How Australia’s geology gave us an abundance of coal – and a wealth of greentech minerals to switch to

Two recent announcements hint at a seismic shift about to hit Australia’s coal industry.

Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canada’s Brookfield put forward an extraordinary joint bid to takeover AGL Energy, Australia’s biggest emitting company, over the weekend. If successful, it would see AGL’s coal-fired power stations shut down early. And last week, Origin Energy announced that the country’s largest coal plant, Eraring, will close seven years early.

K-TIG raises cash, accelerates expansion

Australian high-tech welding manufacturer K-TIG will accelerate its global expansion, announcing it had raised $4 million in a share placement and revealing three new distribution deals. The TIG welding technology developer announced new distributors in Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and the successful placement of $4 million to investors including existing directors. Chairman Stuart Carmichael said the…

Modern Manufacturing programme struggles to get money out the door

By Joseph Brookes Just $85 million has been released from the federal government’s flagship $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy (MMS) program since it was announced in 2020. The biggest grants are currently being held up by government ministers’ input on independent recommendations, and await a final decision by the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison to be…

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

First Graphene’s low-carbon cement grant A consortium led by First Graphene has secured a GBP190,000 UK government grant to develop graphene-enhanced, low carbon cement. The company and Breedon Cement, Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure and the University of Manchester aim to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions in cement production. The grant,…