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Vast arrays of solar panels floating on calm seas near the Equator could provide effectively unlimited solar energy to densely populated countries in Southeast Asia and West Africa.
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In April Cameron Bruhn took charge of the AIA (the Aussie one not the US one*). I praised the appointment and looked forward to changes. I stand by that expectation, but four months on, and it’s crickets out here.
One of the headline ideas floated by the Universities Accord interim report is a second national university. This would be on top of the existing Australian National University in Canberra.
Protesters rallied at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday, railing against Darwin’s controversial Middle Arm venture which critics say would benefit the gas industry.
Most Australian food waste ends up in landfill. Rotting in the absence of oxygen produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. While some facilities capture this “landfill gas” to produce energy, or burn it off to release carbon dioxide instead, it’s a major contributor to climate change. Valuable resources such as water and nutrients are also wasted.
Earlier this year the Federal Court found ARM Architecture and its then managing director Tony Allen were guilty of attempting to rig bids for a tender relating to a $250 million building project at Charles Darwin University.
The Albanese government came to office promising action on housing. Its A$10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund is now stuck in the Senate, with the Greens demanding more ambitious funding and reforms. The government is also working on its promised National Housing and Homelessness Plan.
This week the SMH highlighted a confluence of coincidences to bring fresh ideas to the housing debate. Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal are French architects whose work on French public housing garnered much attention and the Pritzker Prize.
In the post-pandemic workforce, compressed staff numbers and flexible work arrangements have seen commercial vacancies continue to rise in cities the world over.
Gas connections for all new housing and sub-divisions will be banned in Victoria from January 1 next year. The long-term result of the state government’s significant change to planning approvals will be all-electric housing. The ACT made similar changes early this year, in line with a shift away from gas across Europe and other locations, although the NSW Premier Chris Minns has baulked at doing the same.
More than five million households in Australia are connected to the gas network. Tackling climate change requires homes and businesses to move away from gas, and instead embrace electric appliances as the power grid shifts to renewable energy.
A push is underway to get employees back into the office. The Commonwealth Bank kick-started this conversation recently, with reports the organisation is requiring staff to work at least half the week on-site.