Archive Events ACT
Planetary Boundaries and Sustainable Futures (Rescheduled)
Date:
Tuesday, April 26, 2022 - 13:00
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Dr Will Steffen
Venue:
Webinar
Synopsis:
There is an urgent need for a new paradigm that integrates the continued development of human societies and the maintenance of the Earth System in a resilient and accommodating state. The planetary boundary framework contributes to such a paradigm by providing a science-based analysis of the risk that human perturbations will destabilize the Earth System at the planetary scale.
The planetary boundary concept, introduced in 2009, and updated in 2015, aims to define the environmental limits within which humanity can safely operate.
Come and hear from Dr Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU), on the nine planetary boundaries, their interdependencies, and why an understanding of planetary boundaries is important to engineering a sustainable future.
Planetary Boundaries and Sustainable Futures
Date:
Tuesday, August 24, 2021 - 17:30
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Dr Will Steffen
Venue:
Webinar
Synopsis:
There is an urgent need for a new paradigm that integrates the continued development of human societies and the maintenance of the Earth System in a resilient and accommodating state. The planetary boundary framework contributes to such a paradigm by providing a science-based analysis of the risk that human perturbations will destabilize the Earth System at the planetary scale.
The planetary boundary concept, introduced in 2009, and updated in 2015, aims to define the environmental limits within which humanity can safely operate.
Come and hear from Dr Will Steffen, Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University (ANU), on the nine planetary boundaries, their interdependencies, and why an understanding of planetary boundaries is important to engineering a sustainable future.
Recovered Glass Sand as Pipe Embedment
Date:
Monday, February 15, 2021 - 12:30
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Venue:
Synopsis:
Glass is an inert, endlessly recyclable material, yet it is all too often sent to landfills throughout Australia never to be reused or recycled. Typically, because of a lack of viable local end-users. Recovered glass sand is one potential product that can be derived from recycled glass containers. Recently, Icon Water has approved recovered glass sand for use as pipe embedment on its sewer network. Similar products can also be widely used for other infrastructure and civil engineering applications.
Come and hear Joel Edwards, Sustainability and Resource Recovery Coordinator at ICON Water, discuss the journey from concept to reality, looking at product development, product specification, key requirements, and product uptake while highlighting the key lessons learnt along the way and detailing the future for the product.
Learning from Canberra’s Climate-Fuelled Summer of Crisis
Date:
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 - 16:00
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Dr Paul Bannister
Venue:
Webinar
Synopsis:
In May 2019, the Australian Capital Territory recognised a state of ‘Climate Emergency’ that requires urgent action across all levels of Government and commits the Territory to “national and international leadership on climate change”. Seemingly on cue, the horrific summer of 2019-20 has underlined the stark reality that global heating is already directly impacting the quality and security of life in the ACT.
In June 2020, the ACT Climate Change Council released a report outlining the main lessons from the summer period and provided recommendations they believe will assist the ACT Government in responding to the ongoing impacts of the Climate Emergency. The recommendations covered a wide range of policy areas, reflecting the wide range of material, social, health, and environmental effects that were demonstrated this past summer.
Dr Paul Bannister will present the key findings from the report and discuss insights into the lessons we can learn from the trials of fire, smoke and hail that defined summer 2019-20 in Canberra.
Quarterly Carbon Market Report - Trends and Opportunities
Date:
Friday, September 18, 2020 - 15:00
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Mark Williamson
Venue:
Webinar
Synopsis:
The Clean Energy Regulator’s Quarterly Carbon Market Report provides a regular view of supply and demand across the carbon markets they administer - large scale generation certificates, small scale technology certificates, and Australian Carbon Credit Units - and explores key factors that influence market performance.
The Report from Quarter 1 2020 shows emissions reduction and renewables performed strongly and the renewable energy and emissions reduction industries have shown resilience despite the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Come and hear from Mark Williamson, Executive General Manager of the Clean Energy Regulator, on the highlights from the Quarter 2 report and the trends and opportunities in Australia’s carbon markets.
