2024 SA Climate Leaders Award winners

Electrolux Electric Furnace - Adelaide

Global appliance company Electrolux Group has taken a significant step towards net-zero emissions in its factories with the commissioning of a new electric-powered furnace at its Adelaide facility.

To meet the group’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions within the next 10 years, Electrolux’s Dudley Park facility undertook a review of
all of its existing processes that consume fossil fuels and developed a transition plan.

Implementation of the new electric furnace is the first step in this transition plan. The furnace is used to fire enamel on internal cavities (the inside of an oven) and is a key part of the production of ovens locally. The furnace is capable of firing up to 240 oven cavities every hour with a firing time of 4 minutes per cavity. The new furnace has been designed to address future production requirements, with the capability to be expanded to accommodate higher volume and processing speeds if required.

The new electric furnace reduces energy consumption by approximately 70 % and carbon dioxide emissions by 430MT per year compared to the gas-powered furnace it replaced, with the future potential to reduce another 500MT if powered by renewable energy sources.

It is the first modern technology furnace to be installed within the Electrolux Group and the project’s results are being shared as a template for Electrolux plants globally.

Ventia and the South Australian Government driving climate action across hospitals, schools, community facilities and buildings for all South Australians

Through the Across Government Facilities Management Arrangements (AGFMA) Ventia has partnered with 49 state government agencies to provide facilities management services to 1.2 million assets at over 5,000 locations including schools, hospitals, police stations and more across the state.

Ventia has leveraged this significant scale to uplift sustainability and climate action for South Australia, making a positive and highly visible impact across the state’s most accessible community infrastructure including 1,035 schools and more than 80 hospitals.

Driven by the ethos of “being sustainable in everything we do”, Ventia has gone above and beyond its contractual obligations, embedding sustainability criteria into procurement and project management processes that act as a critical supply chain catalyst for climate action across 49 state government agencies, supporting pursuit of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and waste reduction targets.

This helps to position state government agencies as climate change leaders and exemplars for the community.

SPARC-H2: Zero-electricity low-cost solar hydrogen reactor

The SPARC-H2 project is a collaborative joint venture between Sparc Hydrogen, the University of Adelaide and Fortescue.

Sparc Hydrogen is embarking on a project to design, engineer, construct and demonstrate SPARC-H2, a breakthrough hydrogen reactor that doesn’t use electricity or produce carbon emissions. Instead, it is directly powered by the sun to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, using a process known as photocatalytic water splitting.

Zero-emissions low-cost hydrogen is critical to the Australian Government’s priorities of renewable energy and low emissions fuels to decarbonise heavy industries not easily electrified.

Affordable, reliable, and emissions-free hydrogen production is also essential to kickstart the South Australian Government’s plans to foster a green manufacturing industry. Once commercialised, SPARC-H2 aims to produce hydrogen at a cost unaffected by electricity prices.

Having validated the reactor in the lab and in the field at the CSIRO’s Newcastle solar thermal facility, Sparc Hydrogen is now in the process
of scaling up, de-risking and accelerating SPARC-H2 to Technology Readiness Level 7 to enable South Australian industries to transition to zero-emissions, affordable hydrogen.

The scalability and cost-effectiveness of the SPARC-H2 method means that it can be adopted more broadly, encouraging the transition to renewable energy sources within all regions of South Australia. Furthermore, the project contributes to South Australia’s continued leadership in renewable energy innovation.

Cleaner, cheaper, smarter: Reduced emissions and electricity bills

Electricity Retailer iO Energy has introduced ‘super off-peak’ electricity pricing to residential, small business, commercial/industrial, and government energy consumers. This includes the cities of Mitcham, Burnside, and Tea Tree Gully, as well as hundreds of small businesses across the state.

South Australia’s electricity mix is approximately 95% renewable at 1pm and 45% at 7pm. iO Energy now has over 2,000 customers who deliberately use more daytime electricity due to super off-peak prices from 10am - 4pm, shifting energy load and effectively halving the emissions caused by that energy consumption.

iO Energy’s project aims to encourage energy customers to shift their energy consumption out of the evening peak and into the daytime
off-peak therefore effectively doubling their consumption of renewable energy and greatly reducing their personal emissions.

iO Energy has worked with local government to mitigate increased electricity prices with an affordable short-term supply contract inclusive of carbon offsets. This was followed by collaboration with the councils to develop and offer super off-peak pricing to encourage direct action by rewarding greater direct consumption of renewable energy.

