Registration for the Australasian Waste and Recycling Expo (AWRE), a trade event for the waste, recycling and resource recovery industry, is now open. The event will run from 26–27 July 2023 at the ICC Sydney.

The show floor will feature various innovations and solutions, with the event featuring an agenda of educational talks, discussions and networking events. This will be a platform for waste and recycling professionals to join forces and work towards driving a cleaner, more sustainable future.

To register, click here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Sushiman

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/sustainability/news/awre-registration-now-open-1588181362

REMONDIS Australia has secured a soft plastics pelletising unit that converts old plastics to pellets used as feedstock in making materials for similar applications or new products.

The Erema Intarema TVEplus 1310 RegrindPro unit will be imported by CEMAC technologies from Austria and will be based at REMONDIS’s Jandakot site.

At maximum operation, the unit is capable of producing up to 5000 tonnes of pellets per year that will be sold locally and internationally for low-density polyethylene and other plastics making.

Chris Gusenzow, REMONDIS Australia General Manager – Western Australia, says the investment is in response to demands for circularity and federal COAG plastics export bans.

“Big players such as supermarkets and other large retailers are always asking what’s happening to disposable plastic, and this is as close as we can get to a silver bullet recycling solution,” Gusenzow said.

The unit creates pure-form pellets that can be used to make new, similar products, a notch above other recycling equipment where pellets are downcycled.

“This particular unit is unique because its multiple filtration process removes several contaminants. The unit also comprises triple degassing, allowing highest possible removal of volatiles, thereby producing pure and ready-to-use pellets at the end of the process,” Gusenzow said.

CEMAC technologies Managing Director Eric Paulsen described the unit as the high-end workhorse of plastics recycling.

“The machine can handle a wide range of material types, including film and rigid plastics waste fractions, and still manages to produce cleanest possible pellet product, which can be used to kickstart the product manufacturing process all over again,” Paulsen said.

The unit can work long hours as required, depending on the scheduled output.

The pelletising unit is expected to be shipped to Perth later this year and be operational in early 2024.

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/news/pelletising-unit-to-boost-wa-soft-plastics-recycling-1339484424

Understanding the challenges in the water and wastewater sectors, and identifying the ways to overcome them, means continuing to support water security for all Australians in the most sustainable way. This allows us to uphold our commitment to support water authorities in meeting their clean energy goals.

Water authorities, suppliers and wastewater treatment plants are facing major problems related to escalating costs of electricity in operation. This is being recognised across all water and wastewater pumping, treatment, distribution and discharge activities.

It is worth considering the economics of water and wastewater processing. These sectors are currently very energy-intensive, consuming approximately 4% of the world’s total electricity. High energy consumption raises costs. On average, energy costs make up 45% of the cost of clean water.

Therefore, making water and wastewater processing more energy efficient is key to extending these necessities to more people. At the same time, lower energy use reduces the sector’s carbon footprint and operating costs — everyone benefits.

Opportunities for efficiency

Every process in the sector — from water treatment to transportation, wastewater treatment and desalination — relies on pumping. Fortunately, technology is available that significantly reduces the amount of electricity the pump’s motor requires to deliver the same output.

Both existing and new motors can be fitted with a variable speed drive (VSD). This increases energy efficiency by adjusting a motor’s speed and torque to precisely meet the requirements of the process.

Without a drive, a motor runs at full speed all the time and flow speed is controlled by throttling — that’s like driving a car by keeping one foot on the accelerator and using the brakes to control the speed. With a drive, the motor runs exactly as fast as necessary, usually well below full speed. This enables significant energy efficiency gains — often up to 30% and sometimes even more.

Water and wastewater facilities can also improve their energy efficiency by selecting the most efficient motors. Many countries use the motor efficiency classes set out by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). These classes range from IE1 to IE5. Each increase in IE number, such as from IE3 to IE5, represents a 20% decrease in energy losses, meaning that the motor is more efficient.

Synchronous reluctance (SynRM) motors technology takes efficiency further by achieving IE5 efficiency. They are designed to work as a package solution with VSDs and are significantly more efficient than older motors. For example, replacing an existing IE2 motor with a SynRM motor-drive package delivers up to 50% lower energy losses.

