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Single-Column Responsive Email Template SENG QLD Newsletter - October 2018 Welcome to Newsletter Number 74 Dear SENG Qld members and friends, Spring has sprung for 2018 and we hope the coming warmer seasons will bring blossoms that flower to bear nourishing fruit for us all. Let's continue to do all that we can to ensure the climate and environmental health remain stable so we can all continue enjoying such vital natural cycles indefinitely. The 19th Annual Queensland Environmental Student Awards night is to be held on the 17th October at EcoHouse Griffith University, the event's formal co-sponsor. The evening is an opportunity for Qld engineering and science undergraduate students to showcase their thesis projects among industry professionals and leaders. Besides keeping abreast of exciting new research and maintaining connections among industry and academia, supporting this event with your attendance and/or sponsorship strengthens the connections between those of us committed to applying science in a manner that ensures society's developments are engineered in harmony with ecology. Please read more about how you can support this fantastic event below. This month's newsletter includes: 2018 Qld Environmental Student Award Night Other Events Interesting Snippets Open for comment David's Blog As always, we welcome input from members regarding topics or speakers of interest. Please contact one of the Qld committee members or consider coming along to a committee meeting, held at Engineering House prior to each of our technical seminars. We hope to see you there! Kind regards, Sustainable Engineering Society Qld Branch Engineers Australia. 2018 Qld Environmental Student Award Night Date: Wednesday, 17 October July 2018 Time: 5:30pm to 8:30 pm Venue: Griffith University EcoHouse - 170 Kessels Road, Building N68, NATHAN QLD 4111 Cost: Free Hosts: Griffith University EcoHouse Register: For further information about attending and/or sponsoring the event, please contact Mr Wayne Hickey at Jabiru01@bigpond.com. The purpose for the evening is to recognise theses and project works undertaken by engineering and science undergraduate students from Queensland universities in fields including resource management, environment, sustainability, liquid and solid waste management. It also allows a demonstration of the directions in current environmental research and displays the diversity and quality of content in thesis studies from all over Queensland. Final year engineering and science students from the following universities are being invited submit their research or project work: Griffith University University of Queensland Queensland University of Technology University of Southern Queensland James Cook University Central Queensland University Sunshine Coast University Benefits of attendance include the opportunity to meet engineering undergraduates with an active interest in environmental and sustainable outcomes, who will soon be entering the workforce. You will have the opportunity to promote your organisation and possibly gain a quality new staff member or work experience student. You will also be able to network with industry colleagues, gain CPD time and hear about current environmental engineering research underway in Queensland universities. This event requires strong support to maintain it and opportunities are currently available for Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship packages. If you wish to actively support this great initiative and be formally recognised for doing so, please contact Mr Wayne Hickey on the contact details listed above for information regarding current sponsorship packages on offer. It is our pleasure to invite your cooperation in supporting the next generation of Environmental Professionals in Queensland. We hope to see you there! Other Events Waste EXPO Australia 3 - 4 October 2018 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre This free-to-attend event comprises a waste summit conference, a wastewater summit and waste evolution seminars. The waste summit conference will include case study presentations, ministerial addresses, panel discussion and keynote presentation. The wastewater summit will confront the challenges and opportunities in wastewater treatment through technology, strategy and compliance. The waste evolution seminars showcase new technologies, products and processes touted to change waste management and resource recovery in the near future. Find out more and register here. ELECTRIC CARS: The VoltAge 4 October 2018 Griffith Universtiy EcoCentre This free-to-attend is part of the Community Forum series held at the Griffith University EcoCentre and addresses the emergence of electric vehicle on Australian roads. Common questions are answered, such as regarding the range of options, the benefits of each and what role do they play in reducing our transport emissions. Email your RSVP to the ecocentre@griffith.edu.au or visit their website here for more information about EcoCentre events. IAIA19 - EVOLUTION or Revolution: Where Next for Impact Assessment? 29 April - 2 May 2019 Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Suite 3 Tonella Commercial Centre This event is hosted by the International Association for Impact Assessment and will address some of the challenges facing Impact Assessments in the 21st Century. These include attacks from project and policy proponents for impeding the development of projects, and also from environmental and community criticising impact assessments for failing to meaningfully influence project decision-making processes and protect environmental and social values. Both groups criticise impact assessments for being costly, overly procedural and political, and question the value it adds to development and environmental outcomes. Find out more about the event here. . Interesting Snippets For your interest, horror and amusement. SENG makes no claims regarding the accuracy or currency of these items, but always refer to authoritative sources. Senate Report of Climate Change Impacts The Environment and Communications References Committee has released a report outlining the findings of their inquiry into climate change impacts on housing, buildings and infrastructure, accounting for the full range of climate scenarios. Download the report from the Analysis and Policy Observatory website here. New Tech en route to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch A device has been built to address the massive pile of plastic waste, almost the size of Queensland, in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the USA. A 600 m floating boom, created by The Ocean Cleanup, is currently being towed to the site from San Franscisco. Read more here. The War on Waste Click here to access the ABC’s War on Waste podcasts, sign up to the email newsletter (for great waste-saving tips), and do what’s Good for your ‘Hood by downloading the Action Toolkit to fight the war on waste in your ‘hood. Thanks Auntie! Sawmill Waste to Biofuel A feasibility study is currently underway to evaluate the world's first biorefinery facility proposed to be built near Port Macqurie, NSW. Australian building materials company Boral is evaluating the potential for converting sawmill residues into renewable diesel and bitumen. Find out more about this emerging, innovative technology from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency website here. International Zero Waste Movement Grows Sydney has joined 24 other cities in taking a step closer step towards zero waste. The latest declaration to cut waste sent to landfill and incineration by 50 per cent, which will avoid disposal of at least 87 million tonnes of waste by 2030. Reads more here. QLD Container Refund Scheme Starting Soon From November 1st 2018, participating container refund points in Queensland will pay 10 cents per eligible 150 mL to 3 L container. Find more details about the scheme here. Awards and Open for Comment Annual Qld Environmental Engineering Student Awards Night - October 2018 SENG and WMAA have been hosting the annual Environmental Student Award in Queensland since 1999. The event allows Environmental Engineering and Science undergraduate students from Queensland universities to showcase their thesis work to an audience of industry professionals and fellow students. This night also allows a demonstration of the directions in current environmental research and to show the diversity and quality of content in thesis studies from all over Queensland. Find out more about this fantastic honorary event here. Petition to enact legistlation to ban new investments in coal - Sign the petition here for the Queensland Government to enact legislation banning all new investment in coal, oil, and gas projects within Queensland, that contribute to global warming. Moment for Action Sign the petition David's Blog Keep up to date by reading David's Blog on the SENG website. Log in using your to post comments or questions. Join the conversation on our LinkedIn group page If you have an idea to share, an issue you would like feedback on, or just want to follow the conversation, click here to join the group. If you can't view this email click here to view online Click here to unsubscribe from this newsletter