No home left behind in our transition to net zero

ValAi is a leading player in the residential climate technology sector, offering innovative climate data solutions tailored for the finance and property industries, focusing on decarbonisation goals.

ValAi’s flagship CarbonAware platform empowers housing, mortgage lenders and climate risk teams by providing precise carbon intensity reports for residential real estate. The platform employs proprietary algorithms, aerial imagery analysis and regression models to deliver precise carbon intensity reports for residential properties. This solution addresses the data and tool gap hindering effective home electrification. CarbonAware provides accurate carbon risk assessments at individual and portfolio levels within minutes, enabling informed decisions on energy efficiency and sustainability.

Their Home Efficiency Solutions platform supports home sustainability by offering detailed digital home energy-efficiency assessments, automated emissions calculations, dynamic whole-home sustainability ratings, household energy efficiency scores and a vetted supplier marketplace. The platform also provides personalized home upgrade action plans tailored to homeowners’ financial situations, reducing energy costs and usage over time.

By integrating advanced technologies and fostering partnerships with educational institutions and industry experts, ValAi addresses critical gaps in data and tools for home electrification. These efforts aim to amplify their impact on climate change, reduce carbon emissions and support South Australia’s transition to a sustainable future.

ValAi’s work demonstrates a collaborative approach through strategic partnerships with diverse organisations across the finance, insurance, technology, property, community, reasearch and education sectors.

Biodiversity McLaren Vale (BMV) was founded in 2014 as a collaboration between local community, industry and government to rehabilitate native landscapes and waterways and increase indigenous biodiversity within the region, reaping benefit for local vineyards, farms and community.

BMV works to enhance indigenous biodiversity by creating partnerships with private landholders to target creek lines and landscapes around the region, removing feral and invasive vegetation and replacing them with native species. The result is the creation of healthy, biodiverse corridors between key vegetation zones that attract native fauna back to the area.

BMV believes that biodiversity is the strongest natural defence when it comes to climate change. By building a diverse and healthy landscape, the project aims to create a resilient and adaptable environment for native flora and fauna to flourish alongside McLaren Vale’s agricultural producers. More than 55,000 plants have been planted on over 52 sites throughout the Willunga Basin and McLaren Vale region so far.

BMV is now focusing on McLaren Vale’s regional roadsides by removing wild olive trees and replacing them with indigenous species. This project, dubbed ‘The World’s Longest Insectary’ is in collaboration with the City of Onkaparinga and SA Power Networks. BMV aims to create vast habitats for beneficial insects that will in turn provide natural ecosystem services for agricultural producers across the region.

BMV credits monthly field days as a major driver of the success of the project, with anywhere from 50-100 volunteers helping each field day to plant and remove weeds. Partnerships with local industry suppliers and producers have also supported the project to reduce costs.

Protecting Adelaide’s Vital Tree Canopy

Protecting and expanding tree canopy in urban areas is a vital climate adaptation and preparation strategy. Mature tree cover significantly reduces the urban heat island effect. Shading of streets, playgrounds and open spaces allows more outside activity to continue and nature to survive, even as the climate changes. Tree canopy is a core urban infrastructure yet Adelaide continues to lose its mature trees, especially on private land.

Protecting Adelaide’s Vital Tree Canopy was a coordinated, sophisticated and highly successful community campaign led by Joanna Wells to raise awareness of the urgent need to protect Adelaide’s big trees and champion law reform to protect them.

The community campaign involved extensive, ongoing collaboration with some of the major tree-focused community groups in SA: Conservation Council of SA, Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, Trees for Life, National Trust SA, TREENET and the Nature Conservation Society, as well as a core network of committed volunteers.

Before the campaign, the knowledge of the scale of tree canopy loss was very limited in the media, public and political community. Through public meetings, social media promotion, rallies, media events, signage, direct advocacy, lobbying and co-authoring a series of influential reports, the message about the need to protect Adelaide’s tree canopy became widespread and created the necessary response to drive change, including new laws to protect South Australia’s tree canopy.

SA Aquatic Waste Reduction & Energy Saving Strategy

The SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre has implemented a Waste Reduction & Energy Saving Strategy that shows that emissions reduction and cost savings can go hand in hand.

By implementing a multifaceted approach to sustainable practices and education and targeting Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, the centre has achieved a reduction of 1,250 tons of carbon emissions, as well as creating annual savings of $30,000 for the facility.

The carbon footprint of the centre has been significantly lowered by replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, while solar panels have contributed to a reduction of 652 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Waste management strategies have ensured that 90% of the 40 tonnes of waste generated annually by the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre is diverted from waterways and landfills. This translates to a saving of 40,000kg of CO2, equivalent to 12.1 years of electricity consumption for a household.

