In 2008, the environment made its mark indelibly on Queensland business, whether as part of a sustainability process, a cost-saving exercise or in preparation for the Federal Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Aldwyn Altuney has compiled this digest of Business Acumen’s coverage of environmental business throughout 2008.
SUSTAINABILITY DIPLOMA
In February 2008, a new Environmental Sustainability Diploma course designed in Queensland answered a dramatic change in demand from business.
Brisbane-based training organisation Outsource Services created the course in response to calls for a practical approach to managing on-the-job environmental sustainability issues.
www.outsourceservices.com.au
KOGAN CREEK FIRES UP
CS Energy’s Kogan Creek plant fired up in late 2007, setting the pace globally in efficiencies for coal-fired power stations.
The $1.2billion, 750 megawatt Kogan Creek power station, near Chinchilla in South West Queensland, is said to be one of the country’s most efficient coal-fired power stations, producing 22 percent fewer emissions and using one-tenth of the water of a conventional plant.
www.csenergy.com.au
SOIL SUB TECHNOLOGIES
Queensland’s Soil Sub Technologies Limited signed a US$30million exclusive licensing agreement for its unique soil systems with The Timms Cho Group in China.
The Soil Sub Technologies product, NutriMix, was set for use as the organic growing medium for planting Jatropha trees for biodiesel production.
With superior nutrient profile and water management capabilities, NutriMix is an environmentally sustainable Australian innovation with more than 100 million tonnes of raw materials available worldwide on an annual basis.
www.soilsub.com
ORANGE POWER
Queensland-based Orange Power’s range of environmentally responsible cleaning products expanded in early 2008 with the launch of Australia’s first ‘four-times’ concentrate natural enzyme laundry liquid, formulated for ‘greywater’ use.
It’s made from natural ingredients which include biodegradable soap and plant-based enzymes and is one of the lowest laundry liquids in pH, phosphates and sodium.
www.orangepower.com.au
BOND AIMS AT GREEN
Property developers are increasingly turning to sustainable building designs in the race to be ‘green’.
Bond University researchers sought to answer whether the extra effort was worth it by examining the performance of Green Star Certified buildings around Australia.
The study, commissioned by the Green Building Council of Australia and led by Bond’s School of Sustainable Development head George Earl, was the first of its type in Australia.
www.bond.edu.au
CRISP AIR APPROACH
A revolutionary new air testing and cleansing system was employed by Queensland company Crisp Air early in 2008 to fight so-called ‘sick’ buildings by improving internal air quality.
Crisp Airgineering is a new air purification service offered throughout Australia by the Brisbane-based refrigeration and air conditioning specialists.
The service measures air quality and provides a solution by incorporating a low energy process to purify the air, while reducing the carbon footprint of the building and lowering electricity costs.
www.crisp-air.com.au
INNOVATION SERIES
The Queensland Innovation Series returned for its fifth year on April 10, 2008, focusing on the challenges to business in going ‘carbon neutral’.
DuPont Australia and New Zealand managing director Hutch Ranck presented his experiences on business developing a sustainable culture to reduce the environmental footprint and costs. Then Ecos Corporation strategy project leader Murray Hogarth talked about the risks and opportunities for business in going carbon neutral, compared with the social and environmental challenges Australia faces.
www.innovationseries.com.au
GRIFFITH EXAMINES ‘CR’
Progress towards corporate responsibility (CR) is being made but was not enough to meet the international communities’ goals on climate change or world poverty, according to a report co-authored by Griffith Business School adjunct associate professor Jem Bendell, which came out in February 2008.
Lifeworth’s 7th annual CR Review reported that on current progress, less than 60 percent of global economic activity would be environmentally sustainable by 2028, less than 80 percent by 2050, with a sustainable economy only achieved by 2070.
www.responsibleenterprise.com
ZERO GEN FOR CARBON
Queensland is at the forefront of exciting new technology to help combat climate change, according to Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson.
Mr Wilson told Parliament in February that drilling was well underway, deep in the Denison Trough in Central Queensland, in the search for clean coal solutions.
“The ZeroGen project could become the first in the world to combine coal gasification with carbon capture and storage, to produce electricity with low carbon dioxide emissions,” Mr Wilson said.
www.zerogen.com.au
www.csiro.au
EARTH HOUR CLICKS
Businesses throughout Brisbane and South East Queensland were urged to turn off their lights for an hour in March 2008 as part of a worldwide climate change initiative that aimed to combat global warming.
Buildings across the area plunged into darkness between 8pm and 9pm on March 29 for Earth Hour 2008, organised in conjunction with WWF.
www.wwf.org.au
EPA LAUNCHES AWARDS
The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sustainable Industry Awards were launched to recognise the best and most innovative sustainability practices in business and industry.
