Queensland | Spark of Genius

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Rio Tinto signs contract for Australian grid’s first gigawatt scale solar project

By Peter Schulte / January 23, 2024

Mining company Rio Tinto has signed a contract to buy all the electricity from what will be the biggest solar project on Australia’s main grid – a 1.1 GW facility near Gladstone in Queensland. Rio Tinto is seeking up to 4 GW of wind and solar to provide clean power to and guarantee the future of its three main assets in the region – the Boyne Island aluminium smelter, the Yarwun alumina refinery, and the Queensland alumina refinery. All three assets are now supplied by coal.

Australia’s environment minister uses their powers to rejects coal mine for the first time in nation’s history

By Peter Schulte / February 8, 2023

The mining project would have been located less than 10 kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef and at risk of causing “irreversible damage.”

Lincoln Crowley appointed Australia’s first Indigenous supreme court justice

By Peter Schulte / May 31, 2022

Colleagues said Crowley, a well-regarded barrister and former crown prosecutor who was made Queen’s Counsel in 2018, had broken a significant barrier for First Nations people.

Australia returns one of world’s oldest rainforests to Indigenous people

By Peter Schulte / October 4, 2021

As BBC News reports, the historic handoff also includes the Cedar Bay (Ngalba Bulal), Black Mountain (Kalkajaka), and Hope Islands national parks, a combined area of more than 160,000 hectares.

Queensland passes historic bill legalizing voluntary assisted dying

By Peter Schulte / September 17, 2021

The Australian state’s new laws — which take effect in January 2023 — allow people 18 and older who are expected to die within 12 months, and who meet strict eligibility criteria, to seek medical assistance to end their lives.

University of Arizona, University of Queensland, and others beat Stanford to 100% clean, renewable electricity

By Peter Schulte / September 7, 2021

Stanford University recently claimed to be the “first research university to use 100% renewable electricity.” But in fact, many universities around the world have already reached this important milestone.

Australia’s northern hairy-nosed wombats are back from the brink of extinction

By Peter Schulte / September 7, 2021

The population of Australia’s largest wombat species dipped to as low as 35 in the 1980s. Since then, with the help of predator fencing, habitat management, and more, the population has grown to more than 300.

Greenery-covered high-rise will have more trees than a nearby park

By Peter Schulte / September 10, 2020

With over 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants on its exterior, the Urban Forest will boast more trees than a nearby park in Brisbane, Australia. The project is hailed as one of the world’s most densely-forested greenery-covered buildings by designer Koichi Takada Architects.

Queensland becomes first Australian state to ban gay conversion therapy

By Peter Schulte / August 31, 2020

Queensland has become the first state in Australia to criminalize gay conversion therapy, after state politicians voted to make the “highly destructive and unethical” practice illegal. Practitioners found guilty will now face up to 18 months in jail.

Queensland, Australia breaks ground on $3.5 billion solar farm

By Peter Schulte / February 25, 2019

The massive 5100-acre solar farm will be built in three 500 MW sections with 500 MWh of battery storage.