key milestone in delivering reliable, renewable energy from Australia to Asia, according to Sun Cable. In recognition of partnership with the NT Government, the company signed a Project Delivery Agreement with the Chief Minister, Michael Gunner MLA, and was granted major project status in Jul 2019. Sun Cable is engaging with the First Nations stakeholders inclusive of Traditional Owners, recognised Native Title Owners, neighbouring communities and Land Councils.
The AAPowerLink will also be capable of supplying up to 15% of Singapore’s electricity needs, with full capacity available from 2028. Sun Cable’s modelling shows AAPowerLink could reduce Singapore’s emissions by 6 million tonnes per year, matching the entire climate abatement gap in Singapore’s announced 2030 targets.
Sun Cable expects the project will generate up to AU$2 billion a year in exports for Australia, and forecasts the potential to employ tens of thousands directly and indirectly in Australia, Indonesia and Singapore.
James Phillis, CEO, SMEC Australia and New Zealand, reminded that SMEC company has its origins in the iconic Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme “and we have ever since continued our renewables journey, becoming leaders in solar and hydro-electricity. From inception, we have partnered with our clients to help them transition to a more renewable future.
“The Australia-Asia PowerLink will be the world’s largest solar energy infrastructure network and will be a game changer for the renewable energy sector worldwide. As a member of the project delivery team, SMEC is excited to be a critical force in bringing this project to life — as a key technical partner SMEC will be harnessing our solar and renewables expertise and innovation to deliver a project of this size, scale and importance.”
PwC Australia CEO Tom Seymour said this complex and ambitious project is unlike anything previously developed. The project will make a generational impact on Australia and Singapore, Seymour said.
“AAPowerLink is spread across three jurisdictions, including Singapore and Indonesia, and requires a new and innovative project delivery team model to get it done. We are delighted to be joining forces with four highly-regarded global firms to bring AAPowerLink to life.
“AAPowerLink will help solve Australia’s carbon emissions footprint, provide once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunities for communities including First Nations Peoples across the Northern Territory and supply chain businesses across Australia. It will pave the way for a new Australian export industry that will create jobs and change lives,” Seymour said.
Images courtesy of Sun Cable.
source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/case-study/global-experts-to-deliver-au-30bn-aapowerlink-project-81013565
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