By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University As Australia’s rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached “saturation point” and cannot cope with more wind and solar farms and transmission lines. So how much land is needed to fully decarbonise energy…
Details
Perth marine engineering firm VEEM and propeller developer Sharrow Marine are to advance to manufacture of a new type of propeller designed for inboard motor propulsion. The two companies have replicated for inboard motors the advances made by the original Sharrow propeller which eliminated cavitation in traditional propellers. Now the US and Australian company have…
Details
Textile technology developer Xefco has raised $10.5 million in its latest funding round led by Australian deep technology fund Main Sequence Ventures backing its technology to reduce textile emissions. Xefco has been commercialising its patented water-free textile finishing and dyeing solution, Ausora, aiming to create a greener supply chain for the fashion industry. Other new…
Details
Faltering business expenditure on R&D is a major factor in Australia’s poor innovation performance. Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Dr John Howard identifies businesses’ failings. This is an edited excerpt (full paper link below). From 1981 to 1995, Australian businesses made steady progress in lifting…
Details
Energy technologies developer 1414 Degrees has announced it has acquired exclusive rights to a new method for producing net zero hydrogen from natural gas. The invention by the University of Adelaide (UoA) is the subject of an international patent application. The rights are in addition to rights acquired in January, also from the UoA, for…
Details
By Hendri Yulius Wijaya, The University of Melbourne and Kate Macdonald, The University of Melbourne Around the world, more and more companies are publishing sustainability reports – public scorecards detailing their impacts on society and the environment. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports outline the positive and negative effects of a company’s activities, and the…
Details
CRDC Australia has officially opened a new factory in the Melbourne suburb of Tottenham, where it is transforming end-of-life hard and soft plastics into “an Eco-Aggregate that improves concrete.” “Following the US, Costa Rica, and South Africa, we are proud to be the fourth global location hosting this groundbreaking technology,” said Shane Ramsey, Managing Director…
Details
University of NSW Sydney researchers have assembled “protein nanowires” created by engineered bacteria and found that these were able to conduct electricity over short distances and even create it out of thin air. According to a statement from UNSW on Monday, the team used protein filaments created by E. coli (a bacteria that can cause…
Details
Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Katherine Woodthorpe looks at the potential of innovation in low emission products for export. She argues investing in innovation and STEM skills has economic returns. In the fight against climate change, Australia and the world are at a crossroads. The…
Details
Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – we turn to the main support mechanism available for innovation – the R&D Tax Incentive. By Kris Gale. In Minister Husic’s 3% R&D drive to survive, one constant refrain in the Government’s innovation support story is the need to make…
Details