Posts Tagged ‘business’
Cost-Effective Distributed Energy Systems in Australia
Posted in Opinion, Research by Kate Archdeacon on December 15th, 2011
Source: Climate Spectator
Photo by twicepix via flickr CC
From It’s time for a smarter grid by Giles Parkinson:
Imagine for a moment that you are the head of a large group of network operators, faced with a decision about what to do about rising peak electricity demand. And you are presented with a choice: invest $2.6 billion over five years on upgrading your network – the route you would normally take; or spend a comparable amount on solar power and energy storage, distributed throughout the network. This was the question posed by Professor John Bell, of the Queensland University of Technology, and Warwick Johnston, a leading solar analyst with Sunwiz, when they sought to find out if there was a better way than the traditional response of building more poles and wires to cope with rising peak demand.
Using Queensland network operator Energex as an example, and its forecast peak demand growth of 1.25GW over the five years to 2014/15, the study analysed the existing approach of spending $2.6 billion augmenting the grid, or investing a comparable amount in either 25GWh of storage, or 1.25GW of solar PV and 10GWh of storage. The study concluded that a combination of battery and solar PV produced a far better outcome, because of the ability to generate revenue from the energy produced, and the use of battery storage to resell energy. Over a five year period, the net present value (NPV) of the poles and wires solution was negative $2 billion, while the NPV of the solar/storage solution was negative $750 million. But because these could produce revenue over a 20-year period, the solar/storage had a positive NPV of $2 billion over a 20 year period.
Bell and Johnston say the main take-home messages from this are that the integration of distributed PV and battery storage into the existing energy system has the potential to be cost effective now, and it underpins the case for reform of the National Electricity Market, to ensure that distributed generation is fairly treated and that network providers are encouraged to opt for the solutions that have greater market benefit, rather than simply being least upfront cost.
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>>Read the full article by Giles Parkinson on Climate Spectator.
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>>Read about VEIL’s work on Distributed Systems.
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The Yes Men Fix the World: The Big Picture
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on November 28th, 2011
| 6 December , 2011 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:00 pm |
Next screening, THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD, on Tuesday 6 December 2011 at 6pm at Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.
THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world’s most outrageous pranks. From New Orleans to India to New York City, armed with little more than cheap thrift-store suits, the Yes Men squeeze raucous comedy out of all the ways that corporate greed is destroying the planet.
Read more on the Ross House website.
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Drinking Water: New service models in Melbourne
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on October 13th, 2011
Photo by Harry Troedel
Article by Kate Archdeacon:
Last week the Southbank Campus of the Victorian College of the Arts stopped selling bottled water through its vending machines, bars and cafés, with the support of staff, students, commercial tenants and Sharyn Lowe from Do Something! Water is now available through public water fountains (Aquabubblers) across the campus, as well as in the ReSauce café on site. Harry Troedel, Sustainability Manager, Implementation, at the University of Melbourne, explained that including the café tenants in discussions about the move away from bottled water allowed them to make decisions about the services they could offer instead. As a result, ReSauce now owns and operates a Freshie water vending machine. Patrons can refill their bottles from the machine, with prices varying depending on what type of water they buy. The choices range from chilled, filtered, sparkling, and flavoured water, with prices coming out at considerably less than a single-use bottle. The water from the Aquabubblers is the same quality and temperature as tap water, so the café has an opportunity to provide a point of difference.
As part of the initiative launch, Vestal Water gave away some of their stainless steel water bottles. Vestal Water are developing new services around water supply – they have a V.I.P. card which allows the bearer to refill their water bottle for free at participating outlets (cafes, service stations etc) on purchase of a hot drink, and they are developing a refill station map to support this promotion. Mr. Troedel says that Hairy Little Sista, the bar at Council House 2 (CH2) has replaced their bottled water with a Vestal Water system.
Shifting water consumption away from throwaway packaging while still providing quality products has been proposed as a great product-service-system in many student designs we’ve seen at VEIL. It’s great to see some real-world examples emerging in Melbourne.