ABB’s efficient motors are designed to be drop-in replacements for older models, so upgrading is usually straightforward. Furthermore, the energy savings will deliver a rapid return on investment. Typically, in months rather than years.

Efficient wastewater treatment in action

In Australia, the operators at a sewage treatment plant in Sydney, New South Wales, aimed to improve their facility’s efficiency to reduce its carbon emissions. They identified the pumps as the best opportunity to reduce electricity use and replaced their existing motors with IE5 SynRM motor-drive packages.

During the renovation, they also improved the pumps’ impeller geometry to improve their mechanical efficiency. The plant still cleans 108,000 cubic meters of wastewater every day, but now it uses 40% less energy.

In greater Melbourne, Victoria, a water pumping and treatment facility is responsible for softening the potable water. The process requires energy-intensive compressors, but the facility powers them using IE5 SynRM motors paired with VSDs. Combined with other energy saving measures, the plant anticipates it will cut its energy use by at least 32% in just one year.

Energy efficiency is an essential step

As the cost of electricity to run plants continues to rise, more effort is being applied to find out where this can be reduced. Regulatory bodies are also implementing more conditions around sustainability to encourage water authorities and treatment plants to become more conscious of reducing energy consumption to lessen environmental impact.

Urbanisation is placing increased demands on aging, energy-intensive infrastructure, including costs associated with system maintenance and repairs. Water is a scarce resource and climate change is adding to the urgency of ensuring water systems work efficiently.

Rory Paltridge, Division Manager for Motors at ABB Australia said, “Implementing already available energy-efficient technologies in these applications will ensure we meet the future needs of a sustainable world, addressing the global water crisis and energy-related challenges.”

Submit an inquiry to ABB Australia

For more information please visit:

• ABB IE5 SynRM and Drives
• Sustainable water and wastewater solutions from ABB Australia

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/water/sponsored/energy-efficiency-helps-australian-water-authorities-meet-their-clean-energy-goals-1617568304

Victoria’s Golden Plains Shire wind farm will soon be under construction, supporting Victoria’s transition to a clean energy future.

Lily D’Ambrosio, Minister for Energy and Resources, turned the sod on the 215-turbine windfarm site, which will generate 9% of Victoria’s total energy demand when complete, powering over 765,000 homes.

“Victoria’s the clean energy investment capital of Australia, and this project is another example of how Victoria’s ambitious renewable energy policies are creating jobs and driving the renewables sector,” D’Ambrosio said.

The 1300 MW project will be Australia’s largest wind farm and will play a key role in helping meet Victoria’s 95% renewable energy target by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2045.

It will prevent more than 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted to the atmosphere annually — equivalent to 3% of Victoria’s total greenhouse emissions. The project will also create an estimated 700 jobs during construction and 72 ongoing jobs.

The wind farm will feature a 300 MW battery storage facility, making a contribution to the Victorian Renewable Energy Storage Targets of achieving at least 2.6 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030 and 6.3 GW by 2035.

Community engagement on the project will be overseen by a Community Reference Group which will establish a Community Grants Program for not-for-profit community groups.

Image credit: iStock.com/Elias

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/victoria-to-begin-constructing-golden-plains-wind-farm-1473601630

The Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) has released research highlighting that a $421 billion investment is needed for Australia to align with global investor ambitions for limiting climate change to 1.5°C.

In Baringa’s ‘Decarbonising Australia: Accelerating our energy transition with a credible 1.5°C scenario’ report, new modelling highlights the path and efforts needed across the National Electricity Market (NEM) to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C. The modelling shows that at present, Australia’s current scenario planning for the NEM is not consistent with global commitments for 1.5°C.

The report outlines additional steps needed by the Australian Government, the electricity sector, market bodies and the investment community to deliver emissions reductions in line with the objective. Decarbonisation of the electricity sector creates the biggest opportunity to drive economy-wide decarbonisation, most importantly across the transport and industrial sectors.

Simon Corbell, CEIG CEO, said the next step is accelerating emission reductions in the NEM.

