EPA Victoria road tests new compliance tool
Carr unveils Labor's clean manufacturing policy
Abbott promises urban water conservation targets, new stormwater standard
ASX queries Cougar Energy over test results
Strategy aims to build confidence in next-generation lighting
EPA Victoria road tests new compliance tool
EPA Victoria has for the first time exercised recently-acquired powers to enter into enforceable undertakings with polluters, approving an undertaking made by South East Water Ltd in the wake of a 40,000 litre sewage spill.
The enforceable undertaking requires the company to minimise future leaks, put in place site-specific contingency plans, trial at least three early warning leak detection systems and share the findings with the water industry and community.
The undertaking also describes the alleged contraventions and incorporates a "statement of regret" from the company.
"South East Water has entered into a binding agreement outlining a series of very prescriptive things the company must do in set time frames as an alternative to court prosecution," EPA CEO John Merritt said.
"The cost for South East Water to comply is around $330,000, so it's not as simple as choosing an alternative to court.
"There is certainly a cost attached but rather than lining the lawyers' pockets the money will be spent on better environmental outcomes," he said.
Carr unveils Labor's clean manufacturing policy
A re-elected Labor Government would establish a new supplier advocacy post and focus on support for research and research dissemination to help the manufacturing sector adjust to a low-carbon future, Federal Innovation Minister Kim Carr has told an Australian Industry Group seminar.
A new "built environment" supplier advocate – joining existing advocates for water, cleantech, rail, steel and IT – would help businesses gain access to government procurement and improve their tendering practices, Carr told the Melbourne seminar.
Labor would also introduce an industrial PhD scholarships scheme to place 200 top research students in industry, with a strong focus on "emerging green industries", he said.
A national clean technology innovation network would be established under Enterprise Connect to give small and medium-sized firms access to clean-tech research and techniques and a 'making better managers' scheme would also focus on clean technology and "green management", Carr said.
Labor would also nominate clean manufacturing as a priority for Cooperative Research Centre funding in 2011, he said.
"Labor will continue to support the industry's efforts to become greener and more innovative through Enterprise Connect, the Green Building Fund, Retooling for Climate Change, and the Green Car Innovation Fund – all of which our opponents have said they will cut or abolish," Carr said.
Abbott promises urban water conservation targets, new stormwater standard
A Coalition government would introduce targets for the capture and reuse of stormwater in major cities, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said today.
The targets would be set by the National Water Commission, in consultation with state governments, and the commission would also be required to provide annual reports on progress in meeting the targets.
Abbott said a Coalition government would also instruct the National Water Commission to develop a national standard for using stormwater in drinking water supplies, a move that is in line with a policy the SA Liberals took to this year's State election (see related article).
Just two days after Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised a $100 million boost to a federal stormwater program and $10 million for a southern Adelaide stormwater project (see related article), Abbott committed to a $100 million stormwater harvesting community grants scheme and $16 million for the same Adelaide project.
Meanwhile, in a 7.30 Report debate with Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, Shadow Environment Minister Greg Hunt last night said a Coalition government would establish an independent "environmental probity commissioner" to oversee program design and delivery.
ASX queries Cougar Energy over test results
After copping criticism from Queensland's environment department for not rapidly reporting the presence of benzene and toluene in bore water test results (see related article), coal gasification company Cougar Energy yesterday issued a response to an ASX query on the timing of its advice to the exchange.
Noting that companies are required to immediately notify any information that would have a material effect on the price of their shares, the ASX had sought details on when Cougar first became aware that benzene and toluene had been detected and when it first became aware of the department's order that it suspend operations.
The company's response states that it notified the exchange requesting a trading halt on the same morning that it became aware of the departmental order and a day before it was actually served with it.
The company said it did not notify the ASX of the test results ahead of receiving the suspension order because it didn't have sufficient information to determine whether the results were linked to its activities or what the implications might be for its operations.
Strategy aims to build confidence in next-generation lighting
A new strategy unveiled by Australia and 10 other countries aims to ensure the transition to next-generation efficiency lighting is not disrupted by quality concerns.
Coloured LED is already widely used in traffic lights, delivering significant energy savings (see related article), but white LEDs have "only come onto the market relatively recently and are still being perfected", according to Mark Ellis, the Australian operating agent for the international 4E alliance, which is behind the strategy.
"Most technology experts expect them to be extremely widely used – certainly in almost applications where old incandascents and compact fluorescents have been used in the past – they will become the general-service lighting," he said.
However, the speed of deployment will depend partly on ensuring customer confidence in the technology, Ellis told CE Daily.
The new strategy, unveiled at this month's international clean energy meeting in Washington D.C., will "devise the criteria by which you measure quality", he said.
Using solid state lighting, such as LEDs, has the potential to cut global lighting electricity consumption by 30% – about equivalent to the total electricity consumed by Canada and the United Kingdom combined, according to an IEA media statement on the project.