By introducing KeepCups, the centre has prevented the use of 82,680 disposable coffee cups over the past year, diverting 952kg of waste. This effort has saved 1,860kg of wood and conserved 77,291MJ of energy.

The centre has partnered with South Australian milk producers to reduce single use plastic and support local dairy farmers.

The Waste Reduction & Energy Saving Strategy exemplifies leadership and innovation in the recreational industry’s journey towards sustainability.

The SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre works to actively educate and inspire their community, engaging over one million annual visitors to understand and participate in sustainability efforts. This community-focused approach is crucial, recognising that collective action is essential for achieving ambitious sustainability goals.

Community Renewables Program: Local government taking the lead in accelerating the uptake of renewables to reduce emissions

The City of Mitcham is pioneering a roadmap for local governments to boost renewable energy uptake with residents, businesses, sporting clubs and associations.

In 2021 the City of Mitcham developed a program that would provide no up-front cost solar panels and batteries, ease cost of living pressures and reduce carbon emissions. Following a rigorous procurement process, ShineHub was the successful tenderer and has collaborated with the City of Mitcham to deliver the program over three stages.

Stage one focuses on maximizing solar generation and storage through community bulk buys and establishing a self-sufficient system for council operations.

Stage two establishes a Mitcham Virtual Power Plant by aggregating energy across distributed battery assets and interacting with the energy market in times of stress, generating revenue for all stakeholders while enhancing local energy system resilience.

Stage three will see Council redistribute programs benefits across the community, including renters, through mechanisms like a cheaper and green
Mitcham Community Energy Plan.

To date, the program’s impact has been substantial. Over 900 systems, comprising a total of 4 MW of solar PV and 10 MWh of battery storage have been installed in residents’ homes. Residential solar systems are expected to collectively save $2.7 million annually on energy bills.

The City of Mitcham has pioneered an innovative model for local governments to engage in the emerging renewable energy system. This work has provided a model for local government and has proven to be successful in leading the way for other councils to replicate the program.

Transformative climate action and risk management initiatives

The City of Charles Sturt has demonstrated leadership in tackling climate change through proactive and strategic initiatives. By declaring a climate emergency in 2019, the council not only acknowledged the urgency of the issue but also began to reframe climate change as a significant financial, governance and liability risk. This shift in perspective has enabled council to implement robust responses tailored to its specific challenges and opportunities.

Actions include:

• The development of a whole of council climate change risk assessment, integrated into council’s risk management framework.
• Creation of an innovative Assets Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment tool to assess asset vulnerabilities and integrate climate resilience
  costs into financial planning.
• Informed decision makers workshops with global climate risk expert Sarah Barker, to educate leadership on climate risks.
• A leadership-governed program that cut council’s emissions by 56% (Scope 1 and 2) in 5 years, with plans to reduce Scope 3 emissions.

The pursuit of innovative partnerships for new knowledge - contemporary designs for climate-resilient playgrounds and a decision support tool for low greenhouse gas emissions in local infrastructure.

This strategic program of works is leading the sector in climate action and fostering collaborative and innovative solutions. The collaborative and staff-led approach of the City of Charles Sturt has enabled buy-in from across the organisation, including from executive and leadership members, alongside staff from risk management, governance, asset planning and finance teams, who have all been actively engaged in shaping and implementing strategies. Externally, the council has forged partnerships to leverage additional expertise and resources.

The City of Charles Sturt’s collaborative approach, both internally and externally, underscores their commitment to holistic and collaborative climate action.

Coastal Adaptation Strategy: Engaging Community and Experts to Develop Sustainable Solutions for Coastal Hazards and Environmental Challenges

The District Council of Tumby Bay identified the need for a long-term approach to manage Tumby Bay’s coastal environment, as previous attempts to manage hazards had failed to provide lasting solutions. With risks to assets and public safety increasing due to sea level rise and climate change, the council worked with Wavelength Consulting to develop a holistic approach to coastal management of the foreshore, a considered approach to longer term risks, planning through community and key stakeholder consultation, and the development of a Coastal Adaptation Strategy (CAS).

Key activities included sharing findings from erosion and inundation mapping, identifying at-risk assets, capturing community values, and presenting potential mitigation measures. By integrating stakeholder input, the project developed a high-level engagement strategy, gathered community input on adaptation options, and prepared accessible materials to communicate key findings. The CAS prioritises comprehensive engagement with the community and stakeholders, recognising their input as vital to the adaptation planning process, ensuring sustainable and community-supported solutions.

