Sustainability

La Trobe University is well on its way to achieving its ‘net zero’ carbon emissions by 2029 goal thanks to 7,500 solar panels installed by Solgen Energy Group at its Bundoora campus in Melbourne’s north. VIC Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the feat demonstrated what could be achieved with leadership, clear targets, and renewable energy.

Thanks to the Covid-19 many of us find ourselves in lockdown with little reprieve other than a morning potter or an evening stroll. In Goulburn, thanks to what is being called Australia’s largest solar lighting installation, locals can now more easily walk and cycle their way to the salutary effects of a daily jaunt.

Hesta, a leading industry superannuation fund trusted by 860,000 Australians, has joined a host of other major investment firms nationwide calling on the Federal Government to encourage large-scale renewable investment by setting an emissions target and cleaning up its strategy.

New economic modelling from Accenture’s AlphaBeta has found 76,000 clean jobs just waiting to be created over the next three years if a green recovery from the twin recoveries from the Black Summer Bushfires and Covid-19 were implemented. The Plan, commissioned by the Climate Council, breaks down potential jobs in the hardest hit regions and occupations.

A 50 MW solar farm at a vacant site in Karrabin is on the verge of construction after Ipswich City Council approved the project’s Materials Change of Use application. Ipswich may have once been Queensland’s ‘cradle of coal mining’ but solar is a sure sign of growing up.

SA Water’s highly ambitious $300 million solar uptake is proving a golden goose as a partnership with Succession Ecology to revegetate almost a tonne of native seedlings under large-scale solar arrays proves a win-win. The ground-mounted modules mean native vegetation can return to formerly agricultural land, and the native scrub itself protects PV panels from soiling.

Logan City Council has passed the 1 MW milestone of solar capacity on Council-owned buildings after the completion of a 100 kW install atop Logan North Aquatic Centre. The Council has plans to more than double that mark in the next year alone, however, some planned installations may fall victim to Covid-19 inspired cutbacks.

The University of Queensland-owned and developed utility-scale Warwick Solar Farm is complete, bringing together the University’s ambitions to not only become 100% renewably powered, but to provide hands-on learning, research and development opportunities for generations of students seeking fulfilling employment that contributes to a greener future.

Australian Parents for Climate Action have proposed an initiative called Solar our Schools and published open letter to Prime Minister Morrison calling for large-scale federal investment in solar and energy storage for every school and early childhood centre as part of Covid-19 recovery. 

The New Zealand Government is quickly turning the antipodean rivalry over climate legislation and renewable energy integration into a veritable Bledisloe Cup. This is to say that for Australia the situation is now plain embarrassing. Today, NZ’s Climate Change Minister James Shaw announced six new projects to receive funding as part of its clean-powered public service fund.