Sustainability

Humes, a division of concrete company Holcim Australia, is making moves on its emissions reductions targets with the installation of rooftop solar on 10 of its sites across Australia. With a number of the projects already completed, Humes expects to finish the large-scale layout by the end of March 2022.

Fortescue Future Industries has acquired Williams Advanced Engineering for $310 million as it looks to capitalise on its critical battery technology to cut emissions from its mining vehicles. An offshoot of the Williams Formula 1 Team, Williams Advanced Engineering has already helped to develop an electric mining haul truck for Fortescue in 2021.

Victoria’s Bowens has invested $1.2 million in a large scale rooftop solar installation along with power factor correction units in order to cut its carbon emissions and promote sustainable practices in the construction sector. With new home builds and renovations surging across Australia, it is not just residential rooftops that can make an impact on the nations’ carbon footprint, but commercial rooftops as well.

With the spotlight shining bright on the nation’s transport industry as the Covid pandemic causes widespread disruptions to supply chains, the Australian Trucking Association has been quick to make the most of the attention, calling for urgent reform to deliver a new era of electric trucks in Australia.

The Sun Rock building is owned by Taiwan’s power utility Taipower. It was covered with 4,000 square meters of PV panels deployed by Dutch architectural firm MVRDV.

For just shy of a week leading up to December 29, South Australia sourced an average of 101% of its electricity demand from renewable energy.

In the past fortnight, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, and now BHP Group have all announced they will buy electric trains to haul iron ore across Western Australia. All three companies will purchase their electric locomotives either from Progress Rail or Wabtec, both U.S based.

The supply of indium, both for layers in silicon solar cells and some thin-film PV technologies, is increasingly seen as a future potential bottleneck that solar and other industries relying on the material will have to manage. Resolving indium supply concerns may be a case of rethinking mining waste and recycling, reports Ian Morse.

The world’s largest coal port is now powered by 100% renewable energy after the Port of Newcastle confirmed it had inked a deal with the Australian arm of Spanish energy group Iberdrola which will see the port’s entire operational needs powered by renewable generation.

Western Australian solar window company ClearVue says it has proven its products can reduce buildings’ carbon emissions by as much as 90%, qualifying the technology for the world’s most comprehensive future building standards for energy performance.