March 2017

Accelerating carbon reduction to cure climate

The City of Sydney has taken a major step in what is fast becoming a defining year for sustainability, with the adoption of an action plan to make our city net zero emissions by 2050. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said Environmental Action 2016-2021 sets targets for net zero emissions and 50 per cent renewable power by 2050. “The C40 Mayor’s Summit in Mexico reinforced the scale of the challenge, and the urgent need for world leaders to redouble efforts on climate change,” the Lord Mayor said. “The research paints a grim picture if we don’t act now, so we’ve responded with the strongest possible plan to urgently reduce emissions. “The next four years are crucial – they will determine if we meet the Paris Agreement’s commitment to less than two degrees Celsius temperature rise. “Environmental Action 2016–2021 sets out a plan to transform Sydney into a low-carbon city that diverts waste from landfill, saves potable water, is connected with green parklands and spaces, and buildings that feature outstanding environmental performance. “In December, Council supported my proposal to accelerate the implementation of the action plan, including in our own operations. Now the plan has been adopted, we can press ahead with this vital work.” The City will start a range of actions over the life of the plan, including: • initiate a net-zero emissions building challenge • invest $10 million to accelerate the uptake of renewable energy • facilitate large-scale water recycling project • develop sustainability plans for the commercial office, accommodation and entertainment sectors. “We’re looking at how we can improve the City’s environmental performance through our capital works projects, our property portfolio and our operational waste management,” the Lord Mayor said. “We’ve partnered with the C40 City Solutions platform to determine the most effective way to invest our […]

Air Springs boosts customer service

Australia’s leading supplier of air springs and associated technologies for heavy vehicle suspensions and industrial actuation and isolation, Air Springs Supply, has relocated to a new and customer-responsive facility at Unit 18, 38-46 South Street in Rydalmere, NSW, to better serve its customers. Air Springs Supply, which is the exclusive national distributor for Firestone Industrial products and Pronal Elastomer products, says the new facility is more centrally located for their customers, as well as providing efficient room for inventory and spare parts. The facility – which will also include the HQ of All-Air Suspension – is configured for speedy and efficient responses to OEM and spare parts, industrial and transport orders and to meet the needs of local manufacturing customers. “We wanted our new headquarters to have better access for all our customers and additional space for our products to improve availability and lead times. At Rydalmere we found a place that ticked all the boxes and looked bright and professional at the same time,” said Air Springs Sales and Marketing Manager, Mr James Maslin. “We spent more than a generation at our previous office, so it may take some getting used to, but the team is excited about the benefits this new place will offer to our valued customers,” said Mr Maslin. Air Springs’ products range from the tiny Airomatic polyactuator that stands just 11mm (.45in) high deflated for ultra-compact installation in light load applications through to heavy duty Marsh Mellow springs, which are fabric-reinforced solid rubber isolators used for quiet isolation of machinery vibration and for general shock absorption throughout industry. Versatile range: Air Springs products range from the tiny Polyactuator (left) to the heavy-duty Marsh Mellow rubber spring (right). Their core range of air springs (shown below) are used in heavy transport as well as a huge […]

Air quality: ACOEM Group merges with Indo-Australian company Ecotech

ACOEM Group (EUR 62 million revenue, 450 employees) announces its merger with Ecotech, Indo-Australian specialist in air quality monitoring (EUR 24 million revenue, 220 employees). ACOEM Group’s mission is to help companies and public authorities limit their environmental impact, offering products and services that enable them to prevent noise and vibration pollution, improve air quality, and increase the productivity and reliability of industrial machines. Leveraging this merger as well as its positioning in the high-growth market for monitoring environmental parameters, ACOEM Group seeks to double its sales revenue by 2020. “The extensive expertise Ecotech possesses in air quality complements our well-established know-how in acoustics and vibration, making the ACOEM Group the world’s first company to position itself in the measurement, analysis, and control of all types of environmental parameters,” says Fabien Condemine, CEO, ACOEM Group. “Our merger with Ecotech also enables us to speed up our international growth, notably by opening markets in Australia, India, and Southeast Asia.” “Joining the ACOEM Group is an opportunity for Ecotech to continue its growth, participating in the international success of a group that shares our vision and common values,” says Nicholas Dal Sasso, Managing Director at Ecotech. This external growth operation is consistent with the ACOEM Group’s strong growth over the past five years (from EUR 40 million revenue in 2011 to EUR 62 million in 2015), and it supports a development strategy that seeks to make ACOEM Group the worldwide leader in monitoring environmental parameters. This merger will enable both companies to leverage their expertise and positioning: – Ecotech will develop its expertise in air quality over all the zones covered by ACOEM Group, notably Europe, North America, and Brazil. – ACOEM Group will develop its expertise related to noise and vibration pollution in all the zones covered by Ecotech, notably Australia, […]