“Through a continued and coordinated effort across government, industry and private markets, we can unlock $421 billion in total investment, ensuring Australia is aligned with a growing global investor effort to make 1.5°C the benchmark for action.”

Peter Sherry, Partner – Energy and Resources, Baringa said, “Our modelling outlines a practical and commercially credible scenario for decarbonising the NEM in line with staying below 1.5°C and this has been validated by investors. While there are certainly near-term challenges, there is huge opportunity to attract major global investment and paint a bright future for Australia, powered by renewables.”

This transition plan is projected to deliver long-term lower wholesale energy prices in the medium to long term. To deliver on this plan, CEIG has identified six priority actions:

• The Electricity sector needs a carbon budget — This will help governments and market bodies accelerate transition in line with targets.
• Transition requires national coordination — Governments, industry and communities must work together to accelerate coal closures and renewables rollout.
• Investment in long duration storage — This strengthens reliability and security during infrequent renewable energy droughts.
• Support for offshore wind development — Offshore wind offers significant volumes but is unlikely to be cost-competitive in Australia until the 2040s without policy support.
• Accelerating network infrastructure build — Transmission buildout must be accelerated.
• Skills, supply chains and communities — Delivery of infrastructure projects will be challenging with international competition for resources. Communities must be supported and empowered through the transition.
   

Image credit: iStock.com/denizunlusu

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/research-shows-large-investment-needed-into-climate-change-966994555

Polypropylene is a common plastic that is used for a wide variety of products from packaging and toys to furnishing and fashion, accounting for about 28% of the world’s plastic waste. Only 1% of it is recycled.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have discovered a potential solution to the problem, with two common strains of fungi used to successfully biodegrade polypropylene in a laboratory experiment. The study was published in npj: Materials Degradation.

Typically found in soil and plants, Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album were able to break down polypropylene after it had been pre-treated with either UV light or heat, reducing the plastic by 21% over 30 days of incubation, and by 25–27% over 90 days.

“Polypropylene is a common plastic used to make a huge variety of everyday products like food containers, coat hangers and cling film, but it only has a recycling rate of only 1%, meaning it is overrepresented in plastic waste and pollution globally,” said the study’s lead author, PhD student Amira Farzana Samat.

The researchers hope their method could reduce the amount of plastic polluting the environment and lead to a greater understanding of how plastic pollution might biodegrade naturally under certain conditions.

According to Samat, plastic pollution is one of the biggest waste issues due to inadequate recycling leading to waste ending up in landfill, rivers and the ocean. It has been estimated that 109 million tonnes of plastic pollution are in the world’s rivers and 30 million tonnes in the world’s oceans.

Polypropylene is so infrequently recycled because of its short life as a packaging material and because it is often contaminated by other materials and plastics, necessitating new recycling methods that have minimal environmental impact.

Samat’s PhD supervisor, Ali Abbas from the School of Chemical and Molecular Engineering and Chief Circular Engineer at Circular Australia, said, “Despite the massive scale of plastic production and consumption, there has been very little attention paid to plastics degradation under environmental conditions, and our understanding of how plastics can be degraded is limited.”

According to Abbas, a question the research has raised is which naturally occurring conditions can fast-track plastic degradation? The researchers aim to further explore the role of biological processes offered by fungi and other microorganisms.

Dee Carter, an expert in mycology — the study of fungi — in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and co-author of the study, said, “Fungi are incredibly versatile and are known to be able to break down pretty much all substrates. This superpower is due to their production of powerful enzymes, which are excreted and used to break down substrates into simpler molecules that the fungal cells can then absorb.”

Fungi have evolved to break down woody materials. This can be repurposed to attack other substrates, which is why fungi tends to grow on various man-made materials.

“Recent studies suggest some fungi may even degrade some of the ‘forever chemicals’ like PFAS, but the process is slow and not yet well understood. There is also evidence that the amount of plastic accumulated in the ocean is less than what might be expected based on production and disposal levels, and there is speculation that some of this ‘missing’ plastic may have been degraded by marine fungi,” Carter said.

