Renew Magazine

Fact-based and human-interest stories about building climate and energy resilience in your home and community. All the latest in sustainable issues and technology, as well as useful how-tos for reducing your footprint and contributing to a more resilient future.

Renew Magazine

ISSUE 167

Quarterly round-up

Tassie wrap

Renew welcomes new CEO, Helen Oakey

PRODUCTS

Big solar comes to Tassie • Tasmania is the one state that has no large solar farms. That’s about to change, in a big way…

Attaining energy efficiency in our homes • Dr Gill Armstrong on the need to transform Australia’s current housing stock into climate-ready homes.

Game of life • The Adaptation Game is a new interactive board game that uses science and storytelling to simulate how you and your community can respond to the next 10 years of climate change. Co-founder Ben Pederick speaks to us about how the game works and why local councils are getting on board.

How green is my power? • Energy policy specialist Dean Lombard explains what to look for in a green electricity provider.

What are carbon offsets?

Is hard rubbish really the best we can do? • Oliver Lees looks into the convenient act of disposing household items on the kerbside.

Lessons from Taiwan

The afterlife of clothes • Jane Hone gets to know Australia’s first textile recycling pick-up service, After.

Giving Bunyip something to brag about • The Bunyip Renewables Action Group (BRAG) was the Community Champion award winner in the 2023 Premier’s Sustainability Awards. We took a trip to Bunyip to get to know who they are and what their plans are for the close-knit community.

Remote communities leading the charge • We learn about four sustainability and renewable energy projects in remote Australia.

Bala balas: low-energy buildings in remote Australia • Over the past seven years, builder/carpenter Strath Barton has built relationships with NGOs in West Arhnem Land. Together, they’ve developed and refined a fit-for-purpose, pre-fabricated accommodation structure produced in Darwin and installed onsite. He tells us more.

First Nations community-owned microgrid launches in May, 2024 • The small community of Marlinja in the Northern Territory is set to become home to Australia’s first 100% First Nations-owned and grid-connected solar microgrid. Lauren Mellor from Original Power shares the story.

Community energy sharing challenges and solutions • Oliver Crowder from Saltwater Solar reports on a remote community solar system he helped set up more than 10 years ago.

First Nations communities collaborating on renewable energy projects • Pilbara Solar supports First Nations people to lead renewable energy projects in the mining-intensive northwest region of Australia. The enterprise develops utility-scale projects including wind, solar and storage, and is 50% owned by an Aboriginal land council representing Traditional Owners. Managing Director Kylie Chalmers tells us more about the organisation’s equity model and its plans to deliver clean energy solutions to Western Australia.

Building for a changing climate • Are we building homes for the future, or for the past? Rob McLeod investigates how climate change is impacting home energy ratings and the way we build our homes.

AI's promise and peril: navigating environmental impacts and sustainable futures • Mia-Francesca Jones considers the environmental tolls and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence.

Can we plant our way out of climate change? • Rob McCann looks at an Aussie company trying to do just that.

Where are the biggest climate solutions going to come from? • Mick Liubinskas on the need for tech innovations that come at our environmental challenges from...