Gas demand is falling as consumers turn away from expensive gas and find cheaper and cleaner renewable options in their homes and businesses.

The post The switch is on: Consumers are turning away from gas appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Virtual power plants will change the energy landscape - but they are not just about rooftop solar and battery storage.

The post Why your pool pump and solar hot water system could be market operator’s best friend appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The bee product industry is booming and in unregulated markets, there is a strong economic incentive to cheat. Self regulation combined with legal deterrence could help clean up the sticky mess. Samuel Becher, Associate Professor of Business Law, Victoria University of Wellington Hongzhi Gao, Senior Lecturer, International Business; PhD, Victoria University of Wellington Jessica C Lai, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, Victoria University of Wellington Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The people of the French and Belgian cities enjoy a rare traffic-free day. Guardian Cities wants to hear your experiences of urban walking – good and bad.

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Mike Hawes on industry action, Zofia Dymitr on charge points for electric cars, and Robin Morris on claims of ‘no toxic filth’ being emitted

Your editorial (13 September) accuses motor manufacturers of inaction on electric cars. This is based neither on evidence nor on understanding of the decades it takes to develop such technologies.

Industry is committed to a zero-emission future and is investing heavily in electrified and other technologies. But while it can deliver the technology, it can’t determine the pace of uptake. Increasing consumer confidence, addressing infrastructure accessibility and overcoming range anxiety are vital. As with any new technology, this is expensive, so long-term government support will be essential.

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Accusation comes only weeks before the UK’s first fracking in seven years

The shale gas explorer Cuadrilla has accused the Labour party of being divided on its proposed fracking ban and of unnecessarily politicising the search for shale gas.

Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, which is only weeks away from beginning the UK’s first fracking in seven years, said the prospect of a Labour government coming to power was a risk that he would be “silly to ignore”.

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New research shows direct evidence that toxic air – already strongly linked to harm in unborn babies – travels through mothers’ bodies

Scientists have found the first evidence that particles of air pollution travel through pregnant women’s lungs and lodge in their placentas.

