Events

The run-up to COP26 has finally put the climate crisis at the top of the news agenda, generating an explosion of climate-related reporting, writing and reflection: ambitious new podcasts, analyses, essays, poems, even a seismic pivot by News Corp tabloids to launch a ‘Mission Zero’ campaign.

This specialist panel explores what climate coverage will look like beyond COP26. Is denialism dead, or just shifting gear into deflection, division, doomism? Is the balance question now about hope versus fear? What are the challenges and responsibilities for journalists and journalism, writers and editors, as the impacts of global heating play out?

Australia is amongst the three highest greenhouse gas emitters per capita in the world. The Paris Agreement and 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference point to an urgent need to embrace more sustainable practices. A low carbon energy future is central to achieving this outcome. This webinar provides an insight into international best practice for low carbon energy technologies. Two presenters will provide practical insights into cutting-edge case studies that push the boundary of low carbon energy technology developments, offering a preview of solutions that will contribute to Australia’s future low carbon energy, construction, and mining industries.

In this webinar, we identify some opportunities for the (Australian) construction, infrastructure and energy industries and share practical experiences from overseas through two presentations.

Associate Professor Loveridge works across industry and academia in Europe and will present about the capacity for low carbon heat from infrastructure: a UK case study. Space heating alone accounts for 40% of UK energy use and 20% of CO2 emissions. Tackling heating and building cooling demands is therefore critical to achieving net-zero ambitions in the UK. The most energy-efficient way to decarbonise heating and cooling is through the use of ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and district technology. However, capital costs are often high. To reduce investment costs, it is proposed to use buried infrastructure as sources and stores of thermal energy. Barriers to this innovative approach include a lack of knowledge about the actual net amount of recoverable energy and impacts on the primary function of any buried infrastructure, as well as the need for new investment and governance strategies integrated across the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Associate Professor Loveridge will share with us an assessment of the scale of the opportunity for thermal energy recovery and storage linked to new and existing buried infrastructure in the UK, along with strategic measures to help reduce barriers and start on the journey to achieving the energy potential of buried infrastructure.

Mr Chendorain, Associate Director at Arup and Global Lead for Geothermal and Groundwater Engineering will discuss his GSHP experience in the UK, North America and other places around the world. Drawbacks, benefits and profitability will be debated.

This webinar is organised by the bidding committee of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Training Centre on Sustainable Energy Geotechnics for Climate Adaptation. This initiative aims to combine ground technologies with digital enablers to develop a more profitable, sustainable, and low-carbon energy future.