Sustainability

Work on the long-awaited 280-megawatt Cultana Solar Farm in South Australia could begin as early as July.

Australia has certainly demonstrated its appetite for solar power. Now, with the average lifespan of a solar panel being approximately 20 years, many installations from the early 2000’s are set to reach end-of-life. Will they end up in landfill or be recycled? The cost of recycling is higher than landfill, and the value of recovered materials is smaller than the original, so there’s limited interest in recycling. But given the presence of heavy metals, such as lead and tin, if waste is managed poorly, we’re on track for another recycling crisis. A potential time bomb could present itself as an opportunity, however, if the global EV industry showed an interest in the recovered solar products.

Western Australia’s Renewable Hydrogen Strategy is beginning to make moves with the backing of Hazer Group and the Water Corporation to produce hydrogen from biogas, an Australian-first with a technology developed in Australia.

The ACT Government has allocated funding to undertake solar and sustainability upgrades on public and community housing and install solar batteries for two public schools as part of its fast-tracked infrastructure projects to support the local economy.

MIT scientists have suggested used electric vehicle batteries could offer a more viable business case than purpose-built systems for the storage of grid scale solar power in California. Such ‘second life’ EV batteries, may cost only 60% of their original purchase price to deploy and can be effectively aggregated for industrial scale storage even if they have declined to 80% of their original capacity.

The e-commerce giant will add a second utility-scale PV project to its renewables portfolio in Australia as it seeks to offset its local carbon footprint.

A national Technology Investment Roadmap, which is intended to drive a successful shift to secure, more affordable energy and lower emissions, has flagged support for new gas investments, carbon capture and storage, and “emerging nuclear technologies”. The long-awaited document has prompted a flurry of reactions.

As the fossil fuel industry applauds new legislative changes proposed by the Morrison government, which would pave the way for coal and gas projects to tap clean energy finance, environmental groups are shaking their heads in disbelief at the government’s lack of initiative to deliver a sensible climate policy. More than ever before, the fate of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is at stake.

The Greens released their plan for Australia’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis this week. The plan looks to invest heavily in renewable infrastructure, a cunningly rational ploy to solve a few crises at once.

The unique solar, wind, and battery project has been completed at Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine, marking Australia’s largest hybrid microgrid of its kind.