The Upper Hunter Shire Council (UHSC) presented some interesting problems when it had a need for a high-tech solution to its water management and control for the townships of Aberdeen and Scone, with possible future expansion within their 2.9 million hectare jurisdiction. A previous supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) network was well overdue for upgrade and the latest environmental laws meant that dramatic changes and demands on water management had occurred since the original installation.

WSN Environmental Solutions and joint venture partner LMS Generation will boost the export capacity of their waste-to-energy project at Eastern Creek Waste and Recycling Centre, providing green power for an extra 1000 homes.

Aurora Place at 88 Phillip Street in Sydney is a landmark building on the Sydney skyline. Designed by the world-renowned architect Renzo Piano and managed by Colonial First State Property Management, the building provides approximately 50,000 square metres in office space to some of Australia’s blue chip corporate tenants.

Drought and the fundamental need to stay in business has brought on a radical process re-engineering effort at Radford Meats in Warragul, Victoria.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Australia work with disadvantaged communities in Australia and Asia to improve their quality of life through sustainable and appropriate engineering projects.

As far back as 2006, a large council depot in South Australia had an issue with silt and hydrocarbons entering its many drains in its large sealed yard. After looking through a few options, it settled on the Drain King by Spilldoktor as the best solution for the application.

TT-Line’s Spirit of Tasmania twin ships are ahead of the fleet when it comes to glass recycling, with both vessels recycling 400 kg of glass a week - equivalent to more than 117,000 stubbies diverted from landfill and recycled each year.

A large machine shop in South Australia was looking to reduce expenses and clean up the work areas around milling machines, lathes and other ‘mess-producing’ equipment.

At the end of 1989, the KSB Group supplied the Norwegian offshore platform named Snorre A with five special pumps. The pump units have been in operation ever since. In order to maintain the pressure in the oil field, they have been pumping seawater into the oil field at high pressure for the past twenty years.

A team of South Korean scientists claim to have succeeded in producing the polymers used for everyday plastics through bioengineering, rather than through the use of fossil fuel-based chemicals. This research, which may now allow for the production of environmentally conscious plastics, is published in two papers in the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering to mark the journal’s 50th anniversary.

EcoForum Managing Director Paul Howlett said: “EcoForum is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary event designed to provide participants with the knowledge and networks they need to solve environmental problems and build business networks across the areas of climate change, water, waste and remediation.

In November, the New Zealand Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Gerry Brownlee, opened what is claimed to be the largest wastewater algae to biocrude oil demonstration project in the world.

Dell is shipping its Dell Inspiron Mini 10 and Mini 10v netbooks in packaging made from bamboo, a renewable material that serves as a good alternative to moulded paper pulp, foams and corrugate often used in packaging.

Crowne Plaza Terrigal recently installed the mySmart Hotel Room Control System which intelligently controls the air conditioning in each of its 199 guest rooms. The Smart Digital Thermostat is easy and intuitive to use - it uses motion sensing and door switches to detect when the room is in use. The thermostat can be used in stand-alone mode, control the room lights or integrate with the hotel’s check-in system.

Fertiliser and housing insulation are but two of the by-products produced through Sylvania Lighting Australasia’s SYLrecycle lamp recycling program.