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Secondhand Books Online: Brotherhood Books
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on September 21st, 2011
Brotherhood Books is a Social Enterprise from the Brotherhood of St Laurence and is intended to encourage the recycling of high quality books and to contribute funds to the Brotherhood’s charitable operations. Over the last 10 years, we have received in excess of 45 tonnes of donated books, and the collection continues to grow. Books are sorted and cleaned, then sold through the Brotherhood Books website and delivered to your doorstep. However if you love to browse the shelves, our books are also available in the Brotherhood Community Stores around Victoria. For locations please click here.
Brotherhood Books also works with other like-minded charities, including our most recent partner, St Luke’s of Bendigo. St Luke’s is regional Victoria’s largest not-for-profit welfare agency. Working in rural and regional communities, St Luke’s aim is to help people to make positive changes and contribute to their communities. With sites throughout the Loddon Mallee and southern New South Wales, St Luke’s staff of over 360 works with children, their families and communities to bring hope and create opportunities for development and improvement. 100% of the profits from Brotherhood Books’ collection go towards the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s work in helping disadvantaged people build better lives. Click here for more about the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
http://www.brotherhoodbooks.org.au/
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Seeking Program Partners: 13th Sustainable Living Festival
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on September 15th, 2011
IT’S THE CELEBRATION THAT SUSTAINS A NATION
You are invited to join in the celebrations of the 13th annual Sustainable Living Festival. We want your ideas, imagination and insights into community education and mobilisation to help create the 2012 Festival program. This is the critical decade and we all know we need to help Australians achieve a new scale and speed of action for a safe climate and safe environment. The Festival’s role in helping to communicate this direction and showcase leading groups and solutions is a pivotal one in gaining community support for a mass transition to aid sustainability. The Festival’s program format is rapidly expanding to reach new audiences and develop fresh and more creative ways of engaging with people from all walks of life. We invite you to become a program partner today and help shape this direction and kick start the programming for Festival 2012.
- BE A PART OF THE PROGRAM
- PROMOTE YOUR WORK
- LAUNCH YOUR NEW CAMPAIGNS
- CONNECT WITH NEW AUDIENCES
- JOIN THE TEN YEAR TRANSITION
FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact: Luke Taylor, Sustainable Living Foundation – luke@slf.org.au
Apply: Online Event Application Form – http://www.slf.org.au/festival
SUSTAINABLE LIVING FESTIVAL 2012 EVENT DATES 11 – 26 FEBRUARY
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Businesses Thinking Globally and Acting Locally on Waste
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on August 17th, 2011
| 25 August , 2011 | ||
| 8:30 am | to | 10:30 am |
Source: Metropolitan Waste Management Group
Photo courtesy 5 Gyres
Melbourne Waste Wise Network Event
Peter Hardy from GHD will present on his recent expedition on the 5 Gyres team aboard the Sea Dragon, sailing through remote oceanic areas to study plastic pollution; Elizabeth Kasell, Director of Development from Red Group Holdings will discuss plastic recycling; Tania Crosbie, Director of Sustainability at Work, will give an overview of a recent report on ‘Sustainability in the Workplace’ and; Emily Ballantyne-Brodie, Director of Urban Reforestation, will talk about the Target 3008 project.
To be held on Thursday 25 August, 8:30-10:30am
The Sustainable Living Centre, located on Merchant St, Docklands. Book Now!
Cost $100 for non-members and additional representatives from member organisations. RSVP ellen.regos@mwmg.vic.gov.au by 18/8/11
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Mineral Water in Eco-Kegs, Delivered by Bike
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 11th, 2011
Source: Broadsheet
Image courtesy dhmsco
From “Kegs, Bikes and Bubbles: dhmsco’s Mineral Water Revolution” by Hilary McNevin:
We got to thinking about the environmental impact of buying imported mineral water in glass bottles and found a company with a bright idea and a three-wheeled bike. A keg of mineral water built into a Danish Christiania three-wheeler bike – it’s pimped, it’s got a brolly, it’s looking good and it’s coming to a market, café or restaurant near you.