Polypropylene in various forms was initially treated with one of three separate methods: ultraviolet light, heat and Fenton’s reagent — an acidic solution of hydrogen peroxide and ferrous iron often used to oxidise contaminants.

In a petri dish, the fungi were applied separately as single cultures to treated polypropylene. The validity of the biodeterioration was then confirmed through microscopy techniques. While the research didn’t evaluate how the plastic was degraded by the fungi or whether it was metabolised, the researchers hope to conduct further research to determine the type of bio-chemical processes taking place.

Abbas believes the low rate of plastics recycling creates a circularity gap, and that the development of disruptive recycling technologies must be supported to improve circularity. He says the study did not carry out optimisation of the experimental conditions, so there is room for improvement.

The researchers will explore enhancing the overall efficiency in degrading polypropylene before seeking investment to scale the technology and develop a small-scale pilot prototype for commercialisation.

Since completing the study, the team has isolated other microorganisms from the marine environment and used a similar process to degrade marine plastic waste, with preliminary results showing even higher degradation.

Samat said, “We are quite excited about this and have started looking at different ways to improve the degradation process using these microorganisms. Watch this space.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Mario De Moya F

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/waste/article/fungi-could-consume-hard-to-recycle-plastic-548418255

The Albanese government has released Australia’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy — a comprehensive roadmap to ensure Australians have a better choice of electric vehicles.

As part of the strategy and following extensive public consultation, the government will introduce a Fuel Efficiency Standard, working with industry and the community to finalise details in coming months.

Fuel efficiency standards are standards which outline how much pollution — or specifically, carbon dioxide — a car will produce when it’s running. More efficient vehicles will produce fewer emissions — meaning their environmental impact is lower and they are cheaper for motorists to run.

Australia and Russia are among the only developed countries that don’t have fuel efficiency standards.

Fiona Simon, CEO of the Australian Hydrogen Council, said, “The Australian Hydrogen Council welcomes the federal government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy, in particular the commitment to introduce a Fuel Efficiency Standard by the end of the year.

“Policy settings that will create demand for zero emissions vehicles will need to value the public benefit of clean hydrogen and electric vehicles relative to incumbent fuels. This will give certainty to global vehicle manufacturers and investors to improve their business cases for sending vehicles to Australia.

“The National Electric Vehicle Strategy is a move in the right direction and we will be working closely with the government as it designs a fuel efficiency standard to ensure the benefits of hydrogen FCEVs are realised.”

The absence of a standard has meant Australian households and businesses do not have a great choice of car models and are paying more in fuel costs to run cars because manufacturers prioritise sending more efficient vehicles to countries with standards in place.

New cars in Australia, on average, use 40% more fuel than the European Union, 20% more than the United States and 15% more than New Zealand. Effective standards may save motorists $519 per year in fuel costs.

The standards will only apply to new cars.

In terms of electric vehicles (EVs), Australia has an uptake of around four times lower than the global average. The strategy will look at reducing barriers to electric vehicle uptake, whether it be demand, supply or infrastructure.

In Australia, transport is the third-largest source of emissions. This strategy aims to cut emissions by at least 3 million tonnes of carbon by 2030 and over 10 million tonnes to 2035.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said, “This strategy delivers on our commitment to provide greater choice for Australians to drive cars that are cleaner and cheaper to run.”

The strategy can help drive down costs and improve infrastructure to make EVs more affordable and accessible.

“The government has already cut taxes on EVs through the Electric Car Discount, saving up to $11,000 a year on a $50,000 electric vehicle. Thanks to the Albanese government’s leadership, two and half times more EVs are being sold this year than they were at this time last year,” Bowen said.

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said, “This strategy offers an historic opportunity to develop fuel efficiency standards that learn from international best practice, while recognising the unique needs of Australians.”

According to King, the strategy will give Australians the choice to purchase fuel-efficient vehicles.

“More than 85% of all cars sold in the world are subject to fuel efficiency standards. It’s time Australians were offered the same choice,” King said.

Following the consultation, the government will release its proposed Fuel Efficiency Standard by the end of 2023.