Plummer block technology extends life of key bearings by 50 per cent

New plummer block housings launched in Perth by Schaeffler Australia this month respond to industry demands for extended bearing life with reduced maintenance and total cost of ownership. The new generation of FAG Plummer Block Housings are large-size bearing housings, engineered to increase the service life of fitted spherical roller bearings by up to 50 percent compared to conventional plummer block housings. Their advances – including increased strength and shock resistance due to the use of (EN-GJS-400) spheroidal graphite cast iron as standard – make the SNS ideal for the broad diversity of applications where spherical roller bearings are widely used, including machinery operating in aggressive environments, says Schaeffler Australia Pty Ltd Industrial Heavy Industries Manager, Mr Jeff Gordon. Key applications include industries such as mining and minerals processing, quarrying, cement, manufacturing, oil and gas processing, bulk materials handling (including port loading facilities), manufacturing and steel, primary product and food and beverage processing, pulp, paper, packaging and forestry, and major infrastructure and water and waste water plants. The new plummer blocks – for shafts from 115mm to 530mm and from 4 7/16 inch to 19 1/2 inch diameter – are one of the latest global technology advances from the Schaeffler Group, which employs more than 80,000 people worldwide. Schaeffler’s research and development centres alone employ more than 6,000 people dedicated to high-performance, low-maintenance bearing technology that enhances sustainability by maximising machinery life and minimising energy demands. Such low-maintenance technologies are ideal for all industries that can’t afford breakdowns or production stoppages, Mr Gordon told the Perth launch, held after the arrival of stocks of the first of the new technology bearings in Australia and New Zealand. “Maintaining production is obviously vital in our energy and resources sectors – where even short interruptions and maintenance outages can be measured in millions […]

Resource employers launch 2017 campaign for workplace relations reform

Australia’s resource employers have launched a 2017 workplace relations campaign focusing on ‘Five Urgent Reforms’, and is first calling on the Turnbull Government to take action on Labor’s excessive and costly union workplace entry laws. “AMMA’s members across the national resource industry are deeply concerned that our parliament appears unable or unwilling to address fundamental problems in our workplace relations system,” Steve Knott, chief executive of AMMA, said. “Reform priorities identified in 2016 by more than 100 leading resource companies – a highly representative cross section of an industry directly and indirectly employing around 1.1 million Australians – are yet to be acted upon or even debated. “This is despite many of these reforms lining up with changes recommended by the Productivity Commission, and Australia’s deteriorating economic and employment conditions highlighting the urgent need for political action.” The five reform priorities identified by AMMA’s members and forming its 2017 campaign are: 1. Restore balance to union workplace entry laws; 2. Focus enterprise bargaining on employment matters; 3. Expand agreement making options for employers and employees; 4. Return to balanced termination of service laws, where a valid reason exists; and 5. Replace the Fair Work Commission with modern, balanced institutions. On the first priority, AMMA has released an animated video and written to key senators and members of parliament, highlighting the absurd costs, delays, productivity impacts and safety issues associated with the thousands of site entry requests resource employers now receive each year. “When Labor’s Fair Work Act gave union officials and recruiters almost unlimited rights to enter worksites, the number of visits sky-rocketed to thousands. One project received 17 visits in just 24 hours, while another received more than 300 in 90 days,” Mr Knott said. “We are even seeing union recruiters target employees in their lunchrooms and resource employers […]

Expert calls for grid renationalisation

A publicly owned national electricity grid is the logical solution to Australia’s energy crisis, according to University of Queensland economist Professor John Quiggin. In “Grid Renationalisation – a discussion paper”, published by Flinders University’s Australian Industrial Transformation Institute, Professor John Quiggin said electricity reform in Australia has been a comprehensive failure since the creation of the National Electricity Market (NEM) in the 1990s. “We’re past the point of tinkering; energy instability is compromising our growth and economic progress,” Professor Quiggin said. “Tweaks to the system, such as those being considered in the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Electricity Market, will not resolve the fundamental failings of a privatised and fragmented system subject to multiple regulators. “The price increases of the past decades and the series of recent breakdowns reflect systemic design flaws, exacerbated by the failure to take appropriate account of the implications of climate change. “The appropriate policy solution is a unified, publicly owned, National Grid encompassing the ownership of physical transmission networks in each state and interconnectors between states. “It would be responsible for maintaining security of supply and planning the transition to a sustainable, zero emissions, electricity supply industry. Professor Quiggin said that some would describe a publicly owned National Grid as “unthinkable”. However he said it was the only coherent response to the failure of neoliberal electricity reform, just as the establishment of a publicly owned National Broadband Network was the only feasible response to the failure of telecommunications reform. “And, in the light of the political upheavals of 2016, the idea that any political possibility should be dismissed as unthinkable appears obsolete,” Professor Quiggin said. AITI Director Professor John Spoehr said the paper lays down a challenge to governments of all persuasions to set aside politics and pursue policy that is […]

Geelong strengthens its carbon fibre industries x2

Two developments in two days have strengthened Geelong’s carbon fibre industries showing the coastal Victorian city is more than capable of giving itself a future after the closure of the city’s Ford stamping and engine plants. CSIRO and Deakin University have patented a new method for making carbon fibre which should be both stronger and with more consistent quality across its length than existing methods. A wet spinning line was launched at Waurn Ponds just outside Geelong. Carbon fibre combines high rigidity, tensile strength and chemical resistance with low weight and is used in aerospace, civil engineering, the military, cars, and also in competitive sports. Only a handful of companies around the world can create carbon fibre, each using their own secret recipe.” Also this week the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre announced $250,000 project funding for Geelong-based carbon fibre composites manufacturer, Quickstep Holdings. Quickstep has its own fast curing process for composites, makes vertical tail parts for the F-35 fighter jet, and manufactures rocket fairings for European customers. The investment will help the company develop a carbon fire fender for the European market. AMGC claims that the project has the potential to generate $25 million in revenue and increase in-demand jobs in the region. The funding comes on top of $250,000 in project funds the AMGC granted to the Advanced Fiber Cluster Geelong. This funding will directly support the Geelong Manufacturing Council in collaboration with Carbon Nexus, a Deakin University research centre. Picture – CSIRO’s carbon fibre spinner.Show less