Renewable Energy Options for Industrial Process Heat
Date:
Monday, March 30, 2020 - 18:00
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Dr Keith Lovegrove
Venue:
Engineering House, 11 National Circuit, Barton
Synopsis:
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has released ‘Renewable Energy Options for Industrial Process Heat’, produced by ITP Thermal in conjunction with Pitt&Sherry, the Institute for Sustainable Futures and Beyond Zero Emissions, in November 2019. The report outlines opportunities for industrial users to switch to renewable energy alternatives to provide process heat. It shows that shifting to renewable energy to generate process heat is possible for industrial sites over the short, medium and long-term using numerous technologies and approaches. This includes bioenergy, geothermal, electrification, hydrogen and solar thermal, together with process redesign, combining heat and power and co-locating greenfield developments with renewable resources.
What does sustainability mean to you?
Date:
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 - 18:00
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Geoff Richardson, Adrian Piani, Steve Grzeskowiak
Venue:
Canberra Auditorium, 11 National Circuit, Barton
Synopsis:
What does sustainability mean to you? Hear from sustainability leaders Geoff Richardson, Adrian Piani and Steve Grzeskowiak on what sustainability means to them followed by question and answer session.
Sustainability
noun
1The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
‘the sustainability of economic growth’
‘schemes to ensure the long-term sustainability of the project’
1.1Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.
‘the pursuit of global environmental sustainability’
‘the ecological sustainability of the planet’
Nishi Building Site Tour
Date:
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 - 17:30
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Trevor Rosser & John Mudie
Venue:
Kendall Lane Theatre, 19 Marcus Clarke St, New Acton
Synopsis:
Join the Sustainable Engineering Society of Engineer's Australia on the 16th July to experience a behind the scenes tour of NewActon Nishi, one of Canberra's most iconic sustainable buildings. The site boasts a 6-star Greenstar rating, 5.5 star NABERS base-building energy rating, and 5 star NABERS water rating. Lead by the site's facilities management team, visitors will get the opportunity to learn about the day-to-day operation of a sustainable building, including the commercial HVAC plant, mixed-mode ventilation system, irrigated green facade, blackwater treatment plant, and the 400kW rooftop PV system.
The Future of Dispatchable Power in Australia
Date:
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 18:00
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Keith Lovegrove
Venue:
Canberra Auditorium, 11 National Circuit, Barton
Synopsis:
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) commissioned a team led by the ITP Energised Group (ITPE) working with the Institute of Sustainable Futures and ITK Consulting to examine the various options for providing dispatchable renewable electricity generation.
As well as options such as combining wind and PV with batteries or pumped hydro, the study looked at concentrating solar thermal, bioenergy and other technologies. The grouped examined individual technologies and combinations to classify their characteristics, appropriate uses, costs and cost dependencies in a transparent and consistent way, so that the full range of options available to Australia is clearly enunciated.
This 2018 study directly informed the progress of ARENA’s investment priority on delivering secure and reliable electricity. The results will be used to inform future grid integration studies and will be relevant to discussion of new policies and market settings for electricity in Australia following on from the Finkel review.
World energy outlook - Understanding the dynamic interplay of energy markets, technolgy and policy
Date:
Wednesday, February 7, 2018 - 17:30
Event:
ACT Events
Presenter:
Ian Cronshaw & Minister Shane Rattenbury
Venue:
Canberra Auditorium, 11 National Circuit, Barton
Synopsis:
2017 saw the global energy scene in a state of flux. Large scale shifts include the rapid deployment and steep declines in the cost of major renewable energy technologies; the growing importance of electricity in energy use across the globe; profound changes in China’s economy and energy policy, moving consumption away from coal; and the continued surge in shale gas and tight oil production in the United States. These changes provide the backdrop for the World Energy Outlook 2017. Understanding the dynamic interplay of energy markets, technology and policy has never been more critical.
Within a context of Australia’s energy transition, and the ACT’s vision of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, come along to this special presentation where:
• Ian Cronshaw will provide a summary of the strategic insight on what today’s policy and investment decisions mean for the long-term trends outlined in the 2017 edition of the World Energy Outlook 2017, and
• Minister Rattenbury will reflect on these trends while outlining the ACT Government’s vision to be carbon neutral by 2050.