Businesses were urged to nominate so the winners would serve as examples to other businesses of what could be achieved.
www.epa.qld.gov.au
GRIFFITH FIRST WITH UN
The Griffith Business School was the first Australian university to sign up to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), leading the way for the advancement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a new generation of business leaders.
www.unprme.org
www.griffith.edu.au
ATTENDED ENVIRO 08
Eight Queensland firms, all members of the Australian Technology Showcase, received a helping hand to win more business in the Asia Pacific region in May 2008 when Australia’s largest exhibition of environmental technologies – Enviro 08 – was held in Melbourne.
The 2008 conference and exhibition focused on the impact of environmental issues on the manufacturing and building sectors and technologies to address these concerns. See panel story on attendees.
www.enviroconvention.com.au
EDITORIAL COMMENT
Business Acumen editor, Mike Sullivan pointed out in the May 2008 edition that several high profile events in Brisbane in April 2008 all had a similar message about sustainability, the environment, carbon footprints and carbon trading.
Australia’s version of an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is on the way in 2010 and its centerpiece is the greenhouse gas emissions market.
Sustainability means profits. Time will tell how our carbon dating turns out in Queensland, but sustainability is not just a romantic notion anymore, he wrote.
ENVIROTECH MEETING
Industry representatives from the state’s burgeoning environmental technologies industry met for the first time in April 2008.
The global market for environmental technologies and services is expected to reach US$688billion by 2010. The industry in Queensland employs more than 10,000 skilled workers, generating more than $1.3billion in revenue per year and exporting products and services to over 50 countries.
www.drdti.qld.gov.au
VITAL RESOURCE EXPORTS
Vital Resource Management (VRM) turned its good ideas for bio-based waste treatment and fertilizers into a growing commercial success in 2008.
The Townsville-based company exported to Europe and the Middle East in 2008 and exports are expected to grow by 30 percent during the next few years.
www.vrm.com.au
POWER GLASS
QUT was working with Canberra-based company Dyesol in 2008 to develop transparent solar cells that act as windows and energy generators in houses and commercial buildings.
The solar cell glass would make a big difference to home and building owners’ energy costs and could be store power or on-sell it.
www.qut.edu.au
CLEAN ENERGY BILL
Queensland business began encountering the direct effects of climate change regulation when the Clean Energy Bill was passed by State Parliament in May 2008.
The Bill aimed to boost the state’s coal seam gas industry, promote the use of electricity powered by the sun and help make mining safer for workers.
www.dme.qld.gov.au
MITCHELL ACCLAIMED
The first winner of a new Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards Environmental Management category in May 2008 was Mitchell Builders.
The company won the first Environmental Management Award for creating the first self sustainable, council approved industrial estate in Australia.
The Environmental Industrial Estate in Stapylton showcased the ability of using environmentally friendly and self-sustaining methods while still maintaining profitability and economic viability for the industry and the community.
www.goldcoastbusinessawards.com.au
MASLEN CHILLS COSTS
Innovative Sunshine Coast company, Maslen Australia, after several years of intense research and development, produced an environmental breakthrough with fridges – a low energy insert which is fitted to the glass doors of refrigerators and freezers.
The technology dramatically reduced heat transfer, which lowered carbon emissions and cut running costs.
www.maslen.com.au
HAINES sinks boat fibreglass EMISSIONS
Queensland’s iconic powerboat designer and manufacturer, the Haines Group, tackled climate change by reducing emissions in its fiberglass manufacturing process.
It reduced styrene emissions, while improving product consistency and output. In a world-first, the company used its Resin Injection Vacuum Assisted Low Emission (RIVALE) technology to produce a new class of fiberglass boat, designed to rival the tinnie market.
www.thehainesgroup.com
ECOVILLAGE LAUDED
The Ecovillage at Currumbin won the World’s Best Environmental Development award at the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Prix d’Excellence Awards in the Netherlands in June 2008.
The Ecovillage has notched up more than 23 development gongs since its conception.
www.theecovillage.com.au
COAL SEAM GAS ‘GO’
Queensland Gas Company (QGC) chief executive Richard Cottee pushed for Queensland to better utilise the world’s largest known supply of coal seam gas.
He said Queensland was sitting on a resource to empower Australia’s energy future and give the Australian economy huge sustainable energy advantages
www.qgc.com.au
HANSON BLOCKS WATER
Hanson Building Products set an example for other Queensland manufacturers in saving almost 1.7 million litres of water since the implementation of an innovative recycling system in 2007.
Hanson’s Staplyton-based plant manufactures pavers and concrete blocks. It conserved water by using large rainwater tanks, implementing a system to catch all water runoff from its kilns used to cure concrete blocks and transfer that water back into concrete mixers.
www.hansonbp.biz ♦
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