By Bhavna Middha, RMIT University; Ralph Horne, RMIT University, and Vincent Pettigrove, RMIT University Last month, Australia’s ban on the import, use and manufacture of three types of “forever chemical” came into effect. These chemicals – PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS – have long lifespans and resist breaking down. They’re considered harmful due to their ability…
Bin Lu, Australian National University and Marnie Shaw, Australian National University As the electrification of transport and heating accelerates, many worry the increased demand could overload national power grids. In Australia, electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050. If everyone charges their car and heats water using electric systems at the same time, peak…
By Madoc Sheehan, James Cook University Green hydrogen is touted by some as the future – a way for Australia to slowly replace its reliance on fossil fuel exports. The energy-dense gas has the potential to reduce emissions in sectors challenging to decarbonise, such as steelmaking and fertiliser manufacturing. The Albanese government wants it to…
By Samantha Hepburn, Deakin University In a decision surprising very few people, Australia’s new environment minister Murray Watt has signed off on an extension for the gas plant at Karratha, part of the enormous North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project. The decision had been deferred until after the federal election, given significant environmental concerns…
By Ali Abbas, University of Sydney; Dominic Bui Viet, University of Sydney, and Eric Sanjaya, University of Sydney Every year, Australia buries millions of tonnes of waste in landfills. But these sites are filling fast, recycling has its own limitations, and most waste export is banned. So councils and state governments are looking for alternatives.…
New research from James Cook University has produced results that might seem counterintuitive, showing that cigarette butts could offer a promising solution for tainted waterways. The JCU team looked at char made out of cigarette butt waste, which was donated by the charity No More Butts. Their paper, published in the journal Chemical Engineering Science (linked),…
The federal government has announced an extra $2 billion to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), spruiking the potential to attract triple that amount in private investment and assist households and small businesses with energy savings. The CEFC said the additional $2 billion – provisioned for in the government’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook –…
By Alexey Lebedev Sustainability is no longer just an option for businesses across the country — it’s an imperative. As Australia prepares for mandatory climate-related disclosures for ESG reporting, leading companies across every sector are placing a strong focus on their emissions and environmental responsibility. Those organisations in the industrial sector – even those with…
By Karen Raubenheimer, University of Wollongong It’s been 20 years since a paper in the journal Science showed the environmental accumulation of tiny plastic fragments and fibres. It named the particles “microplastics”. The paper opened an entire research field. Since then, more than 7,000 published studies have shown the prevalence of microplastics in the environment,…
By Yasir Arafat, Edith Cowan University and Daryoush Habibi, Edith Cowan University As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated as common waste. Unlike China and some European countries, Australia lacks a…