Image credit: iStock.com/Tramino

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/national-electric-vehicle-strategy-announced-1219211533

These developments have made construction technology more relevant than ever. From environmentally friendly design in the early stages to delivery of energy-efficient structures at handover and beyond to operations, construction tech in its varied forms is poised to help the industry meet regulatory as well as societal expectations for making green building an achievable reality.

Exploration of sustainable designs and materials

It helps to think of infrastructure projects as having a reciprocal relationship with their environment. Using 3D modelling processes known as building information modelling (BIM), design teams are now able to take a multifaceted approach to designing with that relationship in mind.

There’s no doubt that sustainable materials are better for the environment than traditional materials for many reasons — lower carbon footprint, less potential for pollution and contamination, and so on. But it’s not enough that sustainable materials are used in infrastructure projects; there must be a corresponding reduction in the amount of resource waste produced, including time, money and materials.

And this is where BIM, ever the multitasker, shines once again.

Prevention of wasteful mistakes

Mistakes happen, but their consequences depend on whether they’re discovered and corrected in time to avoid depleting material supplies and further damaging the environment. This speaks more to process than technology; however, two mobile-enabled construction tech options in particular can help keep environmentally unfriendly mistakes from happening or worsening: building commissioning software and punch list software.

When these processes and their respective software are implemented at the start of construction instead of close to the completion date, construction mistake elimination takes a more proactive approach than reactive.

Today, BIM’s systems design and materials exploration processes help create more sustainable buildings that are energy efficient, promote health and wellbeing, reduce pollution and improve indoor air quality. It’s this kind of construction technology that will create meaningful change towards a more sustainable industry now and for future generations.

Image credit: iStock.com/Jub job

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/sustainability/article/how-construction-tech-can-help-infrastructure-projects-go-green-1179296501

Australia is at the forefront of the global energy sector’s shift from fossil-based systems to renewable assets and the way in which energy is consumed. For residential and small business consumers in Australia, this has mainly meant installing solar PV on their rooftop. However, there is a misalignment of consumer behaviour in using the generation of solar PV leading to excess energy being exported to the grid. This is great in theory but the physical realities of the grid mean that exporting energy is a significant issue for networks and market operators to manage.

VPPs can increase grid reliability

Virtual power plants (VPP) and cloud services are leading the way to providing solutions to the issues at play. To be most effective, these solutions need to be considered by regulators and networks in ways that lead to increased participation by owners of renewable energy assets, allowing for value to be recognised and shared with participants, increasing the overall utility of the grid.

VPP technologies are required to enable an increasing number of duty cycles for enrolled assets. Australia has seen the introduction of Remote Disconnect Reconnect in SA in 2020, Emergency Solar Management in WA in 2022, Dynamic Exports in SA in 2023, Queensland Backstop in 2023. Each of these is driven by regulatory requirements to help secure the network from excess solar PV export at times of low-load volume. Without this, networks become constrained and face potential stability issues.

VPP technologies have been deployed as the technology to respond to this extension of static compliance requirements enabling dynamic and interoperable connection between behind-the-meter (BTM) assets and front-of-meter (FOM) grid. Without VPP technologies, the hosting capacity of the networks would be reduced, lowering export limits, and the community would lose access to the value of the clean energy produced.

Aggregation software is often limited to the number of assets that can be enrolled to VPPs. There is a plethora of OEM systems deployed across Australia’s 3.4 million sites with rooftop solar.¹ Many installed systems have been and continue to be unsophisticated systems unable to work with VPP services, requiring third-party gateways to be installed where available. These are at considerable cost to the system owner and payback can be questionable.

Leading OEMs are shifting to native systems. These are inverter units that are intelligent hubs, enabling aggregators and retailers to aggregate the assets into a VPP, meet dynamic compliance requirements and take advantage of value pools that can be shared with the system owner. The major benefits of native systems are that the OEM produces the most efficient and wide-ranging series of API and/or control processes, without additional investment.