The CAS demonstrated leadership and innovation through collaborative approach with council, the community, key stakeholders and the South Australian Coast Protection Board. By prioritising robust community engagement and integrating stakeholder input, the CAS offers an effective approach to addressing coastal hazards, ensuring sustainable and community-supported solutions.

Future Trees Climate and Biosecurity Vulnerability Benchmarking Study

The Future Trees Climate and Biosecurity Vulnerability Benchmarking Study is the first step in a long-term work program to build the resilience of our urban forest against climate and biosecurity threats. The Waite Arboretum has combined data from 20 councils to map the demographics of more than 600,000 trees across Greater Adelaide. The project then identified how these trees are vulnerable to ongoing climate and biosecurity threats.

The benchmarking study identified 13 species that comprise more than half of all trees across Greater Adelaide. Some of the most abundant species are from subtropical or temperate climates and are unlikely to survive the ongoing warming and drying trends expected by 2050. This indicates that Adelaide must modify our planting choices to ensure that the city’s trees continue to flourish and provide important environmental and social benefits for the long term.

The work of the Waite Arboretum has identified opportunities for Adelaide to both increase the resilience of our green spaces and capitalise on resources and strengths to meet the need for climate-ready tree stock and advanced tree management skills nationally.

The project engaged with 20 local governments and multiple state government agencies, each with a major role in decisions on tree planting and management, to complete a trans-jurisdictional analysis of the tree canopy and its vulnerabilities.

The work of the Waite Arboretum has been recognised by both local and state government, including forming the basis for one of six priority areas in the state government’s draft Urban Greening Strategy.

Sowing hope: Restoring seagrasses for carbon capture and climate change resilience

Dr Alice Jones is an ecologist studying nature for opportunities to reduce climate change, particularly along our coastlines. She is passionate about decreasing our impact on the environment, improving ecosystem resilience and building hope for our future through solution-focused science. Dr Jones has worked with state and federal governments on developing approaches to coastal ecosystem management that lead to enhanced carbon uptake, which helps to reduce the effects of climate change and brings many other benefits to people and nature. She also researches ways that the marine aquaculture industry can decrease its carbon footprint and operate in a more climate-friendly way. Dr Jones is also a member of the University of Adelaide Environment Institute.

Dr Jones leads multiple research projects that investigate carbon storage and other co-benefits achieved through on-ground seagrass restoration. These projects are establishing the scientific links between seagrass restoration and the recovery of ecosystem services such as ‘blue carbon’ storage (which supports climate change mitigation), habitat and biodiversity improvements, fisheries enhancement, water quality improvement, and shoreline protection.

The multidisciplinary team Dr Jones leads uses this information to understand the potential economic and social benefits of seagrass restoration for the South Australian community.

By studying changes in seagrass over time and their relationship with changes in ecosystem services that support resilient coastal communities, her work provides key evidence to inform decisions regarding future restoration activities.

Developing sustainable concrete to address the environmental impact of producing conventional building materials and waste-to-landfill volumes

Flinders University is leading international research into creating more sustainable concrete by replacing cement and aggregates with materials from different waste streams and synthetic reinforcement materials with natural fibres.

Producing this new type of concrete would recycle huge volumes of industrial byproducts and waste materials, including waste concrete aggregates and discarded sands from lead smelting or glass-making, to improve mechanical and durability properties of concrete. It would also use alternative ecofriendly natural fibres which otherwise would not be used constructively. The results have the potential to significantly cut emissions and waste within the construction industry while ensuring the highest quality outcomes.

The use of recycled concrete and glass aggregates in concrete production would greatly reduce demand on mining such natural resources as natural sand and coarse aggregate. This new process also greatly increases the recycling rate of waste materials, although durability issues have plagued some combinations of recycled ingredients being used in concrete.

Conventional concrete is the world’s most manufactured item and most widely used construction material, with 25 billion tonnes used every year. It consumes about 30% of non-renewable natural resources, emitting about 8% of atmospheric greenhouse gases and potentially recyclable concrete comprises up to 50% of demolition waste sent to landfill.

The creation an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional concrete, without sacrificing either strength or durability, would substantially reduce the consumption of natural resources, waste and emissions.

Working with an international team of experts, including researchers from the US, Turkey and Australia, and industry partners, has enabled the Flinders researchers to swiftly and efficiently progress through rigorous testing regimes that measure different industrial waste products being used as binding materials in concrete production.