Top gong for environmental achievement

The importance of the Bligh Government's Toward Q2 vision was highlighted during the 2008 EPA Sustainable Industries Awards held on the Gold Coast.

Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation Minister Andrew McNamara said the awards supported the Q2 aims of promoting a strong, smart and green Queensland.

"The awards showcase Queensland business leaders, companies and technologies that have set new benchmarks in environmental performance," Mr McNamara said.

Leading Australian engineer and prominent Queensland businessman, Mr Martin Albrecht AC, has won the Premier’s Award for Leadership in Business Sustainability, part of the 2008 Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainable Industries Awards.

Mr McNamara presented Mr Albrecht, Chairman of Thiess and geothermal energy pioneers, Geodynamics, with the award on behalf of the Premier at the 2008 EPA Sustainable Industries Awards gala dinner on the Gold Coast.

“I am delighted to recognise Martin Albrecht for his personal initiative and leadership in promoting sustainable development, environmental innovation, and partnerships between industry, government, and the community.

“His belief in the capacity of individuals to make a positive difference, combined with a passion for protecting and restoring the waterways of the world, has resulted in the outstanding work of the International River Foundation and its internationally renowned events, the annual River Symposium and Thiess Prize,” Mr McNamara said.

Mr Albrecht has been a key founder, supporter, and promoter of these vehicles for international collaboration in environmental management.

Over a decade, The River Foundation, Symposium and Thiess Prize have brought together many thousands of people from dozens of nations to recognise achievement and share information, technologies and experience in best practice waterways management. In the process, new visions have been set for some of the world’s major catchments and their communities.

Under the River Foundation’s ‘twinning program’, Australia has partnered with Kenya and in March 2007 installed a self-powered, sustainable water purification system in a rural community in Kenya, which provides safe and clean drinking water to more than 3,000 people.

A pioneer and advocate of geothermal energy, Mr Albrecht is chairman of Geodynamics Limited, a company seeking to develop hot fractured rock geothermal energy projects to produce sustainable, zero-emissions energy.

With recent investment in new drilling technologies, in January this year, Geodynamics successfully drilled a well to a depth of 4,221m. Results from this and other wells have shown the potential to generate more than 10,000 Megawatts of baseload power, roughly equal to the current generating capacity of all of Queensland’s power stations combined.

The trailblazing work of companies like Geodynamics heralds a new technology with the potential to generate one-fifth of Australia’s total electricity needs over the next 25 years, without producing any carbon dioxide emissions.

Mr Albrecht is considered one of Australia’s most influential engineers. As CEO from 1985 to 2000 of construction, mining and environmental services giant, Thiess, he steered the company through a major expansion during which its annual turnover increased from $190 million to $1.8 billion.

Mr Albrecht commissioned Theiss’s Southbank headquarters, which, at the time, set new sustainable design benchmarks for commercial building in Brisbane.

In 2002, Mr Albrecht was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the construction industry, the engineering profession, and the community in education, corporate social responsibility and industrial safety.

Recently honoured with a Gold Medal by the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Mr Albrecht has made a major contribution to the governance and leadership of many organisations, including Leighton Holdings Ltd, Queensland Gas Company, the Siemens Australia, the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame and the Wesley Medical Research Institute.

"These are the third annual awards which recognise nine outstanding Queensland environmental business projects," Mr McNamara said.

More information about the awards can be obtained at www.epa.qld.gov.au or through the EPA Communication and Events unit on 3225 1524.

Media contact: Wendy Nye on 3336 8004

The Premier’s Award for Leadership in Business Sustainability was one of nine awards presented at the third annual EPA Sustainable Industries Awards, attended by more than 300 people.

Eight category winners were also announced at the Awards.

Minister’s Award for ClimateSmart Leadership – News Limited – Murarrie, Brisbane and Cairns

News Limited, publisher of Queensland’s largest circulating newspaper, is committed to addressing its impact on climate change by lowering energy use and becoming carbon neutral by 2010. A major local component of Rupert Murdoch’s worldwide climate change initiative, 1 degree, it has won this year’s Minister’s Award for ClimateSmart Leadership, sponsored by Bendigo Bank.

Corporate Sustainability Award – ALDI Australia – Loganholme

Environmental innovation and logistical efficiency is evident in almost every aspect of ALDI's business, from store design through to transportation and supply chain management. For business eco-innovation that delivers benefits to the business and customers Aldi has won the Westpac Bank Corporate Sustainability Award.

Industrial Eco-efficiency Award – Buderim Ginger Limited – Yandina

This Sunshine Coast ginger producer won the Foster’s Industrial Eco-efficiency award for its development of an innovative automated process to significantly reduce its water usage, wastewater, and gas consumption during the ginger cleansing process.

Innovation in Sustainable Technologies Award – RedFlow Pty Ltd – Seventeen Mile Rocks

Brisbane-based RedFlow Pty Ltd won the Hatch Innovation in Sustainable Technologies Award for its creation of an environmentally friendly zinc-bromine battery that, when combined with photovoltaic solar panels, creates a source of renewable energy that is available on demand.

Rural Sustainability Award – Groves Grown Tropical Fruit - Yeppoon

The Groves family orchard, on the northern outskirts of Yeppoon has been selected as the winner of the Rural Sustainability Award sponsored by Australian Country Choice. Ian and Sandi Groves are managing and expanding production of their mangoes, lychees and caranbola (star fruit) in an environmentally friendly way.

Sustainability Partnerships Award – Wide Bay Water and Dhugamin CDEP Pty Ltd – Hervey Bay

This project to produce eucalyptus oils from native trees in Hervey Bay has earned the Sustainability Partnerships Award, sponsored by Natural Solutions Environmental Consultants and Conics. The project is a partnership between the Dhugamin Community Developments Employment Project (CDEP) Corporation Pty Ltd, the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), and the Wide Bay Water Corporation (WBW).

Sustainability in the Built Environment Award – Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd and Leighton Properties Pty Ltd – Brisbane

Brisbane’s first commercial building to be awarded a 5 Green Star rating for office design rom the Australian Green Building Council of Australia, Leighton’s Green Square project in Fortitude Valley has won the Ergon Energy Sustainability in the Built Environment Award. The project includes 17,000 square metres of A-grade commercial offices, high-technology utilities, community facilities, a childcare centre, basement car parking and a residential precinct, surrounding a retail plaza.

Resource Industries Sustainability Award – Consolidated Rutile Limited – Dunwich

Consolidated Rutile Limited’s (CRL) continuous rehabilitation of land at its North Stradbroke Island sand mining operation has achieved a self-sustaining ecosystem similar to pre-mine conditions, winning the company this year’s inaugural Resource Industries Sustainability Award, sponsored by Queensland Resources Council.