H2X selects Gippsland for hydrogen vehicle retrofits, aims to make its own vehicles in 2023

By Brent Balinski After initial plans to begin manufacturing vehicles at Port Kembla, NSW, hydrogen fuel cell hopeful H2X Global announced Gippsland as the home of its assembly operation on Wednesday. NSW hydrogen bus trials didn’t pan out as hoped and the company’s activities slowed in the state, H2X’s CEO and founder Brendan Norman explains.…

Army progresses autonomous truck development

A $3.5 million Australian Army project to develop a convoy of autonomous trucks that use technology to ‘follow the leader’, reducing the need for troops and the risks they face, has successfully completed a series of road trials. The autonomous leader-follower vehicle technology, using modified Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles–Australia (RMMV-A) trucks, was developed under a contract…

$50bn decommissioning costs face oil and gas facilities

Australia’s ageing offshore oil and gas infrastructure faces $50 billion in costs with a high powered advisory committee established by the Centre of Decommissioning Australia (CODA) to address the challenges and maximise business opportunities involved. Six industry leaders have been appointed to an advisory panel including experts from ExxonMobil, Santos, Baker Hughes, IAS Group and…

Winning scaleup businesses named at Australian Technologies Competition 2021

Winners at the 11th annual Australian Technologies Competition were named on Tuesday evening at a virtual event hosted in Melbourne. The 11 category winners were selected after a two-day competition (see below list) with the final stage a pitching contest.  Textile recycling company BlockTexx (which made the final cut in the Advanced Manufacturing and Circular…

EOS receives contract payments, cuts profit outlook

Defence, space and telecommunications manufacturer Electro Optic Systems has clawed back most of the customer payments for its biggest defence contract delayed due to Covid-19, but nonetheless been forced to slash profit outlook for the current financial year. The Canberra company cut guidance for underlying operating profit (EBIT) for FY22, excluding costs associated with its…

Recycled plastic tram stop project awarded $300,000 Victorian government grant

A project to create modular tram stops out of recycled plastic involving Monash University, Advanced Circular Polymers, Integrated Recycling and Yarra Trams has been awarded a $300,000 grant from Sustainability Victoria. According to a statement from Monash — which is a long-time collaborator with Integrated Recycling on Duratrack railway sleepers, which incorporate recycled plastic —…