Latest news with #SwinburneUniversity
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Can Australia reach its 2029 housing construction target? Data shows we're already falling behind
Australia will have to build housing at a significantly faster rate than it has in the last couple of decades to meet the government's target of 1.2m new homes between June 2024 and 2029. To hit the target we need about 240,000 new dwellings every year, and new data shows we are already falling behind. The most recent State of the Housing System report predicts we will fall short of the target by more than 260,000 homes, an even bigger miss than was predicted the year before. For decades, Australia built approximately 700,000 to 800,000 new dwellings every five years on average. This increased in the past decade – to more than 1m new dwellings constructed in 2014-2019, and just under 900,000 in 2019-2024. But to meet the 1.2m target, Australia would have to construct 20% more than in either of these five-year windows. There are ups and downs in housing construction for many reasons. But Prof Christian Nygaard from Swinburne University notes that Australia has built at a fairly consistent rate of about 25,000 detached houses and 10,000-15,000 dwellings of other types (apartments etc) a quarter since the 1980s, despite huge changes and economic disruptions. These include big swings in interest rates, the mining boom, introduction of the GST, changes to capital gains and negative gearing, the global financial crisis and even the Covid-19 pandemic. One reason these haven't had huge impacts is because housing construction is determined by the business models and needs of developers, landowners and other stakeholders, who aren't always responsive to price signals. 'If we ignore the internal logic of developers' business models/plans we end up quite substantially overestimating what can be achieved with planning reform and cutting red tape,' Nygaard says. Nygaard also questions whether the 1.2m dwellings target will significantly impact affordability. 'The housing affordability challenges is the greatest for young and newly establishing households, for migrants, low and moderate income households, and First Nations Australians. 'These are also the households that are least likely to be able to compete for new supply.'
ABC News
6 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Australia's astronomers set their sights on the next decade
Astronomy in Australia is at a crossroads, with the government yet to commit future funding to a major international telescope agreement. As part of a 10-year astronomy plan launched in Adelaide today, the Australian Academy of Science says full membership of the European Southern Observatory group should be a key priority. But it's not without a price tag which is estimated to be in tens of millions of dollars a year. Guest: Professor Virginia Kilborn is a radio astronomer and chief scientist at Swinburne University of Technology. She is also the Chair of the Australian Academy of Science's National Committee for Astronomy. Professor Virginia Kilborn is a radio astronomer and chief scientist at Swinburne University of Technology. She is also the Chair of the Australian Academy of Science's National Committee for Astronomy. Producer: Oscar Coleman Statement from a spokesperson for Senator Tim Ayres, Minister for Science, Industry and Innovation. The Government acknowledges the astronomy community's ambitions and support for ESO. Australia has invested almost $130 million in ESO to date, and will consider the costs and benefits of renewed involvement beyond our current agreement.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
‘Truly magnificent': Scientists pick up biggest ever merger of two massive black holes in space
Scientists have picked up the biggest ever merger of two massive black holes in Space. It happened on the far edges of our galaxy - a violent collision... producing an extremely large black hole - about 225 times the mass of our Sun. Laura Tchilinguirian spoke with Astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb from Swinburne University of Technology.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These bricks are made from coffee and they slash energy use by 80%
Australian researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have developed strong, sustainable bricks made from used coffee grounds—offering a potential breakthrough in reducing construction's carbon footprint. On June 27, the university announced signing an IP licensing deal with Green Brick to launch these sustainable bricks. "For the last century, materials have been judged by one thing: cost per square meter, but in the next chapter, we'll judge them by carbon, transparency, and circularity. And those metrics favor a new product," said Philip Ng, Green Brick's founder. An estimated nine million tonnes of ground coffee are used globally each year. This consumption results in approximately 18 million tonnes of wet spent coffee grounds (SCGs) generated as a byproduct. The growing organic waste presents an environmental challenge. Most of that spent coffee is in landfills, creating methane – a greenhouse gas. Over 1.3 million cups in Australia alone are sold daily, leading to about 10,000 tonnes of coffee waste yearly. And it adds to the nation's carbon footprint. That's why a team led by Dr. Yat Wong from the university decided to find a way to use this discarded waste. While past efforts have seen coffee waste transformed into biochar for concrete, like a footpath in Pakenham, Victoria, and even processed into coffee oil by a UK-based Bio-bean, Dr. Wong's team has found a new purpose. The researchers used coffee