Toxic air is already strongly linked to harm in foetuses but how the damage is done is unknown. The new study, involving mothers living in London, UK, revealed sooty particles in the placentas of each of their babies and researchers say it is quite possible the particles entered the foetuses too.

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This project focuses on the health of the seas, the impact of fishing and pollution on our vast oceans and their connections to climate change, and global efforts to drive forward conservation

This series draws attention to the dramatic changes taking place in our oceans, and the innovations under way to tackle them. It is supported, in part, through a grant to theguardian.org by the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of children, enabling the creative pursuit of science, advancing reproductive health, and conserving and restoring the earth’s natural systems.

All of the journalism is editorially independent, commissioned and produced by our Guardian journalists. You can read more about content funding on the Guardian here.

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The all-British NovaSAR spacecraft will monitor big stretches of ocean for suspicious shipping activity.

The catastrophic prospect of 300m tonnes of carbon a year appears to have been averted, but even 25m poses a danger to the climate

The recent announcement by Adani that it will halve the costs of its rail line to the proposed Carmichael coalmine by building a shorter, narrow-gauge line raises an obvious question: if such a massive cost-saving is feasible, why didn’t Adani go that way in the first place?

The short answer is this is the latest in a string of changes that have massively downsized both the Carmichael project and the bigger plans to develop the Galilee Basin. The longer answer is that, despite optimistic talk about a long-term future for coal, the writing is on the wall. The only way to make money out of coal is to do so quickly, before the present gradual decline turns into a collapse.

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‘We need to stick to the Paris agreement, we need to stop burning coal and we need to commit to more renewable energy,’ Longreach farmer says

“This drought has really hit our family hard,” says Longreach farmer Jody Brown. “Climate change is making the droughts more severe.”

Those two sentences are the opening lines to a new advertisement challenging the federal government’s stance on climate change and the drought in Australia’s eastern states.

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ICESat-2 will use laser beams to measure ice levels on Earth as it orbits 500km above the planet.

In Dar-es-Salaam, local fishermen are being squeezed out by illegal boats with explosives which take much of the catch, killing coral reef and putting an eco-system at risk

Fishing boat XTK191, known as Home Boy, returned to Kivukoni fish market in downtown Dar es Salaam at dawn one day last week. The 15 young men on board the old dhow dropped anchor and heaved their catch over the side for others to run it across the beach to where hundreds of traders milled.

Within an hour of landing in eastern Africa’s largest fish market, Home Boy’s fish, crabs, prawn, lobsters, tuna, squid and shark pups were being sold in impromptu auctions, along with the catches of several dozen other boats.

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Researchers believe they have found the world's oldest brewery in a prehistoric cave in Israel.

Edna O’Brien, Ian McEwan and Bruce Chatwin have treasured its wild beauty. But now plans for a 17.5-metre tower have divided a tranquil hamlet

Its monks left more than a century ago but the whitewashed stone walls of the monastery in Capel-y-ffin stand proud. Outside, a large, well-preserved statue of the Virgin Mary welcomes visitors to the venerable Victorian building, which has now been converted into self-catering apartments in great demand when the crowds flock to nearby Hay-on-Wye for its celebrated literary festival.

Since the monks’ departure, little has changed in this picturesque Welsh hamlet of a few houses, a chapel and a scattering of farms. Nestling in the foothills of the Black Mountains, it is a place of moss and bracken, stone walls and brooks, and has the lingering solemnity of an untended churchyard.

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Policymakers, farmers and consumers face ‘deeply uncomfortable choices’, says author of report advising urgent reduction of unsustainable livestock sector

Europe’s animal farming sector has exceeded safe bounds for greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient flows and biodiversity loss, and urgently needs to be scaled back, according to a major report.

Pressure on livestock farmers is set to intensify this century as global population and income growth raises demand for meat-based products beyond the planet’s capacity to supply it.

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Delhi court decides there is enough evidence to charge Pachauri with harassing a female colleague

The former chairman of a United Nations climate change panel has been ordered stand trial on charges of sexual abuse and harassment of a female colleague.

A Delhi court on Friday said there was prime facie evidence to charge Rajendra Pachauri, 78, with sexual harassment and two offences of intending to outrage the modesty of a woman.

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Remember how film cameras gave way to digital cameras over a couple of years? The promise of cheap EVs like a $20,000 Aussie hatchback, could see the same thing happen with EVs.

The post Will this Aussie hatchback EV trigger a Kodak moment for cars? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.