The Daylesford and Hepburn Mineral Springs Company (dhmsco) have taken a simple and very logical idea and are literally taking it to the streets. Founders and directors of dhmsco, Mitch Watson and Brylie Rankine have been selling their mineral water, which is sourced from the Daylesford spring naturally carbonated, to their customers in customary bottles, but have now taken the next step of providing restaurants and cafes mineral water in recyclable eco-kegs.
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The beauty of serving water through a reticulation system such as a keg is that, while cutting down packaging to a minimum, it also eases the costs and environmental impacts of travel and shipping. The water can be sold by the glass or bottle in the restaurant and the bottles Watson supplies to the restaurants are made in Spotswood, Melbourne, rather than being manufactured overseas and shipped to Australia.
The next step is to make more Melburnians aware of the quality of dhmsco’s mineral water and the notion of the mineral water keg, which is delivered on via the keg bike.
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Restaurants in Melbourne to have dhmsco mineral water on tap so far include, Little Creatures, Dandelion, The Corner Shop and Ladro. Watson is also in the process of developing syrups to add to the water in classic flavours such as cucumber, hawthorn, elderflower, natural tonic and rosehip (he’s also working on a nettle syrup but acknowledges it’s not quite ready to go).
There is the opportunity to check out the dhmsco keg bike, taste the water and the syrups at the Melbourne farmers markets (mfm.com.au) each Saturday from mid-August at its various locations. “We want people to try the syrups and tell us what they think,” explains Watson. “We’re doing research.”
Read the full article by Hilary McNevin on Broadsheet.
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Does your organisation have a culture of sustainability?
Posted in Models, Research by timc on June 28th, 2011
Awake has recently developed the Sustainability Culture Indicator (SCI), an online survey tool designed to help organisations and groups evaluate the extent to which critical enablers of sustainability exist in their culture.
The information provided by the SCI allows the organisation to
- Identify the features of the organisation which are supporting, and hindering, the development of sustainability as a core aspect of the culture
- Ensure the design of activities and actions to promote sustainability are targeted to the areas of greatest need
- Set a baseline against which to track the impact of future efforts to embed sustainability
The factors measured in the SCI are derived from academic and organisational research, as well as being developed and refined through surveys conducted by Awake in several organisations and communities throughout Australia and New Zealand.
More information, including a sample report and brochure are available at the SCI webpage
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Victorian Oranges for Healthy Fundraisers
Posted in Movements, Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on June 21st, 2011
Source: Melbourne Community Farmers’ Markets
Want to raise funds for your community or school? Want to support the Australian Citrus Industry? Want to promote rural education? Move over crap chocolate, Nangiloc Primary School has a great idea! In a nutshell, during the Navel orange season (July – Oct) you place an order for 3kg bags of fresh oranges for $5. Local fruit, packed at a local packing house will be processed by the children from Nangiloc Primary School as part of an enterprise learning program. Then, for every bag your school or organisation sells, you will earn one dollar whilst supporting Victorian citrus growers, seasonal fruit and Nangiloc Primary School. Find out more by phoning (03) 5029 1483 or email Nangiloc Primary School
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Energy Saver Initiative: Competition
Posted in Seeking by Kate Archdeacon on June 13th, 2011
Energy Saver Initiative
There are many ways to save energy. So tell us in a few words (max 150) what your organisation has done or could do to save energy and you could win $10,000 to lower energy use even further. It’s all part of Bendigo Bank and Carbon Down joining forces to encourage environmental sustainability initiatives in Victorian businesses and organisations.
1st Prize $10,000 to reduce your organisation’s energy use
2nd Prize $5,000 Bendigo Bank financial planning advice and services
3rd prize $1,000 VECCI Sustainability Services Energy Assessment
If you’d like some ideas to get you started, go to www.whatcanidorightnow.com.au, www.carboncompass.com.au, www.growmethemoney.com.au or www.bendigobank.com.au/greenbusiness. There’s solutions, case studies and a whole lot more to inspire you.
PLUS, all entries will receive a FREE energy saving power board*. Now that’s an incentive (especially as stand-by power can equate to 6% of a business’s energy bill!) . Enter today. The more businesses and organisations that participate the better it is for our environment.
The competition closes Midnight 30th June 2011.
* While stocks last. There’s over 5,000 to give away.
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