waste from cafes and restaurants in this new work. The coffee waste was blended with clay and incorporated with an alkali activator to create their low-emission bricks. This specific formulation is key, enabling the bricks to be baked at 200 degrees Celsius (360°F), i.e., 80 percent less than the temperatures required for conventional brick firing. "It's lighter on energy, faster to produce, and designed to reduce electricity-related CO₂ emissions by up to 80 percent per unit," Dr. Wong said. The new method for brick production drastically reduces the environmental impact typically associated with standard, energy-intensive manufacturing that relies on fossil fuels. An earlier study pointed out that a single kilogram of brick produced using coal firing generates approximately 64.26 grams of CO2 emissions. What's more, these sustainable bricks are said to be remarkably durable, doubling "the Australian minimum standard for strength." The team says the project delivers a powerful dual benefit: it diverts massive amounts of coffee waste from landfills, reducing methane emissions and creating a low-carbon, high-performance building material. Meanwhile, the quest for sustainable brick production extends beyond coffee grounds. For example, in 2024, architecture studio Grimshaw, in partnership with the University of East London (UEL), developed "Sugarcrete." This innovative brick is made from bagasse, a byproduct of sugarcane. Bricks produce 15 to 20 percent of the carbon emissions of traditional bricks. Moreover, its carbon footprint is 20 times smaller and four to five times lighter than traditional concrete. It is exciting to see researchers worldwide develop innovative, sustainable building solutions, leveraging everything from spent coffee to sugarcane waste. What could be the next sustainable option?
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Drivers warned of destructive trend on Aussie roads inflicting 100,000-tonne problem
There are growing calls for drivers to rethink their purchase of large vehicles, as the continued demand for SUVs and popularity of utes and caravans on Aussie roads contribute to a staggering tyre pollution problem in the country. More than 100,000 tonnes of rubber fragments are being added to the environment every year due to friction on Australian roads, according to a recent report by Tyre Stewardship Australia. This has been a growing issue since cars first became mainstream, but the uptick in sales of heavier and larger vehicles is simply compounding the problem. "The real issue is, as vehicles get larger and heavier, regardless of how they're powered, we see more tyre wear because of the increased weight and road friction," Hussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility at Swinburne University, told Yahoo News. Dia said 40 per cent of the vehicles on Australian roads are now SUVs, and they made up nearly half of all new vehicle sales last year. Simple physics dictate that larger and heavier vehicles require larger and heavier wheels, and with a tyre shedding 16 per cent of its weight over its lifetime, tiny microplastics are being released into the environment at an alarming rate. Councils are battling to reduce the number of tyre dumps with new regulations. However, Australian drivers are going through more tyres than ever, reports The Age. Electric vehicles (EVs) have also been called out for contributing to the increasing problem of tyre pollution. While EVs are heavier than petrol or diesel-powered cars due to their battery packs — up to 400 kilograms heavier, according to Dia — it's not simply a case of labelling them as 'bad'. EVs counter the environmental impact in other ways. "Braking is a big factor that increases tyre pollution and EVs have an advantage in this case," Dia explained. "They use what we call regenerative braking... If people just take their foot off the pedal, it actually starts to slow on its own. There's less reliance on braking pads, and therefore, it actually produces less pollutants." 🔦 Drivers warned as sinister trend continues to plunge highways into darkness ⚡️ Tradie lucky to be alive after ute struck by lightning while driving 🚗 Tesla couple's epic 3,400km road trip across the Nullarbor He also pointed to the overall environmental benefits of an EV compared to petrol or diesel-powered cars, including reduced air pollution and a shift away from fossil fuel reliance. "We cannot blame electrification alone for this issue, it [was] an issue even before electric vehicles were here," he said. Despite larger vehicles becoming increasingly popular, infrastructure is struggling to keep up. Yahoo News has reported on multiple incidents where increased vehicle size has caused parking frustration, like the time a Melbourne resident spotted a huge ute parked diagonally over two parking spaces in a busy car park. There have been calls for large vehicle owners to pay more tax due to worsening pollution and congestion caused by having them on the road. There is also an increased safety concern for other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists if involved in a collision with a large vehicle, due to its size and weight. Associate Professor Milad Haghani, an expert in urban resilience at the University of Melbourne, told Yahoo News in May that a large vehicle, twice the size of a smaller car, will have 16 times the impact when it comes to road damage. This is due to the fourth power law "which is a [well] known thing in pavement engineering that says the amount of damage is proportional to the fourth power of its axle weight. So if the axle weight is doubled, the impact is 16 times bigger." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
