Biz news: UK based heavy EV company Zenobe has promised to deliver six new electric bus depots across West and South Auckland in New Zealand. With new depots, the firm has partnered with the New Zealand bus operator Ritchies Transport to deploy 172 new electric buses over the next nine months, which will increase the operator’s electric fleet by more than fivefold.
The first depot went live on 2 November, with the rest due to be completed by August next year. Alongside the depot, the EV company will also provide a “battery as a service” solution, where the operators will pay a subscription to have the firm finance and manage the lifecycle of the batteries on its buses. Gareth Ridge, Zenobe’s country director for Australia and New Zealand, said they hope the partnership will not only deploy the country’s largest electric fleet but also provide infrastructure, which will set a new benchmark for sustainable public transport in New Zealand.
New thermal index rating could be on the way
The University of Sydney is partnering up with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan’s Waseda University, and the Technical University of Denmark to develop a new thermal comfort index to recognise and support fairer, more energy-efficient workplaces across the globe.
The collaboration will involve large scale field studies, experiments with human subjects, and advanced data modelling beyond the “outdated average people” model in today’s comfort standards. The University said the index should be modern and inclusive and reflect how people feel in real offices, to ensure it provides comfort, wellbeing and productivity while cutting energy waste.
The index aims to provide a consistent, evidence-based standard for designers, engineers, and regulators across regions and climates.
Farmers speak out against dropping net zero
With the Coalition denouncing net zero, the Farmers for Climate Action, which represented 8400 farmer members, insists the politicians should “listen to the farmers, not fossil fuel billionaires.” Farmers are saying that buyers passionate about the environment will go elsewhere if Australia drops net zero.
Here are some key realities for farmers:
- Repeat fires, droughts, and floods made worse and more frequent by climate change are expensive and “smashing farmers”
- Climate change is sending farm insurance bills through the roof
- Nearly all of Australia’s farm trading partners have net zero commitments, including China, which is currently drafting a border adjustment tariff to apply to countries not pulling their weight on carbon reduction
- At the time of the Nationals conference, electricity was free for the whole market across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA because abundant renewable energy had forced the price low
- Stopping net zero will not stop the rollout of clean energy projects, and farmers are on track to earn $1 billion in payments from clean energy companies by 2030.
Jobs
The University of Newcastle is appointing Dr Paul Ebert as its executive director of the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER), succeeding Alan Broadfoot, who had led the institute since it started in 2010.
Ebert will step into the new role in March 2026 but will leave his current job as the group director for sustainability and energy transition leadership at international engineering firm Worley at the end of November, after working there for almost 18 years. The firm has more than 50,000 employees across the world.
The University’s vice chancellor, Professor Alex Zelinsky, said as an alumnus and Novocastrian, Ebert had strong local and global connections and understood the role the institute plays in driving economic and environmental outcomes for their region and beyond.
Tim Hollo has stepped down from his role as the executive director of The Green Institute, the official think tank of the Australian Greens party, after 10 years. The organisation is now looking for its next leader or member of its leadership team, asking interested parties and the broader Greens movement to pitch “a strong vision for the Institute’s future activities and how they may be implemented.”