Melbourne plans tallest building in southern hemisphere

Why do people build tall buildings?

For one, it is aimed at maximising the use of the area of land on which it stands. Huge buildings like modern skyscrapers can house a lot of people, almost like a little micro-city with vertical main streets in the form of stairs and elevators. I can understand that.

But what about this mine is bigger than yours contest that has been going on between countries and continents ever since who knows when? If you look at the top 10 tallest buildings, some of these stand on land where space is not an issue yet. But in cities cramped with millions of people, taller building probably is the better option.

Anyway, just to update, Australia is set to build the tallest building in the southern hemisphere that would involve A$600 million (approx. RM1.95 billion) in investment.

To compare, other notable tall buildings includes the followings:

• Burj Khalifa (829 metres)              - world's tallest
• Taipei 101 (509 m)                       - world's second tallest
• Shanghai World Financial Center (492 m) - world's third tallest
• Petronas Twin Towers (452 m)     - world's tallest twin buildings
• Willis Tower (442 m)                    - world's tallest since 1970s until newer buildings were built
• The Shard in London at (310 m)    - Europe's tallest
• Q1 Tower, Queensland (323 m)    - Australia's tallest

An artist’s impression of the 108-storey ‘Australia 108’ building. AFP photo via Borneo Post


Tallest building in southern hemisphere approved
via Borneo Post - Mar 19, 2013

MELBOURNE: Australia’s second-largest city Melbourne could possibly have the tallest building in the southern hemisphere after approval yesterday for a new 388-metre apartment and hotel complex.

The Victorian state government said Australia 108 would become the world’s 19th tallest building on completion and would be “an outstanding addition to Melbourne’s skyline”.

“I am proud to approve a tower that will define our city for many years to come,” Planning Minister Matthew Guy said.

There were some concerns that the construction of the 108-storey tower in the city’s Southbank area, expected to be ready in five years, would cast a shadow over the Shrine of Remembrance war memorial, one of the city’s best-known landmarks.

But Guy said the trustees of the shrine did not object to the proposal which he said was a A$600 million investment in the state economy that would create 300 jobs in construction and hospitality.

Architect Nonda Katsalidis said the tall, slender building which will have 646 apartments, a 288-room six-star hotel plus retail and office space, was designed to throw a spotlight on the city’s international identity.

“We don’t have an Opera House (like Sydney) but we have AFPa complex culture and all those ideas were thrown into this project,” Katsalidis told ABC radio.

“The hotel at the top is designed as a starburst. We took the inspiration from the stars on the Australian flag,” he added.

The world’s tallest building is Dubai’s Burj Khalifa at 828 metres high while Europe’s tallest skyscraper, the Shard in London, stands at 310 metres.

The current tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere is the Q1 tower on Queensland’s Gold Coast in Australia, which soars 323 metres to 71 storeys.

But Australia 108 could be trumped by South Africa’s Centurion Symbio City, a 447 metre tower to be built by 2018 near Pretoria.

Sabah needs to utilise Remote Sensing Technology

For aerial surveillance, remote sensing via satellite "is cheap because it saves time and costs".

That's what Datuk Darus Ahmad, Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency Director-General said back in March 2010 when his department organised an awareness seminar at Hyatt Regency hotel in Kota Kinabalu that year.

Satellite image of Kota Kinabalu. Want your house monitored this way? Darus Ahmad (left) presenting the picture to Dr. Yee. Photo - InsightSabah


I am sure it is 'very' cheap now looking at the circumstances Malaysians in Sabah are now facing. Large state like Sabah requires technology that is fast and effective for a wide range of fields such as agriculture, the environment, land develop­ment and security.


If it is available, use it!

In today's perspective, Sabah is facing security threat from intruders and surveillance using airplanes is not only expensive but tedious and limited in terms of availability. In the eastern seaboard, we are talking about 1,500km of coastline. Needless to say it is a huge area to cover and we certainly need to put in more assets, including better surveillance system.

For aerial surveillance, remote sensing could and should be one of the options.

We have this technology. Use it. With this method, one can take fast and accurate aerial photographs via satellite compared to traditional methods. Of course, aircraft need to make their patrolling, too. A roar in the sky scare the birds away, so they say.

Back then, Sabah Forestry Department was the only state department to fully utilise remote sensing technology to manage forest resources in Sabah. It is high time that other departments, too, make similar move.

If the technology can by used by the Forestry Department to monitor logging activities in the forests, it can also be used for monitoring the coastline round the clock.

Sweden's bio-energy success story

This is a very interesting read.

While people still argue and many are prepared to debate long into Sweden's success in managing its forest resources for  bio-energy, other nations with good biomass resources can learn from Sweden's policies. Malaysia is still rich with forest resources and it doesn't do any harm at all to learn a thing or two from their success.

Today, forest residue is the leading bio-energy source in Sweden, and compared to 3 years ago, bio-energy is now the nation’s biggest energy source.

One of the bio-energy plants in Sweden. Photo: REW

Growth catalysts

The reasons for the Swedish bio-energy sector’s phenomenal growth include:

• broad political support 
• incentives such as the CO2 tax introduced in 1991
• green electricity certificates introduced in 2003, 
• tax exemptions for transport bio-fuels
• Sweden's long-standing tradition of using its natural forest resources
• good protection and development of forest resources

Contributing factors to biomass development:

• the rising prices for imported oil, and 
• the Sweden's debate over nuclear power.

Since late 1970s, Sweden has been seeking new and safe energy sources, evidenced with the initiation of national research into renewable energy. Heating plants had largely switched to biomass, which made up 70% of district heating fuel in 2010.

Biofuels: Swedish cars use high-blend bio-fuels such as E85, which can contain up to 85% ethanol, and biogas, and at the end of 2011 Sweden had more than 200,000 flexi-fuel cars on its roads.

Biomass: Biomass for heating accounts for more than 50% of all space heating in Sweden's housing and service sectors. It is no wonder that there are around 100,000 small-scale pellet heating systems operating in Sweden.

Note: The book that talks about the Swedish bio-energy success story (priced about $12.50) can be found at Svebio.


TheGreenMechanics: Swedish car buyers receive a rebate of SEK10,000 (US$1560 or approximately RM4,850) for buying a green car. We don't have similar cash incentive in Malaysia. But we can surely learn from their environmentally-friendly policies.