VPPs about accessing value

AEMO’s 2022 Integrated System Plan² indicates the scale of the role that VPPs and other emerging technologies will have to play by 2050, expecting in the order of 31 GW of dispatchable capacity to be managed by these technologies. Bloomberg NEF³ stated earlier in 2022 that there were 61 VPPs operating in Australia, with the majority servicing BTM energy storage capabilities.

There is a gap between the expected scale of future VPPs and the current state of engagement. Much of this gap comes from a limited access to value. Three key areas of value exist for VPPs:

• Wholesale market: VPPs have, in the main, created value by trading in the wholesale markets since inception, looking to either take advantage of windfall pricing or limited arbitrage opportunities.
• Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) market: More recently FCAS markets have been opened with trials operated by AEMO, though the follow-up change to the specification has meant few new OEMs have FCAS-enabled systems ready for VPP participation.
• Network services: These are yet to come to market where networks recognise the value of VPPs to their operations and the ability to play a stabilising role for the network. Change here requires a change in thinking in networks as well as regulation.
   

Having access to all three value pools will improve the return on investment for system owners, developing an expected growth in VPP offers.

The future is bright

AEMO’s ISP scenarios are achievable. We need the right mix of technologies, regulation and value pools to bring VPPs to their full potential. The community in Australia has been clear in their view based on the significant investment in renewable energy; now we need to make this work together to the benefit of the full utility of the energy network.

*Alan Coller is Director of SolarEdge’s Energy Services Division, which delivers energy services solutions from utility-scale energy storage systems, commercial solar to aggregated virtual power plant services. Coller works with many energy participants across the market from Tier 1 retailers to networks to startup enterprises. Prior to SolarEdge, he worked with Origin Energy for over six years. Beyond energy, he has worked in financial services, education, social housing and technology startups. Coller is passionate about effective disruption and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon electricity system, whilst maintaining resilience and economic value for customers.

_{1. 1/3/2023 Rooftop solar poised to become Australia’s biggest power source amid coal’s demise, Daniel Mercer, ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-01/rooftop-solar-to-overtake-coal-as-australias-main-power-source/102033740}

_{2. June 2022, 2022 Integrated System Plan for the National Electricity Market (pp10, 39, 50), AEMO}

 _{3. 4/4/2022 Australian Virtual Plants Struggle to Meet the Hype, Wil Edmonds, Bloomberg NEF}

Top image credit: iStock.com/BeyondImages

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/article/intelligent-technology-enabling-australia-s-energy-transition-612018908

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $50m for two funding rounds targeting research and development (R&D) for renewable hydrogen and low emissions iron and steel.

Funding will be provided over two phases, with a laboratory-based research phase followed by a commercialisation phase to help scale up and demonstrate breakthroughs.

$25 million will be allocated to each funding round, with funding for successful applicants expected to range between $500,000 and $5m.

The hydrogen round will include funding for two streams: one focused on improving and optimising the production of renewable hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives, and another focused on investigating storage and distribution solutions.

The low emissions iron and steel round will fund research that can significantly reduce emissions across the steel value chain.

Iron and steel account for more than 7% of global emissions with technological innovation vital to the industry achieving net zero emissions.

Australia has an opportunity to reduce emissions from iron and steel production as the world’s largest producer and exporter of iron ore.

Chris Faris, ARENA Acting CEO, said the two rounds will help scale up renewable energy and low carbon exports.

“Renewable hydrogen and low emissions iron and steel will be critical to Australia’s net zero economy. The research and development we’re funding now through these programs will underpin our clean industries of tomorrow,” Faris said.

Though renewable hydrogen is already scaling up, there is more to be done in improving its efficiency and storing/transporting it.

“As global markets increasingly demand low carbon products, we need new solutions to bring us closer to net zero. And we need to get that research out of the lab and into industrial applications. This work is about futureproofing our iron and steel industries for a low carbon value chain,” Faris said.

Expressions of interest for ARENA’s Hydrogen and Iron & Steel Research & Development Funding Rounds are due 1 June 2023.

Image credit: iStock.com/audioundwerbung

source http://sustainabilitymatters.net.au/content/energy/news/arena-to-fund-renewable-hydrogen-and-low-emissions-projects-49616960