Big data deployed to increase traceability in bid to save the deep blue sea

Ethical Corporation

September 1, 2020

To protect the planet’s oceans, we have to know what’s going on in them and what we are taking out. Ending illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is critical, but many countries don’t have resources for patrols at sea and remote surveillance, leaving much of their 200-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs) unprotected. Many also lack sufficient regulations, oversight, or

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Soaring growth in offshore renewables puts wind in the sails of the energy transition

Ethical Corporation

August 30, 2020

Oceans are critical in the battle against climate change, absorbing 25%-30% of annual CO2 emissions, but it is a role that is being undermined as oceans warm and become more acidic. In the future, scientists say, the greatest CO2 mitigation potential will have to be found not in the depths of the oceans, but in what lies on top: renewable energy installations like offshore wind, wave and tidal energy and floating

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Adelaide Cemeteries awarded environmental accreditation

Sustainability Matters

August 26, 2020

Adelaide Cemeteries has gained internationally recognised ISO 14001 environmental certification, reportedly becoming the first cemetery operator in Australia to do so. Adelaide Cemeteries CEO Robert Pitt said significant work had been undertaken over several years to improve environmental performance. “Environmental sustainability is a key pillar of Adelaide Cemeteries’

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Where there's hope for speeding up business action on plastics

GreenBiz Group

August 26, 2020

Where there's hope for speeding up business action on plastics Elsa Wenzel Wed, 08/26/2020 - 02:01 In 10 short years, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) arguably has done more than any other group to define and advance the circular economy. Its landmark report, "The New Plastics Economy" (PDF),  sounded the alarm in 2016 that if "business as

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How water stewardship benefits businesses by reducing water risks

Sustainability Matters

July 31, 2020

Water is essential for the development and maintenance of successful economies and for preserving human health. Ensuring the ongoing availability of water as an essential resource means that water must be used responsibly and sustainably. Water is a renewable resource, circulating on the planet for many millions of years, but it becomes lost from the water cycle if it is polluted or extracted more quickly than it

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Managing saline effluent at CSG site

Sustainability Matters

July 23, 2020

Concept Environmental Services (Concept) has completed construction of a 112-megalitre Saline Effluent Management System (SEMS) for a key CSG customer. The system consists of two Concept Tanks that each hold up to 56 million litres of brine produced by operations in the area. This project is claimed to be the first of its kind in Australia, which will see a 30% reduction in brine processing time, meaning land

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Man-made reefs boost fish numbers

Sustainability Matters

July 22, 2020

UNSW Sydney researchers have found that man-made reefs — in conjunction with the restoration or protection of natural habitat — can increase fish abundance in estuaries. The researchers installed six artificial reefs in each estuary studied, finding that overall fish abundance increased up to 20 times in each reef across a two-year period. The research — funded by the NSW

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Could trash-to-energy technology feed hydrogen demand?

GreenBiz Group

July 15, 2020

Could trash-to-energy technology feed hydrogen demand? Arlene Karidis Wed, 07/15/2020 - 01:00 One novel spin on emerging hydrogen fuel options is "clean hydrogen" made from trash.  Early pioneers of these hydrogen-from-waste technologies such as Ways2H, SGH2 Energy (SGH2) and Standard Hydrogen say not only are they making carbon-free, energy-rich fuel, their

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Toxic wastewater cleaned up using electricity

Sustainability Matters

July 9, 2020

Electricity could soon be used to clean up heavily contaminated industrial wastewater streams. A team of engineers from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Sydney developed an electrochemical oxidation process, with the aim of cleaning up complex wastewater that contained a toxic combination of chemical pollutants. “Our study, published in Algal

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SA WWTP sets sustainability record

Sustainability Matters

July 9, 2020

SA Water’s new Murray Bridge Wastewater Treatment Plant has received an ‘excellent’ design rating from the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA), with the score of 72 reported to be the highest design rating to date for a water or wastewater project in Australia. With the ability to process up to 4.5 million litres of sewage a day, the plant replaces the previous

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